Cinema of Colombia
Encyclopedia
Colombian Cinema has struggled to develop as a solid industry throughout its history. During the beginning of the 20th century some production companies tried to maintain a level of constant production but lack of government support and a strong international industry ended up diminishing initiative. In the 1980s the government of Colombia helped to develop the state-owned Cinematographic Development Company (Compañía de Fomento Cinematográfico FOCINE) which helped produce some films yet struggled to maintain itself financially viable. FOCINE was closed in the beginning of the 1990s. In 1997 the Colombian congress
approved Law 397 of Article 46 or the General Law of Culture with the purpose of supporting the development of the Colombian film industry by creating a film promotion mixed fund called Corporación PROIMAGENES en Movimiento (PROIMAGES in motion Corporation). In 2003 Congress also approved the Law of Cinema which helped to restart the cinematographic industry in Colombia.
The history of Colombian cinema started in 1897 when the first Cinématographe
arrived in the country, two years after the invention of cinematography by Auguste and Louis Lumière
in Paris
. Back then the port city of Colón
(in what today is Panama
but was then part of Colombia), Barranquilla
, Bucaramanga
and later arrived to the capital city of Colombia, Bogotá
, where in August of that same year the cinématographe was presented in the Municipal Theater (later demolished).
causing the suspension of all film production. The first films usually portrayed nature and moments of the Colombian everyday life. The exhibition of these films was dominated by the Di Domenico brothers who owned the Salón Olympia in Bogotá
. The Di Domenico Brothers also produced the first film documentary in Colombia called "El drama del quince de Octubre (The Drama of October the fifteenth) which was intended to celebrate the centenary of the Battle of Boyacá
and also narrated the assassination of General Rafael Uribe Uribe
, provoking controversy upon its release.
" (no copies of this film exist anymore). The film was directed by Máximo Calvo Olmedo an Spanish
immigrant who worked as film distributor in Panama
and was hired to travel to the city of Cali
where he would direct and manage the photography of this film based on the novel by Jorge Isaacs
, María
.
Another pioneer of Colombian cinema was Arturo Acevedo Vallarino a producer and theater director from Antioquia
who lived in Bogotá
. After the introduction of foreign films and the fascination they caused in Colombia, theaters no longer were as profitable as they once were, and so Acevedo decided to found a film production company called Acevedo e Hijos (Acevedo and sons). Acevedo and sons has been the longest lasting production company in Colombia, existing from 1923 to 1946 and the only one to survive the 1930s' "Great Depression
". Acevedo and sons produced the films "La tragedia del silencio" (The Tragedy of Silence) in 1924 and "Bajo el cielo antioqueño
" (Under the sky of Antioquia) in 1928. Under the Sky of Antioquia was financed by local magnate Gonzalo Mejía. The film was criticized for being elitist, despite of which it had a somewhat positive acceptance among the public. Films in Colombia were mostly based on themes such as Nature, folklore, and nationalism with some exceptions being literary adaptations. In 1926 the film Garras de oro (Claws of Gold)was released, it has the distinction of being based on a political issue, the separation of Panama from Colombia
, and for criticizing the role of the United States
in the conflict, both bold firsts in Colombian Cinema.
In 1928 the Colombian company Cine Colombia purchased the Di Domenico film studios, which commercialized international films because of the great profits they promised. International films were preferred before Colombian films by the Colombian public. Because of this, from 1928 until 1940 there was only one film produced in Colombia: "Al son de las guitarras" (To the Rhythm of the Guitars) by Alberto Santa but it was never shown in theaters. Colombians were more interested "Hollywood
" films. Colombian film industry enthusiasts did not have the money, technology or preparation needed to develop a national cinema. While Colombian movies were still silent, the international industry was already exploiting color and sound film
s, thus putting the Colombian cinema in a considerable disadvantage.
In the 1940s a businessman from Bogotá called Oswaldo Duperly founded Ducrane Films and produced numerous films despite facing strong competition from Argentine
and Mexican cinema which after 1931 drafted to a third position in preference among Colombians. During this time the only production company that survived was the Acevedo and sons until it closed on 1945.
During the 1950s Gabriel García Márquez
and Enrique Grau
attempted to restart the industry. In 1954 both artists, a writer and a painter respectively created a surrealistic short film "La langosta azul" (The Blue Lobster). Garcia Marquez continued in the industry as a scriptwriter while Grau continued painting.
