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

Alfredo Stroessner

Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda, whose name is also spelled Strössner or Strößner , was a Paraguayan military officer and dictator from 1954 to 1989...

 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

Asunción

Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...

 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

• Codicia (1955)
• El Trueno Entre Las Hojas (1956)
• La Sangre y la Semilla (1959)
• La Burrerita de Ypacaraí
  La Burrerita de Ypacaraí
  La Burrerita de Ypacaraí is a 1962 Argentine film....
  
  (1962)
• Cerro Corá
  Cerro Cora (film)
  Cerro Cora is a 1978 Paraguayan film based on the story of the War of the Triple Alliance.-External links:* at YouTube...
  
  (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
  Fuiste mía un verano
  Fuiste mía un verano is a 1969 Argentine film....
  
  (1969)
• Moonraker
  Moonraker (film)
  Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel...
  
  (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
  The Journey (1992 film)
  The Journey is a 1992 Argentine drama film directed by Fernando Solanas. It was entered into the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Walter Quiroz - Martin* Soledad Alfaro - Vidala* Ricardo Bartis - Monitor* Christina Becerra - Violeta...
  
  (1992)
• Os Matadores (1997)
• Hoteles (2004)
• Cándido López - Los campos de batalla (2005)
• Miami Vice
  Miami Vice (film)
  Miami Vice is a 2006 American crime drama film about two Miami police detectives, Crockett and Tubbs, who go undercover to fight drug trafficking operations. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1980s TV series of the same name, written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann...
  
  (2006; partly filmed in Ciudad del Este)
• South of the Border
  South of the Border (2009 film)
  South of the Border is a 2009 documentary film directed by Oliver Stone. The documentary premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. Writer for the project Tariq Ali calls the documentary "a political road movie"...
  
  (2009; documentary film, features a brief interview with current president Fernando Lugo
  Fernando Lugo
  Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez is the current President of Paraguay and a former Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of San Pedro.-Early life:...
  
   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
  The Boys from Brazil (film)
  The Boys from Brazil is a 1978 British/American science fiction/thriller film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. It stars Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier, with James Mason, Lilli Palmer, Uta Hagen and Steve Guttenberg in supporting roles...
  
  (1978; a film about Nazi-hunters in Paraguay)
• Beyond the Limit (O Cônsul Honorário) (1983; Richard Gere
  Richard Gere
  Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
  
  's character is Paraguayan)
• Commando Mengele (1988; a film about Jewish Nazi-hunters in Paraguay)
• Moon Over Parador
  Moon Over Parador
  Moon over Parador is a 1988 romantic comedy film, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raúl Juliá and Sonia Braga. It is a remake of the 1939 film The Magnificent Fraud, based on the unpublished short story entitled Caviar for His Excellency by Charles G...
  
  (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
  Anthony Hopkins
  Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
  
  )
• Anaconda
  Anaconda (film)
  Anaconda is a 1997, adventure-horror film, directed by Luis Llosa, starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Owen Wilson, and Eric Stoltz. It centers around a film crew for National Geographic who are kidnapped by a hunter who is going after the world's largest giant anaconda, which is...
  
  (1997; Jon Voight
  Jon Voight
  Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
  
  's character is from Paraguay)
• Grosse Point Blank (1997; features the line "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork")
• Wedding Crashers
  Wedding Crashers
  Wedding Crashers is a 2005 American comedy film directed by David Dobkin. It stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, with Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Bradley Cooper, Diora Baird, Jane Seymour, and an uncredited Will Ferrell....
  
  (2005; Christopher Walken
  Christopher Walken
  Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
  
   says a line about Paraguay)
• Alpha Dog
  Alpha Dog
  Alpha Dog is a 2007 crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, first screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006, with a wide release the following year on January 12, 2007. The film is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas...
  
  (2006; the main character is said to have been caught by police in Paraguay)

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)