A Manifesto to Break

Cinema manifestos always evoke conflicting notions in me. On one hand, they are good as they ignite our wild and radical sides. On the other hand, it feels absurd to fence in art with rules. The absurdity becomes more apparent when filmmakers end up breaking their own manifestos.

I once wrote a personal manifesto, meant only for my own eyes, some thoughts hidden away. It was during a break from my master’s studies in Belgium when I visited my uncle in a cold, gloomy Flemish village where I found time to write. Recently, I stumbled upon this manifesto in my archive. Naturally, I noticed that my perspective had evolved with time, and my artistic instincts urged me to revise some of it. But, no, I’ve decided to leave it as it is and face my former self.

To me, the underlying notion here is clear: Life continues along its own timeline, and we are driven to act when circumstances align. Nothing in life defines us more than those circumstances. They led me, just once, to write a manifesto. It had to be written by a film student on a chilling winter’s day in a Flemish village. And, it could only be shared by a contemplative filmmaker in search of self-examination.

Here is my manifesto:

1. Offscreen space holds greater significance than what happens onscreen, as it encourages the audience’s imagination.
2. To feed their creativity, it’s better to distance the audience from what they see, rather than appealing to their emotions.
3. A film’s title should refrain from directly reflecting the core concept of the film and should avoid being descriptive. An untitled film can maintain its cinematic quality without any compromise.
4. A film should have contradictions so that there shouldn’t necessarily be logical connections between the dramatic elements.
5. Displaying direct emotions through obvious actions, such as crying to depict sadness, is a cheap trick, and should be avoided.
6. A film should be made in such a way that nearly every prediction made by the audience should be false, but these unexpected elements should smoothly blend with the film’s universe.
7. Dream scenes are the most clichéd elements in contemporary cinema. The art of filmmaking should free itself from dream scenes.
8. In a film, the dialogue never should reflect the central theme or subject. Instead, it should only prioritize character interactions.
9. The prevalent plague of our time is political correctness. Art, in other words, artists, should not fear hurting any specific group, set of values, or ideologies.
10. In a film, it’s essential to include scenes that don’t connect with the central theme or subject. This adds depth and authenticity to the film’s universe, as life itself doesn’t always revolve around a singular concept.
11. Some scenes should bore the audience as they watch them. But, when the audience finally concludes these scenes, they should find themselves regretting their moments of boredom.
12. A film should not necessarily contain a particular story. Instead, it should create an atmosphere and invite the audience to step in, to become part of its world, whether as a participant or an observer.
13. Making a film without contributing to cinematic evolution is pointless.
14. Including this one, all manifestos should be disregarded.

January 17, 2016

Maasmechelen, Belgium