The Pornomiseria (porno-misery) cinema surged during the 1970s to classify the films with a high content of poverty and human misery to make money and gain international recognition. The intention of the name was coined by film critics in Colombia, not used to criticize the content of the film but to name the style of the creators, who had poor knowledge of the subject little of the perceived social compromise that made these films popular in Europe. Films like Gamín
(1978) by Ciro Durán, a documentary film about children living on the streets, belong to this style, which included opinions without profound investigation behind the social problems and without a truthfully informed opinion. This type of filmmaking was criticized by the Group of Cali, a group of filmmakers mainly represented by Carlos Mayolo and Luis Ospina, which produced the documentary Agarrando Pueblo, a of satire of Pornomiseria films.
Critics of Pornomiseria argued that these films did not treat their subject with profoundness, but took a superficial approach to the issues. Pornomiseria cinema was especially popular in Colombia and Brazil
, where it was dubbed "pornochanchada".
During the last decade of the 20th Century, the Colombian government liquidated FOCINE forcing film makers to co-produce films with other countries, mainly from Europe and private capital investors. Despite this some important productions developed such as "La estrategia del caracol
" (The Snail's Strategy) by Sergio Cabrera, which won numerous international prizes and managed to revive a national interest on national films. Another successful film director and producer was Víctor Gaviria
who, with themes of social concern, created "La Vendedora De Rosas
" (The Rose Vendor) which won many rizes and much recognition along with "Bolívar soy yo" (I Am Bolivar, 2002) by Jorge Alí Triana.
" (Dreaming Costs Nothing) by Rodrigo Triana with 1,200,000 spectators, an unprecedented attendance at the time or the film "El colombian dream" (The Colombian Dream, the last word being in English to highlight a play on the concept of "the american dream") by Felipe Aljure which achieved technical innovations and employed a narrative never before seen in Colombian cinema.
Law 814 of 2003, also known as the Law of Cinema was approved after a second debate in the Colombian senate. The senate established the funding of Colombian cinema through taxes collected from distributors, exhibitors and film producers. The collection was set up to be destined to support film producers, short films documentaries and public projects. Funds collected are administered by the PROIMAGENES Cinematographic Production Mixed Fund.
During the second term of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez the government presented a tax reform to cut funding to the Law of Cinema, the president was criticized for this but the minister of Culture Elvira Cuervo de Jaramillo lobbied in the Ministry of Finance to impede this law from affecting the financial resources destined to Colombian cinema. The minister of Finance agreed to protect the benefits for the film industry.
, which won international prizes and recognition.
During the 1990s Silva gained notoriety with the film "La estrategia del caracol
" (the strategy of the snail) and Víctor Gaviria
did so with his films "Rodrigo D: No futuro" (1990) and "La Vendedora De Rosas
" (1998) which was nominated for a Palme d'Or
at the Cannes Film Festival
.
In the 2000s actress Catalina Sandino Moreno
was nominated for an Academy Award for her acting in the Colombian American production Maria full of Grace
. She was also nominated for best female acting at the Berlin International Film Festival
in 2004 and won, sharing it with actress Charlize Theron
.
During the 1970s, in the city of Cali
there was a great "boom" not only in film but in the arts in general. At that time the Grupo de Cali was formed, which would include Carlos Mayolo, Luis Ospina, Andres Caicedo
, Oscar Campo and other documentarists and directors who portrayed a particular sense of place and reality through their work. At the same time, documentarists like Marta Rodríguez and Jorge Silva
produced a seemingly unending array of documentaries that approached anthropology, portraying forms of life and realities unknown to many.
, has been slow and irregular, and it is only in recent years that animation has begun to gain importance. The first initiatives in the country were around the 1970s, especially in the production of television
commercials. Nonetheless it was at the end of the past decade that Fernando Laverde, considered the pioneer of stop motion
animation in Colombia, used experimental methods and limited resources to create short animated pieces that received national and international recognition. During the 1980s, Bogota native Carlos Santa
explored the world of animated film through plasticine art, reaching new heights in 1988 with the support of FOCINE and the release of his film El pasajero de la noche (The Night Passenger), and in 1994 he released La selva oscura (The Dark Jungle) at the Caracas film festival. Both films received critical recognition for their artistic and narrative merits. In the first decade of the 21st century there was renewed activity in Colombian animation thanks to the interest of a new generation in this genre and the emergence of new technology
; in 2003 the animated full-length film Bolivar the Hero was released, and the LOOP festival of animation and video games was born, where the work of Colombian and Latin American animators is encouraged and awarded.
functioning every year since 1960 presenting Latin America
n and Spanish
movies and the Bogotá Film Festival.
