Please contact us
with corrections
or breaking news
Revolución Rasquache: A Manifesto for the Guerrilla Filmmaker by Rafael Flores and the Green Eyed Media Collective
A Chicano revolutionary committing suicide in Harry Gamboa Jr.'s 'Chicano Cinema', (1976). photo: courtesy H. Gamboa
AS ACTIVIST-FILMMAKERS WHO DEFEND
cultural equity in a hegemonic melting pot, WE CHALLENGE our likeminded "rasquachistas" to revive their own cultural and aesthetic traditions, to invent new forms of communication and to combat oppressive political agendas in Hollywood.
WE CHALLENGE marginalized artists all around the world to redefine what Rasquache Cinema means to amplify its effect on the decolonization of our minds.
WE CHALLENGE artists to embrace their imperfections and see it as an advantage to liberate their minds and revolutionize the way we live.
Therefore, we rasquachistas, "declaramos guerra contra" all forms of colonial filmmaking and vow to hold the following principles to be true and self-evident:
'Towards a Rasquache Cinema' early form in the sketchbook of Rafael Flores (2013). photo: courtesy R. Flores
1. Rasquache films can’t have any form of copyright; our cinema belongs to the people.
2. Rasquache films don’t have credits. We reject individualism.
3. No money can be exchanged or spent on rasquache productions (equipment, actors, locations, etc.).
4. No sublime, or “art for art's sake.” Spectacle is an opiate for the masses.
5. Digital Filmmaking Only—"The best camera, is the camera that you have on you"
6. Handheld shots only.
7. Must be shot on-location, with no sets or green screens.
8. Under no circumstances should a rasquache filmmaker purchase a permit for filmmaking or seek permission from any institution.
9. Rasquache stories denounce neo-colonialism and capitalist oppression.
10. This Is Our Revolution—Our Camera = Our Gun (16 rounds per second = 24 fps)
11. Films must not be distributed on commercial platforms, only the Internet!
12. Rasquache cinema must not be televised, or screened in film festivals. We must invent our own channels of communication and create anti-festivals.
13. There must be an open dialogue during and after each rasquache film screening.
14. We refuse to appeal to "cross-over" audiences. We reject any cross-over appeal that gives way to privilege. We destroy all borders.
15. No genre films, only "No-Movies"—Harry Gamboa Jr.
16. Rasquache films must embrace the plurality of language and manipulate the translation of dialogue for the dominant audience or not provide subtitles at all, so that they may feel the same alienation colonized people experience.
17. Rasquache filmmakers must attempt at all costs to liberate internal colonies and external colonies.
I, ___________________________, hold these ideals to be true, and hereby, dedicate my corazón, mind, and labor to the advancement of rasquache cinema and revolution within the globalized film market and all its industries.