ALFONSO GUMUCIO DAGRON
On March 22 of each year, Bolivian Cinema Day is commemorated, in memory of Luis Espinal Camps, who was one of its most committed promoters, savagely murdered on that date in 1980.
Months ago, a letter circulated requesting signatures to “demand” that the board of directors of the Bolivian Cinemateca (which is a trust, an independent foundation) be held accountable… Do you tell who and what?
Many friends stepped on the stick naively and then apologized for having signed without reflecting. The problem is that not even film lovers seem to understand that a cinematheque or film library is not just a film club where one goes to see good films, but a repository where works are recovered, preserved in good condition and classified as part of the cultural heritage. The Bolivian Cinematheque has rescued 80% of the film material from Bolivia, and among the merits of recent years is having made a magnificent catalog of all the material cataloged in the Marcos Kavlin Film Archive, whom I had the pleasure of meeting when I was researching for myself History of Bolivian cinema (1982).
Another great achievement has been to obtain as a donation a digital scanner for 16mm and 35mm films, positive and negative, to enhance the film archive, which has also been enriched with new collections such as those of Antonio Eguino, the production of Wallparrimachi, the donation of Francisco Cajías and Mauge Muñoz, the Pat Fund and the “De Cerca” collection of Carlos D. Mesa. That represents an additional increase of 40% of Bolivian film heritage. The Cinemateca has digitized and restored Bolivian films that could not otherwise be seen (Warawara, El bolillo fatal and others), and now that process will continue with its own film scanner.
Something that “is not seen” but is fundamental is the administrative and financial reorganization of the Bolivian Cinemateca Foundation, adapting it to the situation experienced in recent years, aggravated by the pandemic, piracy and the appearance of new audiovisual consumption technologies that have The audience that attends the theaters has decreased. This necessary reorganization, which had been postponed for many years, has allowed the payment of debts and social benefits accumulated since previous administrations. Today, the finances of the Bolivian Cinematheque are almost completely healthy, although the achievement is not announced on the billboard. In addition, it should be mentioned that with great effort a total of 26 international projects have been generated, presented and obtained through competition for the benefit of the archive and programming.
The Cinematheque does not need to be defended, since those achievements speak for themselves. But it is necessary to explain them in all their letters for those who do not know them, and to reiterate them for those who do know them but try to ignore them and ignore them, carried away by the hostility and pettiness so typical of our feudal provincialism.
As an exhibition venue, the Cinemateca has accumulated other merits, since since its inception it has presented all the films produced in Bolivia, but it has also provided space for several film clubs to operate in its facilities (The Best Film in the World, Cineclub Sopocachi, etc. .), film festivals are held (Cine Radical, among others) and screens are maintained through agreements with embassies to learn about the cinematography of other countries (Movie Nights, German Cinema, and much more). Some of these activities attract a large audience and are free for the viewer, but the Cinematheque receives income from the institutions that allows it to survive. Sometimes it lends its rooms free of charge, when the activity is interesting and the cultural groups cannot pay the rent for the rooms. The activity is enormous, sometimes the lines to enter extend for several blocks (for Korean cinema, for example). Although there is little audience for the regular screenings, the special cycles attract many young people. There is no week without special activities, but since there is no one in charge of publicizing these activities, little is known about them by those who do not go to the Cinematheque but criticize it from the sofas at home.
In commercial movie theaters it is considered that with less than 10 spectators it is not profitable to project a film, but in the Bolivian Cinemateca even if there are three spectators, the projection is held. All Bolivian films are shown, no matter how bad they are, but some filmmakers turn their backs on the institution that has privileged the exhibition of our cinema, instead of competing with commercial theaters and becoming one of them. Of course, you can also see the movies that are in the cinemas in shopping centers on their screens, as long as they are interesting works. There is a balance that has prevented the Cinematheque from becoming only an exhibitor of blockbuster films.
Bolivia’s most emblematic film director, Jorge Sanjinés, chose the Bolivian Cinematheque at the end of February to receive the Condor of the Andes from President Luis Arce Catacora, who also stayed for the entire duration of the premiere of The Old Soldiers ( 2024), the most recent work by the director of Yawar Mallku, The Courage of the People and The Clandestine Nation, among others.
