Cinema of Colombia

Cinema of Colombia refers to film productions made in Colombia, or considered Colombian for other reasons. Colombian cinema, like any national cinema, is a historical process with industrial and artistic aspects.

Historically, Colombian cinema has not been profitable as an industry, which has prevented continuing production and employing filmmakers and technicians. During the first decades of the 20th century, there were some companies that attempted to maintain a constant level of production, but the lack of economic support and strong foreign competition ended up ruining the initiatives. In the 1980s, the newly created state-run Cinematographic Development Company (Compañía de Fomento Cinematográfico FOCINE) allowed some productions to be carried out. However, the company had to be liquidated in the early 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). Starting in 2003, there has been growing cinematographic activity, thanks to the Cinema Law that allowed initiatives around cinematographic activity to be reborn in the country, through the creation of the Cinematographic Development Fund (FDC).

The history of Colombian cinema began in 1897 when the first Cinématographe arrived in the country, two years after the invention of cinematography by Auguste and Louis Lumière in Paris. The cinématographe was first demonstrated in the port city of Colón (in what is today Panama but was then part of Colombia), Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and later arrived to the capital city of Bogotá. In August of that same year the cinématographe was presented in the Municipal Theater (which was later demolished).

Soon after the introduction of the cinématographe in Colombia, the country entered a civil war known as the Thousand Days' War, causing the suspension of all film production. The first films usually portrayed nature and moments from everyday Colombian life. The majority of these films were led by the Di Domenico brothers who owned the Salón Olympia in Bogotá. The Di Domenico brothers also produced the first documentary film in Colombia called El drama del quince de Octubre (The Drama of October 15), 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.

During the early years of Colombian cinema, producers almost exclusively portrayed nature and everyday life in their films until 1922, when the first narrative fiction film appeared, titled María (of which no complete copies remain). The film was directed by Máximo Calvo Olmedo, a Spanish immigrant who worked as a film distributor in Panama. He was hired to travel to the city of Cali, where he would direct and manage the film's photography. The film was based on Jorge Isaacs' novel 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, so Acevedo decided to found a film production company called Acevedo e Hijos (Acevedo and Sons). Acevedo and Sons was the longest lasting production company in Colombia, and were in business from 1923 to 1946– the only one to survive the Great Depression of the 1930s. 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 tycoon Gonzalo Mejía. The film was criticized for being elitist, but received an unexpectedly positive reception from the moviegoing public. Films in Colombia continued to be largely based on themes of nature, folklore, and nationalism, with some exceptions in literary adaptations. In 1926 the film Garras de oro: The Dawn of Justice (Claws of Gold; the title is half Spanish and English) was released. It is distinctive for 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 their promising profits. At the time, the Colombian public preferred international films to Colombian ones. As a result, from 1928 until 1940, only one feature-length sound film was produced in Colombia: Al son de las guitarras (To the Rhythm of the Guitars) by Alberto Santa, which was never shown in theaters. Colombians were more interested in 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 exploding with color and sound films, thus putting Colombian cinema at a considerable disadvantage.