The Hour of the Furnaces

film by Getino and Solanas [1968]

Also known as: “La hora de los hornos”

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July 20, 2026

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The Hour of the Furnaces (1968) is a landmark Argentine documentary film by Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino. It is a seminal work of Third Cinema, an aesthetic and political movement that emerged in Third World countries as an alternative to Hollywood's "First Cinema" and European art films' "Second Cinema".1

Third Cinema films, like The Hour of the Furnaces, aim for social realism, addressing issues such as poverty, identity, tyranny, revolution, colonialism, and class. The film itself is a radical and controversial examination of Argentine history and politics in the 1960s. It advocates for a cinema that breaks down the division between art and life, encouraging viewers to be active producers of culture rather than passive consumers.1

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Third Cinema
…hora de los hornos (1968; The Hour of the Furnaces), one of the best-known Third Cinema documentary films of the 1960s, in their manifesto “Hacia un tercer cine” (1969; “Toward a Third Cinema”).
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…hora de los hornos (1968; The Hour of the Furnaces), one of the best-known Third Cinema documentary films of the 1960s, in their manifesto “Hacia un tercer cine” (1969; “Toward a Third Cinema”).
Read More