] Law of Cinema Cartagena Film Festival Bogotá Film Festival
Congress of Colombia
The Congress of the Republic of Colombia is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature.The Congress of Colombia consists of the 102-seat Senate , and the 166-seat Chamber of Representatives ...
approved Law 397 of Article 46 or the General Law of Culture with the purpose of supporting the development of the Colombian film industry by creating a film promotion mixed fund called Corporación PROIMAGENES en Movimiento (PROIMAGES in motion Corporation). In 2003 Congress also approved the Law of Cinema which helped to restart the cinematographic industry in Colombia.
History
Cinematographe
A cinematograph is a film camera, which also serves as a film projector and developer. It was invented in the 1890s.Note that this was not the first 'moving picture' device. Louis Le Prince had built early devices in 1886. His 1888 film Roundhay Garden Scene still survives.There is much dispute as...
arrived in the country, two years after the invention of cinematography by Auguste and Louis Lumière
Auguste and Louis Lumière
The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean , were among the earliest filmmakers in history...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Back then the port city of Colón
Colón, Panama
Colón is a sea port on the Caribbean Sea coast of Panama. The city lies near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city....
(in what today is Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
but was then part of Colombia), Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...
and later arrived to the capital city of Colombia, Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, where in August of that same year the cinématographe was presented in the Municipal Theater (later demolished).
First years
Soon after the introduction of the cinematographe in Colombia, the country entered a civil war known as the thousand days warThousand Days War
The Thousand Days' War , was a civil armed conflict in the newly created Republic of Colombia, between the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and its radical factions. In 1899 the ruling conservatives were accused of maintaining power through fraudulent elections...
causing the suspension of all film production. The first films usually portrayed nature and moments of the Colombian everyday life. The exhibition of these films was dominated by the Di Domenico brothers who owned the Salón Olympia in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
. The Di Domenico Brothers also produced the first film documentary in Colombia called "El drama del quince de Octubre (The Drama of October the fifteenth) which was intended to celebrate the centenary of the Battle of Boyacá
Battle of Boyacá
The Battle of Boyacá in Colombia, then known as New Granada, was the battle in which Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish Monarchy, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years....
and also narrated the assassination of General Rafael Uribe Uribe
Rafael Uribe Uribe
Rafael Uribe Uribe was a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and general in the liberal party rebel army.-Early years:...
, provoking controversy upon its release.
Silent films
During the early years of Colombian Cinema film producers almost exclusively portrayed nature and everyday life in their films, until 1922, when the first fiction film appeared, titled"MaríaMaría (film)
María is a 1938 Mexican film. It was directed byChano Urueta....
" (no copies of this film exist anymore). The film was directed by Máximo Calvo Olmedo an Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
immigrant who worked as film distributor in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and was hired to travel to the city of Cali
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
where he would direct and manage the photography of this film based on the novel by Jorge Isaacs
Jorge Isaacs
Jorge Isaacs Ferrer was a Colombian writer, politician and soldier. His only novel, María, became one of the most notable works of the Romantic movement in Spanish literature....
, María
María (novel)
María is a novel written by Colombian writer Jorge Isaacs between 1864 and 1867. It is a costumbrist novel representative of the Spanish romantic movement...
.
Another pioneer of Colombian cinema was Arturo Acevedo Vallarino a producer and theater director from Antioquia
Antioquia Department
Antioquia is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part of the Andes mountain range...
who lived in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
. After the introduction of foreign films and the fascination they caused in Colombia, theaters no longer were as profitable as they once were, and so Acevedo decided to found a film production company called Acevedo e Hijos (Acevedo and sons). Acevedo and sons has been the longest lasting production company in Colombia, existing from 1923 to 1946 and the only one to survive the 1930s' "Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
". Acevedo and sons produced the films "La tragedia del silencio" (The Tragedy of Silence) in 1924 and "Bajo el cielo antioqueño
Bajo el Cielo Antioqueño
Bajo el cielo antioqueño is a 1925 Colombian full length romantic drama film directed by Arturo Acevedo Vallarino-Cast:*Alicia Arango de Mejía ... Lina*Gonzalo Mejía Trujillo ... Don Bernardo*Juan B. Naranjo ... Álvaro...
