MSc Thesis Cinema as a Tool for Development Investigating the Power of Mobile Cinema in the Latin American Context By Philippine Sellam 1 In partial requirement of: Master of Sustainable Development/ International Development track Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University Student: Philippine Sellam (3227774) [email protected] Under the supervision of: Gery Nijenhuis Utrecht, August 2014 Cover Picture and full page pictures between chapters: The public of mobile cinema/Fieldwork 2014 Title font: ‘Homeless font’ purchased from the Arells Foundation (www.homelessfonts.org) 2 Everything you can imagine is real - Picasso 3 Abstract During the last fifteen years, mobile cinema has sparked new interest in the cinema and development sectors. Taking cinema out of conventional theatres and bringing it to the people by transporting screening equipment on trucks, bicycles or trains and setting up ephemeral cinemas in the public space. Widening the diffusion of local films can provide strong incentives to a region or a country’s cinematographic industry and stimulate the production of independent films on socially conscious themes. But the main ambition of most mobile cinema projects is to channel the power of cultural community encounters to trigger critical social reflections and pave the way for social transformation. Just as other cultural activities, gathering to watch a film can bring new inspirations and motivations, which are subjective drivers for actor-based and self-sustained community change. Research is needed to substantiate the hypothesis that mobile cinema contributes to social change in the aforementioned sense. Therefore, the present work proposes to take an investigative look into mobile cinema in order to find out the ways and the extent to which it contributes to actor-based community development. In order to find answers, two mobile cinema projects were investigated; one in Colombia and one in Uruguay. A qualitative approach was applied, as interviews were carried out with the projects’ organisers, the public, and the directors of the films screened. Data was collected on the projects’ vision and organisation, on the public’s immediate reactions after the screenings, and on the filmmakers’ social vision and intentions. Besides, the films screened were analysed in terms of their themes and arguments, in order to identify the relationship between the films shown and local development needs. The results brought interesting insights about the immediate impacts of mobile cinema on the beneficiary communities. It was concluded firstly that the activities carried out in the frame of the projects studied somehow stimulated participation, but that more efforts should be carried out to establish longer-term engagements within communities. Secondly, it was observed that the themes of some of the films presented by the projects were related to local development needs, but that a majority of films dealt with ‘lighter’ personal and social topics. Thirdly, from the impressions reported by the public, it was possible to list the different types of subjective effects that the films could generate, from reflections on one’s own behaviour, to more general intellectual satisfaction and thirst. The public’s interpretations corresponded with the filmmakers’ intentions to a large extent, and it was observed that more complex and metaphorical films tended to evoke a larger diversity of interpretations and more intense levels of reflection. Fourthly, a synthesis of the public members’ opinion of the two projects showed that although promotion methods should be stepped up, the mobile cinema events were very much valued by their beneficiaries. iv Contents Boxes, Figures and Tables ......................................................................................................................... vii Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. viii Preface ............................................................................................................................................................... ix Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Literature review: the Cinema-Development connection ....................................................... 4 1.1 The formulation of alternative, actor-oriented approaches to development ................... 4 1.1.1 Social change as an emerging process ......................................................................... 4 1.1.2 Post-structuralist theories of development and human agency ................................ 4 1.1.3 Cultural activism: a new avenue to participative development ................................ 7 1.1.4 The use of communication in the actor-oriented development paradigm ............... 9 1.2 Promoting participatory development through mobile cinema ..................................... 12 1.2.1 Origins and philosophy of mobile cinema around the world .................................. 12 1.2.2 The rise of social cinema ............................................................................................. 16 1.2.3 The rhetoric of films .................................................................................................... 19 2. Regional framework: development challenges and mobile cinema Colombia and Uruguay ............................................................................................................................................................ 23 2.1 Colombia and Uruguay: regional and national development contexts ........................... 23 2.1.1 General political contexts ........................................................................................... 23 2.1.2 Cultural dependency and access to culture ............................................................... 24 2.1.3 Unsustainable development ....................................................................................... 26 2.1.4 Synthesis of national development challenges ......................................................... 28 2.2 The Colombian and Uruguayan cinema sectors ................................................................ 29 3. Methodology .......................................................................................................................................... 33 3.1 Research objective and questions ...................................................................................... 33 3.2 Conceptual model ................................................................................................................ 34 3.3 Research methods ............................................................................................................... 34 3.3.1 Approach ...................................................................................................................... 34 3.3.2 Research area and projects ......................................................................................... 34 3.3.3 Population and sampling ............................................................................................ 36 3.3.4 Type of data collected ................................................................................................. 36 3.3.5 Instrument or method for data collection ................................................................. 37 3.3.6 Administration of instrument or method .................................................................. 38 3.3.7 Data analysis ................................................................................................................ 38 3.3.8 Reliability and validity ................................................................................................ 38 v 4. Inclusion in the Colombian and Uruguayan filmmaking sector and presentation of the mobile cinema projects in terms of organisation and contents .................................................. 40 4.1 Opportunities and limitations for independent filmmaking in Colombia and Uruguay: institutional support and financing ............................................................................................... 40 4.2 Characteristics of the projects investigated and their contents ...................................... 44 4.2.1 The projects’ visions and objectives .......................................................................... 44 4.2.2 Organisation of the projects investigated .................................................................. 45 4.2.3 Relationship between film themes and national development challenges ............ 57 5. Public’s reaction to the films screened and the project ......................................................... 74 5.1 Interpretations, learning and emotional reactions reported by the public .................... 74 5.2 Relationship between the public’s interpretation and filmmaker’s intentions ............. 79 5.3 Filmmaker’s evaluation and valuation of public’s interpretations and reaction ........... 81 5.4 Public’s perception and opinions on projects and cinema ............................................... 82 6. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................ 87 7. Discussion ..............................................................................................................................................