The ficine (itinerant black cinema forum) is a space of education and reflection on the world production of film, photography and audiovisual which has black as directors. César Schofield Cardoso, filmmaker and photographer, is one of its founding members in Cape Verde.
What is ficine?
César Schofield Cardoso: Is the black film forum. Resulted from a meeting in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, during the week of Africa. In that event we discussed the African cinematography, the black diaspora and the problems of the black condition. Then came the idea from a Brazilian researcher called Janaina Oliveira, who proposed a traveling irinerant forum traveling to various places to talk about this topic. I like to develop several projects, on the web, so I suggested that this meeting also occur online. And it has been so, we are on the Internet, where there are several references, dissertations, companies, books and theses.
And movies?
CSC: Has a list of filmmaker.
But is a black film forum to promote black culture, or is it just for black origin filmmakers?
CSC: Black cinema is a title that denotes a certain kind of cinema. Historically took place in the US, as opposed to a film that already existed in mainstream, which was in Hollywood and did not show blacks, when there was a role they paint the faces black, the famous "black faces", but even then there are black origin actors capable of composing a character. The black film turns out to show things from the black point of view, however has been developing and arrived in Brazil, Colombia and currently addresses the black African cinema, which is different from the Maghreb. It is a film that speaks of a field, a cinema with its own characteristics that not enough to be black, has other issues that take a long time to explain, the site explains them. It is a statement of cinema, not exclusion, a white can do a black film putting this issue from the point of view of color, but the ficine has a concrete proposal on recovery of black cultures, the look and the black situation. The forum has this concern worldwide extend this discussion to form an audience, because our look is very stereotypical, we consume a particular culture and not questioned us about it, catches attention by another way of doing things, which are not prejudiced and this is also one of the objectives of deconstruct and create another imagery.
What other activities the ficine has, in addition to the debates?
CSC: We are roaming, the project has only one year, but the idea is to have a travel plan. Places where we go and set this debate, the forum has a very important factor is education where are involved teachers, students and researchers. So we have a concern about the education of the public and also with the development of materials to schools, which is not done any other way and we intend to do it.
But you show films?
CSC: Yes, after we have workshops for film production.
