Independent Film: derivatives of an elusive concept through northern Patagonia

Abstract

This article aims to recognize the transformations expressed within the notion of independent cinema during the first two decades of the National Competition of Independent Film and Video of Cipolletti, a city located in the northern zone of the Argentinian Patagonia. Given the difficulty to access the works screened during the event, we turn to the speeches that have accompanied every edition under the premise that they play an important role in the way in which the construction of said category is shaped, so often employed but at the same time so difficult to define given the dynamic within the contexts in which it enrolls. The sources range from the positions expressed by the organizing group, GruSu8, up to Jury Proceedings, newspaper reports published in regional print media and advertising posters of the event. From the analysis done, a chronology is proposed covering the editions from 1983 to 2004. The work aims to contribute to the reflections on the inherently dynamic and contextual nature of the concepts that attempt to account for such complex sociocultural processes.