About Us
Othon Cinema is a platform that aims to open up space for all kinds of cinematic production, organizing film screenings.
In addition to our screenings, we also host a range of creative avenues on our website. The first of these is, of course, writing about cinema. But rather than following current trends, this space is for those who think through cinema, who engage in intellectual production, and who seek to share their cinematic perspectives with others through writing.
Another essential mode of production is filmmaking itself—the most fundamental aspect of it all. To be constantly in dialogue with the image, to become one with the camera. Here, the practice of filmmaking takes on a more personal tone. At its simplest, it is about a person being able to create a medium through selected images and the ideas in their mind. In Othon’s view, artistic distinctions based on category or commercial strategy are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the force that fuels the excitement of creation: cinema.
Another form of production we value is the translation of significant texts on cinema. One of Othon’s core principles is the question of language—the importance of a shared language, and the possibility of making artistic production accessible under this shared roof. It is about breaking down the walls that make cinema seem unreachable.
At its core, Othon is a platform that regularly organizes film screenings and consistently works to make visible the kinds of production mentioned above. In every step we take, external participation is deeply valued. Remaining accessible and supportive of cinematic creation is among our most important goals.
Othon derives its name from Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet’s 1970 film, an adaptation of Pierre Corneille’s eponymous tragedy. Premiering in France, the film was met with Straub’s own provocative remarks: “The French have never truly recognized this work. I want to offer them something in their own language that nevertheless feels unfamiliar.”. Upon seeing Othon in a Paris cinema, Marguerite Duras walked out into the street and called to strangers: “Don’t be foolish—go and see Othon.”
Othon’s founding takes root in the same soil: the desire to reveal, in our own language, a cinema that unsettles familiarity, that insists on being seen anew. By virtue of its name, Othon also pays homage to Straub & Huillet, and to countless other great artists whose work continues to shape the unseen contours of cinema.
Othon Cinema 