About Cinema Politica

Cinema Politica is a media arts project organized by Montreal-based non-profit überculture. The project's principal funding partner is CitizenShift, a National Film Board of Canada website dedicated to citizen engagement and social change.

The CP Network comprises a network of several local film exhibition sites, series, and festivals across Canada, Europe and the USA. The Canadian component of the network has over 20 locals, most of which are located on college and university campuses. In the video below, organizers Ezra Winton and Svetla Turnin explain how the grassroots screenings work.

überculture is committed to promoting political media arts. In this vein, Cinema Politica creates pluralistic and inclusive spaces on increasingly corporatized campuses. As access to the media arts is at the top of our mandate, admission is always by donation and everyone is welcome to participate in after-screening discussions.

Cinema Politica's Mandate:
Cinema Politica’s main objective is to promote, disseminate, exhibit and promote the discussion of political cinema by independent artists, with an emphasis on Canadian works. All pieces that are screened are political works - they represent cinema texts that engage an audience on important socio-political, cultural, environmental and economic issues that are provocative in challenging dominant ideologies and accepted norms.

Exhibited works are innovative and seek to educate, entertain and especially inspire audiences to participate in open and inclusive spaces. Emphasis is placed on works that tell stories underrepresented by mainstream media, including narratives around political struggles within Canada, and stories that deal with oppression and/or identity politics.

The position of the artist in society is taken into account in the curatorial process, with a focus on artists who are marginalized and/or struggle against oppression in respective contexts.

Of all the cultural industries in Canada, cinema has the lowest percentage of Canadian content at the mainstream or commercial level. The Canadian Film and Television Production Association and Canadian Heritage reports that in 2006 Canadian film represented a mere 4.4% of screen space in Canadian theatres (and there is certainly no shortage of works, the Canadian submissions to Hot Docs 2007 totalled 222 documentary films and videos alone). Cinema Politica is a project rooted in the belief that diversity and plurality in culture, media and the arts builds stronger publics and leads to increased democratic practices by engendering social inclusion and participation while educating audiences.

Accessibility to media and utilization of both public institutions and public space remain incredibly important to the spirit of this project, therefore the majority of screenings are free to all. Sometimes, due to high screening and/or shipping costs, we ask for a small donation at the door.

Some articles on Cinema Politica:

Celluloid Politics: Cinema Politica celebrates five years of free, weekly and controversial screenings, at montrealmirror.com.

From Grassroots to Global Networks: Cinema Politica & the Cultural Reprise of Political Documentary, at artthreat.net.

On Screen Activism, at Concordia University Magazine.

The Project Advisor for Cinema Politica is Peter Wintonick.