ABSTRACT

Comprising essays from some of the leading scholars and practitioners in the field, this is the first book to investigate twenty-first century radical film practices across production, distribution and exhibition at a global level.

This book explores global radical film culture in all its geographic, political and aesthetic diversity. It is inspired by the work of the Radical Film Network (RFN), an organisation established in 2013 to support the growth and sustainability of politically engaged film culture around the world. Since then, the RFN has grown rapidly, and now consists of almost 200 organisations across four continents, from artists’ studios and production collectives to archives, distributors and film festivals. With this foundation, the book engages with contemporary radical film cultures in Africa, Asia, China, Europe, the Middle East as well as North and South America, and connects key historical moments and traditions with the present day. Topics covered include artists’ film and video, curation, documentary, feminist and queer film cultures, film festivals and screening practices, network-building, policy interventions and video-activism.

For students, researchers and practitioners, this fascinating and wide-ranging book sheds new light on the political potential of the moving image and represents the activists and organisations pushing radical film forward in new and exciting directions.

For more information about the Radical Film Network, visit www.radicalfilmnetwork.com.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

part I|59 pages

Issues in radical film culture, past and present

chapter 1|10 pages

‘Admin will make or break the rebellion’

Building the Radical Film Network

chapter 2|9 pages

Imagining change

A history of radical film in the USA

chapter 3|13 pages

Feminist documentary

Distribution, exhibition and interactive platforms

chapter 5|13 pages

TV interventions

Artists, activists and alternative media

part II|81 pages

Interventions in practice and politics

chapter 6|10 pages

Spaces of the possible

Developing the Radical Film Network in Scotland

chapter 7|10 pages

Ciutat Morta/Dead City

Agency, ICTs and critical urban documentary in the Spanish context

chapter 8|11 pages

The practice and politics of radical documentary circulation

A case-study of tactical media in India

chapter 10|12 pages

Radical cinema in Israel and Palestine after Oslo

Unrealistic hopes and unwarranted expectations

chapter 11|12 pages

Scratch Video revisited

part III|64 pages

Festivals and exhibition

chapter 13|12 pages

Film, interrupted

Alternative screening practices for a radical film culture

chapter 14|12 pages

Re-thinking human rights film festivals

A radical perspective

chapter 15|15 pages

Frames of counterpower

The politics of film programming

chapter 16|13 pages

‘Communist international of queer films’

The radical culture of the Beijing Queer Film Festival

chapter 17|10 pages

Star and Shadow Cinema and before

Radical screening culture in Newcastle upon Tyne

part IV|33 pages

Interviews

chapter 18|6 pages

Artists’ moving image

chapter 20|6 pages

Video-activism

Reel News

chapter 21|6 pages

Community access

chapter 22|6 pages

‘We need critical magazines, debates, spaces!’

Third Cinema in Morocco