A Gathering Place for Outlaws: Fugitive Cinema’s Alternative Film Distribution

Abstract

This article examines the distribution activities of Fugitive Cinema, a Belgian film collective established in 1966. It argues that Fugitive Cinema, alongside other socially engaged European film groups, extended its mission beyond film production, aiming to reshape the existing film industry and culture more broadly. Film distribution was a critical strategy within this endeavour. The article investigates Fugitive Cinema’s role in the distribution of alternative cinema, emphasizing their efforts to promote films that challenged conventional norms and were closely aligned with the contestation movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Drawing on previously unavailable archival materials and interviews with key witnesses, the study highlights the collective’s broader impact on film culture and the crucial role alternative distribution systems played in shaping an alternative cinematic landscape.