The first films shot in Paraguay were a series of silent shorts by Argentine directorErnesto Gunche in 1905.[6] The first Paraguayan-made film wasHipólito Carrón's 10-minute-long silentAlma Paraguaya, made in 1925. He went on to make a number of short documentaries with his nephew and assistant cameramanAgustín Carrón Quell. A handful of documentaries were filmed in the country over the next few decades, though most of these are now lost. The 1932 documentaryEn el Infierno del Chaco by the ArgentineRoque Funes was the first film shot in Paraguay to use sound.
Feature-length film in Paraguay beings with 1955'sCodicia, the first of several Argentine-Paraguayan co-productions, the most famous of which is probablyLa Burrerita de Ypacaraí from 1962.
The film industry in Paraguay has historically suffered from lack of funds, public interest and equipment, as well as the repressiveAlfredo Stroessner government of 1954–1989. Argentine directorLucas Demare chose to filmLa Sed (1961), an adaptation of Paraguayan authorAugusto Roa Bastos'sHijo de hombre, in Argentina because of this. The exception to this was the 1978 state-funded filmCerro Cora, directed byGuillermo Vera, which promoted the historical and political views of the Stroessner government. This was the first wholly Paraguayan-made film and was based on the events of theParaguayan War.
Only a handful of films were made in Paraguay during the 1980s, though some Brazilian films were partly shot in the country.
1989 saw the overthrow of Stroessner and the re-establishment of democracy. Since then the situation has slowly been improving; in 1990 the Fundación Cinemateca del Paraguay was set up and the annualAsunción Film Festival inaugurated, and several new cinemas have been built inAsunción and other Paraguayan cities. The 1994 filmMiss Ameriguá gained some international interest, as did 1998'sEl Toque del Oboe. This has continued into the new century with films such asMaría Escobar (2002),Miramenometokei (2003),Hamaca Paraguaya (2006),Felipe Canasto (2010) andSemana Capital (2010). Funding remains a problem, however, and the market is dominated largely by American and Argentine films.
In September 2017, the Film Academy of Paraguay chose its second candidate for theOscar award,Los buscadores ("Gold Seekers") byJuan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schémbori, directors of7 Boxes.Memory Exercises by Paz Encina was also nominated for aGoya Award inSpain.[8]
In October 2017, the Senate approved with half sanction the bill of Audiovisual Promotion, with which the National Film Institute of Paraguay could be created.[9]
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.
