Manifesto
8 Millimeters Versus 8 Millions

Figures

We hereby declare before the public that the following people: Felipe Cazals, Arturo Ripstein, Paul Leduc, Rafael Castanedo, Eduardo Maldonado, Gustavo Alatriste, Jaime Humberto Hermosillo and the spokesmen Emilio García Riera, David Ramón, Tomás Pérez Turrent and Fernando Gou, are taking advantage of the word "INDEPENDENT" for their commercial and promotional aims and are all going to the most remote region of Mexico to hold a meeting which will be a dialogue with the voices of silence amplified by their official spokesmen.

To this maneuver we reply with this declaration of principles:

1) That he who produces a film of over ten thousand pesos cannot be called an independent filmmaker, as this implies subordination to all the norms of censorship existing and to come, and total acceptance of the systems which we have criticized through cinema.

2) For anyone with an honest mental lucidity, a Super-8mm film represents the values, the true criticism that can be made of a system, which has virtues and defects; that is, that the economiccost of a film does not correspond to its quality, because with the twelve millions used for the production of Zapata, for example, we could have made 10,000 super-8 films which would represent all our historical, social and artistic context. [End Page 37] [Begin Page 39]

3) We wish to set forth for once and for all that the movement of new Mexican cinema was conceived on May 15, 1970, with the First National Independent Cinema Competition "Luis Buñuel," and that those who preserve or are working in this same spirit can validly represent the spirit of independence of criteria, despite the ideological divisions which the Cooperatives and other groups of independent cinema have had to face.

4) We also wish to establish that we will continue to work through the exhibition channels from the humblest to those with the latest technologies, but always with the very clear idea that the language of cinema must be at the service of the community and that we will continue to criticize the faults and errors of the system, likewise, we will make known the existing achievements.

5) To conclude, we are aware that the movement which is emerging here in Mexico, a means of expression through the language of independent cinema, is the most dynamic and has national characteristics so far unrivaled abroad in the world panorama of cinema. [End Page 39] [Begin Page 41]

Founders of the 1st National Independent Cinema Competition

ÓSCAR MENÉNDEZ (filmmaker)
VÍCTOR FOSADO (musician)
SERGIO BÉJAR (filmmaker)
RUBÉN GÁMEZ (filmmaker)
JORGE GODOY (theater director)
ARMANDO ZAYAS (musician)
JUAN DE LA CABADA (writer)
LEOPOLDO AYALA (poet)
LUIS BUÑUEL (filmmaker)
ANTONIO ROSETE (filmmaker)
RENÉ AVILÉS FABILA (writer)
JUAN JOSÉ GURROLA (theater director)

SIGNATURES

ALFREDO GURROLA (filmmaker)	ALEJANDRO CUADROS (photographer)
DAVID CELESTINOS (filmmaker)	JORGE SEQUEIROS (filmmaker)
SERGIO GARCÍA (filmmaker)	EDUARDO ESCANDÓN (filmmaker)
LEOPOLDO HERNÁNDEZ (filmmaker)	BERTHA FERRER (critic)
JUAN NÚÑEZ (filmmaker)	GABRIELA SALAS (actress)
NINO GASTEASORO (filmmaker)	IGNACIO LUNA (actor)
MARÍA EUGENIA ANAYA (filmmaker)	RUBÉN ISLAS (actor)
TERESA TAPIA (filmmaker)	PEDRO SAN NICOLÁS (cameraman)
LIGIA ESCALANTE (actress, dancer)	MIGUEL HUERTA (filmmaker)
JAVIER ESPINOSA (actor)	ROCÍO BARRIOS (filmmaker)
RICARDO TIRADO (actor)	ANTONIO DOMÍNGUEZ (cameraman)
NORMA FIGUEROA (actress)	ALFREDO ZAMARRIPA (filmmaker)
SERGIO ARROYABE (actor)	LUIS ALBERTO TREJO (filmmaker)
HUGO GARCÍA (musician)	ELENA ZETINA (actress)
GILBERTO VERDUZCO (artist)	SAMUEL CIENFUEGOS (actor)
MARIL ZETINA (sociologist, filmmaker)	TINA FRENCH (actress)
JESÚS MENDOZA (lighting operator)	VERÓNICA FERNÁNDEZ (actress)
EFRAÍN BERMÚDEZ (filmmaker)	FELIPE TIRADO (filmmaker)

July 14, 1972.