“Humbly, the group responded”: Organic Intellectualism, Exile and Biopolitical Production in the Cine de la Base film collective

Abstract

Classifying the production of militant film collectives and making sense of their work methods poses a number of challenges. Certain historiographical approaches tend to privilege authorial figures—directors, screenwriters—over the multidirectional and horizontal connections established between organic, technical and militant intellectuals. This article uses a case study of Raymundo Gleyzer and his time with the Cine de la Base collective to highlight the productive dynamics, ways of understanding filmmaking, and strategies of resilience of such groups. Drawing on autonomist theory, the study suggests that these collectives generate a twofold biopolitical production expressed both in the creation of common places in the communities where their productions are shown and in the dissemination of a set of methods that could serve as a structure for future militant and/or collaborative film experiments. The analysis is divided into three parts, exploring the initially authorial role of Gleyzer, the establishment of new creative dynamics in Cine de la Base, and the way the group reacted after the forced disappearance or exile of its members. It is argued here that such strategies afford a surprising malleability, even in conditions of extreme repression.