The ranks of Third World cinema are mainly comprised of former colonies of 19th century European empires. As these nations emerge from centuries of underdevelopment, social, cultural and intellectual repression, their struggle for national and individual identity, as well as for economic self-sufficiency, has produced exciting cinematic impulses. In fact, one of the most important historical developments since the seventies has been the emergence of Third World cinema, often referred to as "Third Cinema" (Willemen, Third Cinema, The Third Cinema Question: Notes and Reflections 5).
Despite ethnic and political diversity, Third Cinema films from different regions have many common characteristics identifying them as part of a cohesive international movement. From Latin America to Africa, the universality of Third Cinema is not confined by language or geographical barriers (Willemen 8).
Unlike Western Cinema which represents a pas des twoi of art, entertainment, and commerce (with particular emphasis on commerce and entertainment), Third Cinema filmmakers constantly struggling to prevent Hollywood from overwhelming their local film industries, see the filmic medium as primarily mass persuasion, cultural consolidation, and consciousness-raising.
Third Cinema is also distinctly unconventional in its production modes. Collective production, underground production, on-location shooting of guerilla warfare, and non-Western funding are often an integral part of the developmental process. Perhaps most significantly (for reasons that will be explained later), Third Cinema shuns the conventional narrative syntax of Hollywood and other Western forms in favor of extending the limits of film structure in order to express socioeconomic and sociopolitical realities not depicted in Eurocentric products (Willemen 7).
The ultimate goal of the Third Cinema process is to reclaim and revitalize national cultural expression that has bee...