Cine Sin Autor

In 2008, Cine sin Autor released a manifesto that laid out their aims and methods, while doubling as an invitation to question and challenge the conventional rules of film production. This approach—using practice as a springboard for theory, later distilled into a manifesto—places the collective firmly within the tradition of New Latin American Cinema,  also known as Third Cinema, one of its major influences. Among the figures they cite as touchstones are Jorge Sanjinés, Jean-Luc Godard and Aleksandr Medvedkin.

In 2009, Cine sin Autor expanded with the arrival of Emmanuelle Trepagny, who later settled in Toulouse, giving rise to a new offshoot in the city. Between 2009 and 2012, the collective worked across different neighbourhoods in Madrid, producing films and participating in audiovisual creation workshops. During this period, Helena de Llanos and Davide Crudetti also joined the team.

In 2012, Cine sin Autor found a new home at Matadero Madrid’s Contemporary Creation Centre, joining the Intermediae laboratory for production and artistic creation. This permanent base marked a turning point: out of it grew the Fábrica de Cine sin Autor, a physical space for creation and collaboration, ending the collective’s nomadic phase. The following year, it released Manifiesto 2.0, a revised and updated version of its original 2008 text. Over these years, several collaborators contributed to the project. However, the collective stopped publishing new work or updates in 2017, entering an indefinite hiatus.

Between 2007 and 2017, Cine sin Autor developed numerous projects. Highlights include Sinfonía de Tetuán (2009-2012), a mosaic of stories of life in the Madrid neighbourhoods of La Ventilla and Tetuán; Mátame si puedes (2012-2017), a web series created in collaboration with users of the Arganzuela Psychosocial Rehabilitation Centre; and Negrablanca (2012-2013), a film made in partnership with the residents of Blanca, Murcia.

Cine sin Autor developed its own distinctive methodology, known as sinautoría, a neologism formed from the Spanish words sin [without/no] and autoría [authorship]. This methodology is thoroughly theorised and set out in the collective’s two manifestos, which outline the core principles of their approach. In its first manifesto, sinautoría is defined as a socio-cinematic process in which representation is shaped by the person or collective making the film—and, in turn, that person or collective is transformed through the very act of building the film representation they choose to produce.

The collective’s practice focuses on working with individuals and groups outside the world of conventional film production. It champions all forms of aesthetics as valid for filmmaking, viewing the process as a socio-fictional-reality with which to collaborate with people and groups to create their own images and representations.

At the heart of Cine sin Autor’s approach—both in theory and practice—is a redefinition of the traditional auteur, framed through the concept of the dispositivo-autor [device-auteur], which refers to whoever holds control over the film’s resources and decision-making. In its model, authorship is reimagined as a collective power shared by everyday people who decide on the creation, aesthetic, management and profits of their work. The classic role of the lone auteur is replaced with the figure of the no-autor or sinautor (both roughly translating to “no-auteur”), laying the groundwork for a more horizontal, collaborative mode of filmmaking.

The decisions of this dispositivo-autor are entirely free across every stage of audiovisual production. One of Cine sin Autor’s stand-out features is its view of the script as a means of exerting pressure. Instead, they champion discussion, consensus and improvisation as their preferred methods. Their approach is also grounded in the principle of no-dirección [no-direction], a collective way of working that promotes the social development of cinema while preventing power from becoming concentrated in the hands of a single individual. This opens the door to the free flow of knowledge and collective creativity, breaking down the usual divide between audiovisual professionals and those outside the industry.

In Manifesto 2.0, Cine sin Autor clarifies that sinautoría follows principles grounded in grassroots organisation, aimed at making films and sharing non-elitist technical and theoretical know-how. At the same time, it encourages open debate, treats creation as a shared resource, builds collective narratives, and reclaims personal and community stories. And crucially, collective film screenings are a core part of the sinautoría process, not an afterthought.