Start your own local
Introduction
Cinema Politica is one of überculture's most successful projects and although it was started in 2001 as one single campus film series in Vancouver, BC, it has grown into a pan-Canadian and now international network of interconnected exhibition sites. The network’s hub is the Cinema Politica website and each local runs as an individual initiative where organizers choose their own films from the Cinema Politica Screening Pool. The rest - venue, schedule and promotion techniques - are all up to you! (although we do offer advice and some minor support with promotions).
Each series that is part of the network does receive support from the network’s principle organizer (überculture) and principle sponsor (CitizenShift). If you or your group is interested in being part of the Cinema Politica Network, and you’re ready to start up a series on your campus (or in your community), here’s what kind of support you can expect (for now, until we secure funding):
1. Web support – a section for your series will be created and maintained on the Cinema Politica website (www.cinemapolitica.org)
2. DVD loans from the Cinema Politica Screening Pool – we have over 100 political videos to lend out, and postage is covered one way by us.
3. Operational and organizational advice and support – we can share some tips and hopefully tell you how to avoid making mistakes we’ve made…
4. Limited financial support – thanks to our national partners CitizenShift and some fundraising efforts we do have a small budget to distribute throughout the Network. It’s not much, but it can help - especially to get things started.
5. Public Performance Licensing (or copyright waivers) for screenings – we can help you avoid the headache of getting clearance to screen most films. (In Canada, you can read the Copyright Act online for more infotmation)
Interested? Here’s what YOU need to do to get started:
Getting Started
1. Assemble a team of volunteers. Do not try this alone if possible! Cinema Politica teams range from 4 (Ottawa) to 12 (UQAM), but all have many volunteers working together. Four is probably the minimum you would want, leaving one person for logistics, one for PR and promotions, one for finance and one for programming.
2. Secure a suitable venue. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it is often the biggest stumbling block to getting a series started. A good venue should be easy to access for both students and the public and should have projection equipment and decent sound. (Films in our library are all in DVD format, but you may want to screen in VHS, BetaSP, MiniDV, Digi-Beta or even 35mm). If possible your venue should be on campus, keeping rental costs significantly down.
3. Find a local sponsor or three. Whether it’s a student association/club or a locally owned business (no big corporate sponsors please!), sponsors provide all kinds of support from volunteers to finances to promotion. Many Cinema Politica series are organized and/or sponsored by different campus clubs and associations.
4. Make a schedule and decide on a launch date. After logistics of money, venue and volunteers are sorted out, the next meeting(s) is usually about scheduling and programming. In the beginning, you may want to stick to one film per month or every two weeks at the most. Monday nights have been successful at many Canadian Cinema Politica series, and 7 PM has been a good screening time. These details are up to you, however, and will depend on location and other factors. The main thing is to set up a realistic schedule – one you can maintain based on your number of volunteers, available time to promote between screenings, exam and term paper schedules, conflicting events (like other film series or festivals), and other factors.
5. Choose your films. Finally, the best part – watching and selecting amazing political cinema to include in your series. If you are interested in borrowing from our lending library, contact us for the DVD list. The general idea in building an audience is to show “crowd pleasers” in the beginning of the series, then slowly integrate more radical political texts (if you are so inclined) as you go. “Crowd pleaser” doesn’t mean mainstream, or films that have had commercial exposure but are still examples of decent political cinema (like Hotel Rwanda), but are films that have generated some buzz and maybe even won some awards (like The Corporation and Darwin’s Nightmare). While smashing the state may be a great cinematic topic, it is not usually good starter film to build an audience with. But again, this is entirely up to you and will depend on location, audience and other factors.
Cinema Politica isn’t just about showing excellent political cinema – it is about providing an accessible and democratic space for discussion and debate. To this end, many screenings in various Cinema Politica series have been accompanied by presentations, panels and special guest speakers. When possible, it is great to have a Q & A with the filmmaker or people involved with the film. It also makes for great discussion to have people who are working in areas/issues that the film touches on lead a discussion following the screening. (If you screened The End of Suburbia for example, you could have activists present that are working in the area of alternative fuels and/or sustainable development.
Please contact ezra AT uberculture DOT org if you are interested in starting up a Cinema Politica Series.
Process for Existing Locals
If you are already a Cinema Politica Local, please take note on the format for submitting film information for publishing on the Cinema Politica site:
Film Title
Country / Date / Running Time
Synopsis
Credits
Awards
Links (Official film website, other relevant links)
And finally, please include at least ONE image to represent the film that is no wider than 300px. (If you're not sure how to change an images size, just send whatever you have)
Cheers!