Community-based Cinema by First Nations Communities in Abya Yala in the XX Century

Abstract

This essay offers a brief history of community-based filmmaking by first nations communities in Abya Yala during the 20th century, a cinema made by, about, and for the communities that produce it. As context, I first review indianist and indigenist representations of First Nations communities in the Europeanized cinemas of the Americas. I then trace the evolution of community-based filmmaking by First Nations communities in Abya Yala, from a first period in 16mm and Super-8 formats between the 1960s and the 1980s, to a second period in analog video in the 1990s. A future article will consider a third digital period in the 21st century.