The Rules of the Cinema-Libre are meant to be self-imposed by filmmakers to allow artists a structure in which they are free to create projects that are better, more impactful and more important.
What is the Cinema-Libre?
Cinema-Libre is a film movement structured around Three Basic Creative Tenets. Cinema-Libre began as an ethos to guide the collaborative process of making films. The Rules are meant to be Utilized. The Cinema-Libre Basic Tenets
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1) To the Cinema-Libre Filmmaker, money does not exist. Cinema-Libre is an expression of pure creativity, free of fears of profitability and commerciality. All filmmakers and films working under the Cinema-Libre Code should recognize the divine state of being and that state's innate ability to create everything from nothing. In this creator's image, all skills, materials, talent, lighting elements, design elements, production equipment and other tools must be native to the artists, borrowed from friends or liberated. Manual labor and other working as a bartering tool is strongly encouraged as the Cinema-Libre Filmmaker is expected to be of service.
2) All films created under the Cinema-Libre Code must be as positive as possible in nature, with the heroes representing loving-kindness and the beauty, truth, and difficulty natural to the state of the human condition. They should further teach tested and real techniques to the audience for the liberation from worldly suffering, as best understood by the filmmakers, including: meditation, presence, communion, forgiveness, sobriety, surrender, self-actualization and finding inner peace, calm, and joy.
3) All Cinema-Libre Filmmakers should, whenever possible, use the tenets expressed by Cinéma-Vérité Filmmakers, combining both ideals to create the Cinema of Truth and Freedom.
How can a writer easily use this?
The first tenet tells you how to make a movie, the second tenet tells you how to make a movie which is good. The third tenet pays homage to the Cinéma-vérité.
How can Structure Free an Artist?
Statement by Alexander Valdez of Cinema-Libre:
"In modern cinema, we have given way to our technology to allow us to avoid the problems opposed in Cinéma-Vérité to stage the truth. We have chosen instead to embrace fantasy. Fantasy, however, may still benefit with presentation of the real and the real can benefit from what we do see. We believe characters can fly and their turmoil can rip up City Streets. We believe robots can shoot laser beams from their eyes in 3-D, while not confusing Red and Blue. We believe Evil can be stopped by one man. Truth and Freedom. I love James Cameron Films. I love the Wachowski brothers and their heroes. These films have goals that are clearly set. I acknowledge I do not deny Modern Cinema. I do not feel at war with Cinema. I am not at war with Hollywood. I feel I am in very good standing with the Guilds. I do not deny modern cinema is cool. I have very few complaints. I simply feel like we haven't been doing everything we can to clean up the place. What I am trying to do is wrest Cinema away from traditional distributors and bring us closer to Entertaining Enlightenment in structure. To me, as a director, how the people see the film and how many people see the film is more important than how much money the movie made. Obviously, if the quality is good, the difference is subtle. Cinema-Libre is designed to, while embracing them, take us beyond the opposed limitations of Cinéma-Vérité and into cinema of Enlight and Mend."
Cinéma-vérité states: "Il y a deux façons de concevoir le cinéma du réel : la première est de prétendre donner à voir le réel; la seconde est de se poser le problème du réel. De même, il y avait deux façons de concevoir le cinéma vérité. La première était de prétendre apporter la vérité. La seconde était de se poser le problème de la vérité." Assisted Translation:"There are two ways of conceiving the real cinema: the first is to pretend to give-and-take to see the real and the second is to stage the problem of the reality. Similarly, there were two ways of understanding cinema truth. The first was to pretend to purport the claim to truth. the second was to pose the problem of truth. "When François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard were asked by younger filmmakers if they could make a movie, they would explain there is something they were doing and explain Cinéma-Vérité. Many new filmmakers would look at their rules and express similar feelings to, "But, this is useful." Truffaut and Godard would agree and not judge the result, allowing for their own feeling on if the film was French New Wave. We would like to behave similarly. The Rules of the Cinema-Libre are meant to be self-imposed by filmmakers to allow artists a structure in which they are free to create projects that are better, more impactful and more important.
How Can Structure Free an Artist? We function best with adherence to rules.
Get Help Getting Your Project Screened
A lot of artists I have spoken to on the subject ask 'how good their movie has to be to get shown.' I find quality discernable at goal. All Films which attempt to utilize the Cinema-Libre Tenets are eligible for consideration for screening at the Cinema-Libre Film Festival we believe will be presented in earnest in 2014. Special offer extended for 2013, Order a version of Your Story Begins: Advance Your Ideas to Words and receive a complimentary copy of Screenwriter's Notebook: A Remedial Step-By-Step Guide to Finishing your Screenplay, or coming soon, a free print version of our booklet.(Deal good at www.cinema-libre.com from the "Buy Now" link immediately below only, and not for purchases made individually or from Lulu or Amazon.com)
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Practice Art Responsibly. Be Good to your Inner Artist, your Inner Shaman, and Be Well. We look forward to seeing your projects move.
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