" (Under the sky of Antioquia) in 1928. Under the Sky of Antioquia was financed by local magnate Gonzalo Mejía. The film was criticized for being elitist, despite of which it had a somewhat positive acceptance among the public. Films in Colombia were mostly based on themes such as Nature, folklore, and nationalism with some exceptions being literary adaptations. In 1926 the film Garras de oro (Claws of Gold)was released, it has the distinction of being based on a political issue, the separation of Panama from Colombia
Separation of Panama from Colombia
The Separation of Panama from Colombia was formalized on 3 November 1903 with the establishment of the Republic of Panama from the Republic of Colombia's Department of Panama.-Prelude:...
, and for criticizing the role of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the conflict, both bold firsts in Colombian Cinema.
1930s Crisis
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
" films. Colombian film industry enthusiasts did not have the money, technology or preparation needed to develop a national cinema. While Colombian movies were still silent, the international industry was already exploiting color and sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
s, thus putting the Colombian cinema in a considerable disadvantage.
In the 1940s a businessman from Bogotá called Oswaldo Duperly founded Ducrane Films and produced numerous films despite facing strong competition from Argentine
Cinema of Argentina
The cinema of Argentina has a tradition dating back to the late nineteenth century, and continues to play a role in the culture of Argentina....
and Mexican cinema which after 1931 drafted to a third position in preference among Colombians. During this time the only production company that survived was the Acevedo and sons until it closed on 1945.
During the 1950s Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
and Enrique Grau
Enrique Grau
Enrique Grau was a Colombian artist, renowned for his depictions of Amerindian and Afro Colombian figures...
attempted to restart the industry. In 1954 both artists, a writer and a painter respectively created a surrealistic short film "La langosta azul" (The Blue Lobster). Garcia Marquez continued in the industry as a scriptwriter while Grau continued painting.
Pornomiseria cinema
Gamin
Gamin is a monitoring system for files and directories that independently implements a subset of FAM, the File Alteration Monitor. Running as a service, it allows for the detection of modifications to a file or directory...
(1978) by Ciro Durán, a documentary film about children living on the streets, belong to this style, which included opinions without profound investigation behind the social problems and without a truthfully informed opinion. This type of filmmaking was criticized by the Group of Cali, a group of filmmakers mainly represented by Carlos Mayolo and Luis Ospina, which produced the documentary Agarrando Pueblo, a of satire of Pornomiseria films.
Critics of Pornomiseria argued that these films did not treat their subject with profoundness, but took a superficial approach to the issues. Pornomiseria cinema was especially popular in Colombia and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, where it was dubbed "pornochanchada".
Cinematographic Fomenting Company (FOCINE)
On July 28, 1978 the Compañía de Fomento Cinematográfico (FOCINE) (Cinematographic Fomenting Company) was established to administer the Cinematographic Fomenting Fund which had been created a year before, in 1977. FOCINE was first adjudicated to the Colombian Ministry of Communications which in a period of ten years supported 29 films and a number of short films and documentaries. Corruption in its administration led to the closing of FOCINE in 1993. During this period, the work of Carlos Mayolo transcended and introduced new forms of film making into Colombian cinema with the exploration of unconventional languages. Gustavo Nieto Roa helped to develop comedies with an influence from Mexican cinema.During the last decade of the 20th Century, the Colombian government liquidated FOCINE forcing film makers to co-produce films with other countries, mainly from Europe and private capital investors. Despite this some important productions developed such as "La estrategia del caracol
La estrategia del caracol
La Estrategia del Caracol is a 1993 Colombian comedy-drama film directed and produced by Colombian filmmaker and director Sergio Cabrera. The film is starred by Frank Ramirez, Florina Lemaitre, Humberto Dorado, Fausto Cabrera and Carlos Vives. The film is a winner of the Berlin International Film...
