Cinema of Paraguay

Latin American cinema

Cinema of Argentina Cinema of Bolivia Cinema of Brazil Cinema of Chile Cinema of Colombia Cinema of Cuba Cinema of Ecuador Cinema of Mexico Cinema of Paraguay Cinema of Peru Cinema of Puerto Rico Cinema of Uruguay Cinema of Venezuela

The Cinema of Paraguay is small, however this has begun to change in recent years with films like El Toque del Oboe (1998), María Escobar (2002), O Amigo Dunor (2005) which competed for Best Movie in the Rotterdam International Film Festival, and Hamaca Paraguaya (2006), which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, gaining critical acclaim both in Paraguay and abroad.

Some early footage had been shot in Paraguay by foreigners as early as 1905, though the first Paraguayan film was Hipólito Carrón's 10-minute-long Alma Paraguaya, made in 1925. The film industry in Paraguay has suffered from lack of funds, equipment and public interest, as well as the repressive Alfredo Stroessner government of 1954–1989 (the exception to this was the 1978 state-funded film Cerro Corá, which promoted the historical and political views of the Stroessner government).

The situation has been slowly improving since 1990, the year in which the Fundación Cinemateca del Paraguay (Paraguayan Cinémathèque Foundation) was set up and the annual Asunción Film Festival inaugurated. Several new cinemas have been built both in Asunción and other Paraguayan cities. Funding remains a problem, exacerbated by economic difficulties. In addition, the domestic market is dominated largely by American and Argentine films.

List of Paraguayan films

Main article: List of Paraguayan films

• Codicia (1955)
• El Trueno Entre Las Hojas (1956)
• La Sangre y la Semilla (1959)
• La Burrerita de Ypacaraí (1962)
• Cerro Corá (1978)
• O Último Cão de Guerra (1979; Brazilian co-production)
• A Cafetina de Meninas Virgens (1981)
• El Secreto de la Señora (1989)
• Miss Ameriguá (1994)
• El Portón de Los Sueños (1998; documentary)
• El Toque del Oboe (1998)
• María Escobar (2002)
• Réquiem Por Un Soldado (2002)
• Miramenometokei (2003)
• El Invierno de Gunter (2005)
• La Tierra Ardía (2005)
• O Amigo Dunor (2005; Brazilian co-production)
• Hamaca Paraguaya (2006)
• US/Nosotros (2007)

List of Paraguayan short films

• Alma Paraguaya (1925)
• La Catástrofe de Encarnación (1926)
• Desfile Militar (1926)
• El Que se Aburra Aquí es Porque No Sabe Distraerse (1926)
• Revista Militar en Campo Grande (1926)
• El Señor Ministro del Interior (1927)
• Manifestación Frente al Congreso (1928)
• Vistas del Paraguay (1929)
• Sepelio de Eligio Ayala (1930)
• En el Infierno del Chaco (1932)
• La Guerra del Chaco (1933)
• Paraguay, Tierra de Promisión (1937)
• El Pueblo (1971)
• Desde el Tejado (1986)
• Cariñoso (1986)
• Caños (1987)
• Rutina (1987)
• La Fiesta (1988)
• Proceso de Cambio (1988)
• Las Gaviotas no Hablan Inglés (1996)
• De Amor y de Guerra (1997)
• Emboscada, campo de concentración (1997)
• Asunción a Cuatro Tiempos (1997)
• Cachorros de León, la Batalla de Boqueron (1997)
• Caireles de Sangre, 23 de Octubre de 1931 (1997)
• Campaña Electoral Con la Presencia de Eligio Ayala (1927)
• Independencia (1997)
• La Selva Debe Vivir: Los Ache del Ñacunday (1997)
• Los Yshyr de Karchavalut (1997)
• Estigarribia: Militar y Presidente (1998)
• El Siglo Que Se Va (2000)
• Una y Media (2001)
• Horno Ardiente (2002)
• Candida (2003)
• Estudio Para Una Siesta Paraguaya (2004)
• La Cajita Feliz (2004)

List of films shot in Paraguay

This list covers non-Paraguayan films (many Argentine or Brazilian) that were filmed,or partly filmed, there

• India (1960)
• Le Rat d'Amérique (1963)
• Éxtasis Tropical (1969)
• Fuiste Mía Un Verano (1969)
• Moonraker (1979; waterfall scenes)
• A Pantera Nua (1979)
• Vicios de Mujer (1982)
• Noites Paraguaias (1982)
• Zama (1984)
• The Mission (1986; only partly filmed in Paraguay)
• Los Corruptores (1987)
• Desencuentros (1992)
• El Viaje (1992)
• Os Matadores (1997)
• Hoteles (2004)
• Cándido López - Los campos de batalla (2005)
• Miami Vice (2006; partly filmed in Ciudad del Este)
• South of the Border (2009; documentary film, features a brief interview with current president Fernando Lugo in Asunción)

List of films about Paraguay

This list covers non-Paraguayan films that deal with Paraguayan issues/topics, but are not filmed there. It also covers films in which Paraguay is made reference to.

• The Boys From Brazil (1978; a film about Nazi-hunters in Paraguay)
• Beyond the Limit (O Cônsul Honorário) (1983; Richard Gere's character is Paraguayan)
• Commando Mengele (1988; a film about Jewish Nazi-hunters in Paraguay)
• Moon Over Parador (1988; set in the fictional country of Parador, a mix of Paraguay and Ecuador)
• One Man's War (1991 TV film; a film about Stroessner-era Paraguay starring Anthony Hopkins)
• Anaconda (1997; Jon Voight's character is from Paraguay)
• Grosse Point Blank (1997; features the line "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork")
• Wedding Crashers (2005; Christopher Walken says a line about Paraguay)
• Alpha Dog (2006; the main character is said to have been caught by police in Paraguay)

See also

• Cinema of the world

External links

• Senses of Cinema - 'What does cinema mean for Paraguay?'
• Senses of Cinema - Interview with Hugo Gamarra Etcheverry, Paraguayan filmmaker
• Short article on modern Paraguayan cinema, focussing on Hamaca Paraguaya
• Short piece on Hamaca Paraguaya
• Review of Hamaca Paraguaya
• Critical review of Hamaca Paraguaya
• Review of Hamaca Paraguaya
• Review of Miss Ameriguá
• Review of Miss Ameriguá
• Article about Paraguayan cinema - pdf format (in Spanish)
• Article on early Paraguayan cinema (in Spanish)