Alternative Modes of Production in Narrative Film: Dialectic of the Hollywood and Dogme 95 Modes of Production and its influence in Cuban Cinema

Nowadays, an almost industrial mode of production is used in narrative film because many people think of filmmaking as an industry. Thus, the current Hollywood mode of production has been the dominant mode of production for narrative films in the world since the fifties. But, to surprise of many people, this hegemony was openly challenged by the Danish movement Dogme 95 in the nineties, when it produced many films that were successful, not only critically but also commercially, using cheap video cameras and small budgets. This success encouraged small cinemas and poor countries to embrace this new mode of production as a model, as was the case with the Cuban Cinema. The dialectic between the Hollywood and the Dogme 95 modes of production is explained by the difference in availability of resources to filmmakers around the world. It is this difference what explains the constant search for alternative modes of production in narrative film.

Christian C. Vinces Pastorino, MA in Media Arts from Long Island University. BFA in Film from SUNY- Purchase College. Producer/Director at Amaru Films Corp., New York.