Cross-Sectioning the Slop

Hadi Afif is a writer and photographer based in Beirut and Dubai.Founded in 2021, Do Not Research is an independent and reader-supported publication:This text was originally published in Dazed Middle East.Unfolding in the blurry margins of the algorithm, a new form of cinematic language is cutting through the slop—and it might just be one of the internet’s saving graces.“If ur seeing this, you are in the internet cinema”- Instagram bio of _opensecrett_When I tried explaining this essay to friends and anyone curious enough to ask, I realised that the world of internet cinema isn’t as vast as I had (rather naïvely) imagined. Maybe because not everyone logs in the same level of daily screen time? If you Google the term, you’ll probably be met with discourse around “is the internet killing cinema?” and “can the internet be cinematic?”. But that’s not entirely what this text is about. It is also not an attempt to pander to cinephile forums populated by self-proclaimed movie buffs who…