The Bolivian Cinemateca awards the Semilla award every year, to recognize the efforts of film workers, whether technicians, directors, scriptwriters or producers. It is also the international reference institution, in charge of selecting Bolivian works destined to compete at the Oscars and the Goya awards. This is done in a transparent manner with a jury of specialists, among whom I have had to work several times.
All of the above, which is a lot, is done by the Bolivian Cinemateca with a minimal staff, which is reduced to the director Mela Márquez and her assistant Nancy Pinto. Elizabeth Carrasco, in charge of the documentation center, recently retired. Then there are three projectionists who in turn take turns selling tickets, and two parking attendants, which is open 24 hours a day and is a source of income for the institution. In addition, a part-time administrator, as well as cleaning staff and other collaborators who occasionally contribute to essential tasks. That is, we are talking about less than ten people in total, only half of them full time.
Comparatively, the Bogotá Cinematheque (Cultural Center of Audiovisual Arts), which I visited in 2019 and which I wrote about in Página Siete, is only dedicated to exhibition and training, in addition to having a documentary archive and library, but it has more than 50 employees. Another important Colombian institution, the Film Archive, which is the repository of all films, has 8 to 10 full-time staff, and several others on special projects. In Colombia, the State has been concerned for many years about supporting cultural institutions and has allowed their continuity through governments, without politicizing them as has been done in Bolivia with the Cultural Foundation of the Central Bank, given to officials related to the FURTHER.
In this context and on the occasion of yet another commemoration of Bolivian Cinema Day, the letter from the inquisitors (which obtained more than 600 signatures) is a shameful nonsense. The modern Savonarola, who never go to the Cinematheque but complain that there is no audience, fell on deaf ears when the signatories realized the deception.
The arguments that were circulated in the margins of the letter are childish: the projection of room 2 is not good, the treatment of the officials is not friendly and the bathroom is a disaster. We never complained about the screenings in the borrowed room on Pichincha Street, where we went eager for good cinema but also out of solidarity. Now that there are comfortable seats, Room 1 with DCP and Dolby projection, and a wonderful building that is in an area more accessible to the film-loving public, the inquisitors are not going.
Of course, things could be better if the State supported the Cinematheque financially without undermining its independence, as happens in all civilized countries. A little support would allow us to have more staff, improve the conditions of the rooms and bathrooms, and carry out new initiatives to attract more visitors.
A project that I have suggested several times for several years is a Cinema Museum, under the main staircase, in a little and poorly used space. It wouldn’t cost much money to put a glass door there to close that room and display cameras, projectors, posters, photos and other objects that the Cinematheque already has, but that the public very rarely sees. I know several families willing to donate old equipment to enhance that collection.
In short, on behalf of what, from whom and why does this petition appear demanding “accounts” from the board of a cultural foundation independent of the State, from which it does not receive a single cent? Are reports required from other private foundations? They do not set foot in the Cinematheque even when the remains of a friend and collaborator are being laid to rest there, as happened at the end of November when José Bozo died. The bad absences were noticeable.
Ignorance is daring, because fortunately the Bolivian Cinematheque has its things in order. There are detailed narrative and economic reports of each project that has been carried out, whether to achieve a film scanner for the first time, or new projectors for the theaters. One of the greatest achievements is having paid almost all of the debt accumulated for many years, and that is well documented. Cleaning up an institution’s finances is more important than remodeling the bathroom (suggestions from funders are welcome for that purpose).
If the managers of the inquisitorial letter had taken the trouble and if they had some institutional representation, they would be able to access all these reports. The letter is not signed by the Association of Filmmakers, nor by the New Bolivian Cinema and Video Movement (MNCVB), nor by any representative cultural organization. It is just a veiled move aimed at dismantling the institution, something that was already attempted years ago. But it is not going to happen, because there are many of us who are going to defend the independence of the Bolivian Cinematheque, at the same time as reminding the State that it is its obligation to support culture.
Editor is a writer and filmmaker
@AlfonsoGumucio
2024-03-16 19:58:47
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