filmsare

filmsare is a term and collaborative project in contemporary cinema discourse that examines how films operate as artifacts, events, and cultural conversations. The name, written as a single word, is used across essays, video analyses, and public talks to prompt inquiry into what film is, what films do, and for whom they speak. The project positions cinema as an evolving practice rather than a fixed medium, emphasizing audience engagement, material conditions, and the social life of film.

Originating in the late 2010s among a loose network of filmmakers, critics, and educators, filmsare began online as a collection of short essays and reflective videos. It later expanded to include film screenings, collaborative zines, and a searchable glossary of terms related to film form, reception, and history. The work operates without a single institutional home, instead coordinating through community forums and open calls for contributions.

Activities associated with filmsare include published writings, public screenings with post-film discussions, and the maintenance of a community-driven resource that documents concepts such as film as memory, film as archive, and film as social practice. The project has found traction in indie cinema circles and certain film studies classrooms as a way to discuss film beyond conventional categories of genre and author.

Reception to filmsare has been mixed: supporters praise its accessible, participatory approach to film criticism; critics argue that the lack of formal structure can obscure evaluative criteria. Overall, filmsare is regarded as a niche but recognizable part of contemporary film discourse, intersecting with film theory, audience studies, and media archaeology.