Cine Manifest (2006)

Synopsis
In the early 1970s, San Francisco was a hotbed of idealism. In this politically active setting, a group of seven idealistic young filmmakers banded together to form a combative film collective called Cine Manifest. Judy Irola was the only female member. She and fellow artists and Marxists decided to make politically relevant feature films that would still appeal to a mass audience. It wasn’t enough to preach to the choir, the group wanted their films to reach wide audiences who weren’t in tune with their “politics.” At first, they could barely support themselves, but eventually they found the resources to make two acclaimed independent features, Northern Lights and Over-Under, Sideways-Down. These launched notable careers for the members. Through the collective, they supported one another’s efforts and their own families for six years. But, at what personal cost? More than 30 years later, Irola, assessing the situation in America, was reminded of earlier times at the collective. She and the members of Cine Manifest decided to return to San Francisco for a reunion. Interviews with former comrades revealed that most still held some of the same political beliefs, but, in retrospect, the filmmakers found that they had traded some of their idealism for real-life experience. In this deeply personal documentary, Irola asks her old friends from the collective to determine what went right and what went wrong. Did their little social experiment succeed or fail? Was it ultimately an artistic success or an idealistic disaster? Irola’s Cine Manifest investigates idealism in action in this reflective documentary film.

Interview with Judy Irola about Cine Manifest

The political nature of filmmaking drives Judy Irola's work. As Judy tells Kevin, "I don't think you're human if you're not political."
(11/11/2006 Starz Denver Film Festival)


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