" (The Snail's Strategy) by Sergio Cabrera, which won numerous international prizes and managed to revive a national interest on national films. Another successful film director and producer was Víctor Gaviria
Victor Gaviria
Victor Gaviria is a film director best known for his treatment of street life in his native Medellín.- Feature-length films :*Rodrigo D: No Future, 1990...
who, with themes of social concern, created "La Vendedora De Rosas
La Vendedora De Rosas
La vendedora de rosas is a 1998 Colombian film directed by Victor Gaviria. It's an independent film about drugs in Colombia, poverty and the difficult life young children have to suffer in Medellín. The film is based on the fairy tale The Little Match Girl of Hans Christian Andersen...
" (The Rose Vendor) which won many rizes and much recognition along with "Bolívar soy yo" (I Am Bolivar, 2002) by Jorge Alí Triana.
Law of Cinema
In 2003 the Colombian government passed the Law of Cinema which standardized help for local film production. Numerous films were sponsored by the government generating a success in the local box office such as "Soñar no Cuesta NadaSoñar no Cuesta Nada
Soñar no Cuesta Nada was a Miami-made telenovela that was produced by and seen first on Univisión and later on Venevisión. This telenovela lasted 191 episodes and was distributed internationally by Venevisión International...
" (Dreaming Costs Nothing) by Rodrigo Triana with 1,200,000 spectators, an unprecedented attendance at the time or the film "El colombian dream" (The Colombian Dream, the last word being in English to highlight a play on the concept of "the american dream") by Felipe Aljure which achieved technical innovations and employed a narrative never before seen in Colombian cinema.
Law 814 of 2003, also known as the Law of Cinema was approved after a second debate in the Colombian senate. The senate established the funding of Colombian cinema through taxes collected from distributors, exhibitors and film producers. The collection was set up to be destined to support film producers, short films documentaries and public projects. Funds collected are administered by the PROIMAGENES Cinematographic Production Mixed Fund.
During the second term of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez the government presented a tax reform to cut funding to the Law of Cinema, the president was criticized for this but the minister of Culture Elvira Cuervo de Jaramillo lobbied in the Ministry of Finance to impede this law from affecting the financial resources destined to Colombian cinema. The minister of Finance agreed to protect the benefits for the film industry.
International projection
Colombian cinema has had a very small presence in international events. Despite of this, some documentaries during the 1970s had relative success such as "Chircales" (1972) by Marta Rodríguez and Jorge SilvaJorge Silva
Luís Jorge Pinto da Silva , known as Jorge Silva, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder....
, which won international prizes and recognition.
During the 1990s Silva gained notoriety with the film "La estrategia del caracol
La estrategia del caracol
La Estrategia del Caracol is a 1993 Colombian comedy-drama film directed and produced by Colombian filmmaker and director Sergio Cabrera. The film is starred by Frank Ramirez, Florina Lemaitre, Humberto Dorado, Fausto Cabrera and Carlos Vives. The film is a winner of the Berlin International Film...
" (the strategy of the snail) and Víctor Gaviria
Victor Gaviria
Victor Gaviria is a film director best known for his treatment of street life in his native Medellín.- Feature-length films :*Rodrigo D: No Future, 1990...
did so with his films "Rodrigo D: No futuro" (1990) and "La Vendedora De Rosas
La Vendedora De Rosas
La vendedora de rosas is a 1998 Colombian film directed by Victor Gaviria. It's an independent film about drugs in Colombia, poverty and the difficult life young children have to suffer in Medellín. The film is based on the fairy tale The Little Match Girl of Hans Christian Andersen...
" (1998) which was nominated for a Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
.
In the 2000s actress Catalina Sandino Moreno
Catalina Sandino Moreno
Catalina Sandino Moreno is a Colombian actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Maria Full of Grace .-Life and career:...
was nominated for an Academy Award for her acting in the Colombian American production Maria full of Grace
Maria Full of Grace
Maria Full of Grace is a 2004 joint Colombian-American film, written and directed by Joshua Marston, who won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. Although the movie depicts rural life in Colombia, it was actually filmed in Ecuador...
. She was also nominated for best female acting at the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
in 2004 and won, sharing it with actress Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
.
Documentary films
Documentary productions in Colombia have varied in quality. Nevertheless they have not seen wide distribution due to barriers which the film industry imposes regarding exhibition and distribution of material. Viewers interested in approaching these audiovisual materials are rare.During the 1970s, in the city of Cali
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
there was a great "boom" not only in film but in the arts in general. At that time the Grupo de Cali was formed, which would include Carlos Mayolo, Luis Ospina, Andres Caicedo
Andrés Caicedo
Luis Andrés Caicedo Estela was a Colombian writer born in Cali, the city where he would spend most of his life. Despite his premature death, his work is considered one of the most original in Colombian literature...
