Illegal_Cinema

At Illegal_Cinema we share our lesser-known media interests through discussion and social exchange. Films are proposed to be screened at Bulegoa z/b, followed by a conversation among the audience members. Through these dialogues we attend to the subversive ideas emerging from a necessary countercultural inquiry.

To propose a screening, anyone can suggest their choice of audiovisual material, as long as it is not their own. Nevertheless, the screenings may take on a performative character, stretching the limits of conventional spectatorship. We are interested in unearthing hidden media gems discovered covertly, located on obscure media platforms and kept on a hard drive, or in revisiting films we have seen repeatedly without ceasing to give them new meaning.

Similarly, we place minor cinemas at the center of our programming, filmmakers who deviate from commercial standards and who collectively decentralize the institutionalized western canon. The “illegality” of the screenings at Bulegoa z/b can be understood satirically as a form of border-crossing, bringing together disparate cinemas in a way that resists regional, stylistic or pedagogical classification.

Illegal_Cinema began in 2007 in Belgrade on the initiative of Marta Popivoda, a member of TkH (Walking Theory), as a form of community self-education. It was followed by similar initiatives in Zagreb and Istanbul from 2008 to 2009, and in 2010 TkH developed another Illegal_Cinema in Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers in Paris. That same year Marta Popivoda visited Bulegoa z/b to introduce Illegal_Cinema. Since then, the program has been developed in Bilbao as well. Previously the screenings at Illegal_Cinema were coordinated by Jorge Núñez, Cristian Villavicencio, Leire San Martin, Marion Cruza Le Bihan, Ainara Elgoibar, Pablo Marte, Aizpea de Atxa together with Akane Saraiva, Akane Saraiva and Julia Martos.

Marina Massidda currently holds this role. If you would like to propose a film or audiovisual material, please get in touch with Marina by sending an email to bulegoa@bulegoa.org or to marinamassiddaserra@gmail.com.