Latin American Filmmaking on the Rise

Strong local box office is also adding to region’s rise.
From the New Argentine Cinema to Brazil’s steady supply of low-budget festival hits and Mexico’s new foreign filming incentives, there are elements that differentiate each of the Latin American film industries, but the region has never been more united.
“All Latin American countries have different strengths and weaknesses,” explains Hugo Villa, director of film production at the Mexican Film Institute. “Some have a larger and more experienced local industry, others have an emerging generation of financiers, or a huge base of college students on film related majors.”

How NYC Became a Capital of Latin American Film in a Decade

A scene from Karim Aïnouz's "Love for Sale/Suely in the Sky." [Photo courtesy of Cinema Tropical

It’s hard to name a specific year as the launching-point of the renaissance that Latin American cinema has experienced over the past decade. What is hardly debatable, however, is the significant increase in exposure and presence that the cinema from that region has accomplished in such a time-span. The last ten years have proved to be tremendously influential for Latin American films and the people who make them, providing opportunities that were unimaginable a generation before. Previously hindered by an imposing multitude of production difficulties, the films that were able to get made would face the near impossible task of finding screens at home and abroad. This is hardly the case today, and New