, Oscar Campo and other documentarists and directors who portrayed a particular sense of place and reality through their work. At the same time, documentarists like Marta Rodríguez and Jorge Silva
Jorge Silva
Luís Jorge Pinto da Silva , known as Jorge Silva, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder....
produced a seemingly unending array of documentaries that approached anthropology, portraying forms of life and realities unknown to many.
Animated film
The development of animated film in Colombia, as in the rest of Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, has been slow and irregular, and it is only in recent years that animation has begun to gain importance. The first initiatives in the country were around the 1970s, especially in the production of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
commercials. Nonetheless it was at the end of the past decade that Fernando Laverde, considered the pioneer of stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animation in Colombia, used experimental methods and limited resources to create short animated pieces that received national and international recognition. During the 1980s, Bogota native Carlos Santa
Carlos Santa
Carlos Johelín Santa is a sprinter from the Dominican Republic who specializes in the 400 metres.He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics as well as the World Championships in 1999, 2003 and 2005, and finished fifth at the 2005 World Athletics Final.In 2006 he finished fifth in 4 x 400...
explored the world of animated film through plasticine art, reaching new heights in 1988 with the support of FOCINE and the release of his film El pasajero de la noche (The Night Passenger), and in 1994 he released La selva oscura (The Dark Jungle) at the Caracas film festival. Both films received critical recognition for their artistic and narrative merits. In the first decade of the 21st century there was renewed activity in Colombian animation thanks to the interest of a new generation in this genre and the emergence of new technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
; in 2003 the animated full-length film Bolivar the Hero was released, and the LOOP festival of animation and video games was born, where the work of Colombian and Latin American animators is encouraged and awarded.
Film festivals
Many film festivals take place in Colombia, but the two most important are the Cartagena Film FestivalCartagena Film Festival
The Cartagena Film Festival, or Festival Internacional de Cine y T.V. de Cartagena de Indias. is a Colombian film festival which focuses on the promotion of Colombian television programs, Latin American films, and videos...
functioning every year since 1960 presenting Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n and Spanish
Cinema of Spain
The art of motion-picture making within the nation of Spain or by Spanish filmmakers abroad is collectively known as Spanish Cinema.In recent years, Spanish cinema has achieved high marks of recognition as a result of its creative and technical excellence...
movies and the Bogotá Film Festival.
Other competitions
Asides from both international festivals, year-round there are encounters, expositions and festivals that encourage audience formation and award local film makers. Up next, the most notable are listed:- Eurocine: competition held every year since 1995 in which European films are shown when they are not made available through commercial distribution, the event is organized by the Bogotá offices of the Goethe-InstitutGoethe-InstitutThe Goethe-Institut is a non-profit German cultural institution operational worldwide, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and relations. The Goethe-Institut also fosters knowledge about Germany by providing information on German...
, the European commission's delegation in ant the Cinemateca distrital de Bogotá. - Festival de cine francés: is an exposition of the best of French cinema held every year since 2001 on September and has the backing of the French embassyin BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, CaliCalìCalì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
and BarranquillaBarranquillaBarranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, it includes conferences, workshops and roundtables. - Semana de Cine Colombiano, Sí Futuro: steming from a growth in Colombian film making after the passing of the Law of Cinema, in 2006 an exposition of Colombian cinema was inaugurated with the awarding of noteworthy films, film makers and actors in recent years by an international jury.
- Imaginatón: Is a bi-annual film making and film screening marathon where professionals and amateurs of all ages and nationalities are invited to make a filminuto in plano secuencia, the beszt of which are selected and awarded by a specialized jury. The event is organized by Black Velvet Laboratories, a company dedicated to the field of "audovisual entretainment analisis and development".
