In August, the group Cine x Palestina was born in Argentina, bringing together dozens of artists and audiovisual workers who decided to organize in order to make visible, denounce, and confront the genocide in Gaza. Since its formation, the collective has held assemblies in which it drafted a declaration of principles and launched a series of initiatives aimed at amplifying the voices of the audiovisual world in support of the Palestinian people.

One of the first actions was the call “Cineminutes for Palestine”, which invites the production of short films of between one and three minutes in solidarity with the resistance in Gaza. The call, open until October 31, seeks to bring together the creativity of filmmakers from across the country and to disseminate pieces denouncing the offensive of the State of Israel. In parallel, on August 18, the event “Palestinian Perspectives” was held at the cultural center Tano Cabrón, screening short films by Palestinian filmmakers, some of them shown in Argentina for the first time.

The group also takes active part in street mobilizations and has encouraged similar initiatives in cities such as Mar del Plata and Rosario. Its involvement is part of an international wave of filmmakers and audiovisual workers who, from different latitudes, reject the crimes against humanity in Gaza. In recent months, well-known figures in cinema have published open letters addressed to festivals such as Venice and Cannes, and joined campaigns that forced the cancellation of events linked to the Mubi platform due to its ties with capital associated with Israel’s military industry.

The establishment of Cine x Palestina in Argentina also aims to confront the weight of Zionism in the local audiovisual industry and to denounce the pressures that seek to silence critical voices, in a context of austerity and crisis at the Incaa. Its members emphasize the need to build a network of solidarity to protect those who speak out against the genocide, and to contest the cultural sphere against those spaces that open their doors to official Israeli propaganda.

The collective points out that Israel’s military offensive, which has already resulted in more than 60,000 deaths, has also caused the killing of more than 200 journalists and audiovisual workers—a direct attack on the very possibility of narrating and documenting. From this perspective, they uphold cinema’s role as a tool to record, denounce, and raise awareness, just as historic Argentine films committed to the Palestinian cause have done since the 1970s.

In a country where solidarity mobilizations with Palestine have multiplied in recent months, Cine x Palestina joins as an active part of this process, in tune with groups of artists and students who also raise their voices. With the memory of images of horror and the conviction that art cannot remain silent, its members call for collective organization so that cinema may serve as a tool of resistance, denunciation, and solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Cineminutes Call: LINK