- Festival de Cine y Video de Santa Fe de Antioquia: is a festival that has been taking place since March of 2000 by the Film and Video Corporation of de Santa Fe de Antioquia and is directed by film maker Víctor GaviriaVictor GaviriaVictor Gaviria is a film director best known for his treatment of street life in his native Medellín.- Feature-length films :*Rodrigo D: No Future, 1990...
with the stated aim of promoting film making and audience forming on the Antioquia region, although film makers from all over the country can participate - MUDA Colombia: The Universitary Exposition of Audiovisuals (MUDA, for its Spanish abbreviation)Colombia is a contest held yearly where the best in universitary work is awarded as well as pedagogic technicques proposed by film professors all over the country.
- IN VITRO VISUAL: Is one of the best established short-film-related events in Colombia, it presents Colombian shorts on Tuesdays and foreign ones on Thursdays, chosen out of a yearly contest presided by a jury of veteran film makers. At the end of the event awards are given out along with the event's official statuettes (SANTA LUCIA) as well as cash prizes. This event is organized by Black Velvet Laboratories and In Vitro Producciones.
- LOOP, Festival Latinoamericano de Animación & Videojuegos: is animation festival that seeks to motivate young artists, with an emphasis on digital work. The festival's website has developed into a community which encourages learning and sharing of works.
Shows and distribution
In Colombia there are four major commercial movie theatre chains: Cine Colombia, Cinemark, Procinal and Royal Films among many other independent movie theaters like the Cinemateca Distrital de Bogotá and Los Acevedos in the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá.Openings in Colombia
| Año | | Box office openings from the Colombian film industry | | Foreign Box office openings | | Total box office openings | | Percentage of Colombian box office openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 2 | 274 | 276 | 0.72% |
| 1994 | 1 | 267 | 268 | 0.37% |
| 1995 | 2 | 249 | 251 | 0.805 |
| 1996 | 3 | 270 | 273 | 1.10% |
| 1997 | 1 | 251 | 252 | 0.40% |
| 1998 | 6 | 237 | 243 | 2.47% |
| 1999 | 3 | NA | NA | NA |
| 2000 | 4 | 200 | 204 | 1.96% |
| 2001 | 7 | 196 | 203 | 3.45% |
| 2002 | 8 | 176 | 180 | 2.22% |
| 2003 | 5 | 170 | 175 | 2.86% |
| 2004 | 8 | 159 | 167 | 4.79% |
| 2005 | 8 | 156 | 164 | 4.88% |
| 2006 | 8 | 154 | 162 | 4.94% |
| 2007 | 12 | 186 | 198 | 6.06% |
Highest-grossing Colombian films
| Rank | Title | Tickets sold | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La estrategia del caracol | 1.600.000 | 1993 1993 in film The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:... |
|
| 2 | El paseo | 1.501.806 | 2010 2010 in film The year 2010 saw many new films released worldwide. 2010 saw a dramatic increase and prominence in the use of 3D-technology in filmmaking and film releases after the success of Avatar in the format, with releases such as Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Jackass 3D, all animated films and... |
|
| 3 | El taxista millonario | 1.500.000. | 1979 1979 in film The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released.... |
|
| 4 | El Inmigrante latino | 1.300.000 | 1980 1980 in film - Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year .... |
|
| 5 | Esposos en vacaciones | 1.250.000 | 1978 1978 in film The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California.... |
|
| 6 | Sonar no cuesta nada | 1.198.172 | 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
|
| 7 | Rosario Tijeras Rosario Tijeras Rosario Tijeras is a Colombian film based on the book of the same name written by Jorge Franco. The film was released in Colombia in 2005. In that same year the film had its North American premiere at the American Film Institute festival in Hollywood. The film also was nominated for a Goya Award... |
1.053.030. | 2005 2005 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005... |
|
| 8 | Padre por accidente | 970.000 | 1981 1981 in film -Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it.... |
|
| 9 | Paraiso travel | 928.000 | 2008 2008 in film This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008... |
|
| 10 | Golpe de estadio | 700.000 | 1998 1998 in film -Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:... |
External links
Fundación Patrimonio Filmico Colombiano Fondo Mixto de Promoción Cinematográfica PROIMAGENES en Movimiento Cinemateca Distrital de Bogotá http://www.mambogota.com/cine.htmlMovie Theater of Los Acevedo in the Museum of Modern Arts of MAMBOMambo
Mambo is a musical form and dance style that developed originally in Cuba and then later in Mexico. The word "mambo" means "conversation with the gods" in Kikongo, the language spoken by Central African slaves taken to Cuba.-History:...
] Law of Cinema Cartagena Film Festival Bogotá Film Festival