Cinema of Bolivia

Cinema of Bolivia
Wara Wara (1930)
No. of screens	79 (2010)
Produced feature films (1924-1998)
Total	42
Gross box office (2009)
Total	BOB 65,735,296

The Cinema of Bolivia comprises the film and videos made within the nation of Bolivia or by Bolivian filmmakers abroad. Though the country’s film infrastructure is too small to be considered a film industry, Bolivia has a rich film history. Bolivia has consistently produced feature-length films since the 1920s, many of which are documentary or take a documentary approach to their subject. Film historian José Sánchez-H has observed that the predominant theme of many Bolivian films is the country's indigenous cultures and political oppression.

The first motion picture was shown in Bolivia on June 21, 1897, probably on a Vitascope. The press paid more attention to "illicit acts" committed in the dark theater than to the pictures themselves, and authorities made it difficult to hold screenings, some of which were held in people's homes. The Biograph was introduced in 1899, and by 1905 popular exhibitions were held in La Paz. A wave of documentary films emerged in the 1910s and 1920s directed by pioneer multitalented filmmakers working in an artisanal mode. Of note is La Gloria de la Raza (1926),directed by Luis Castillo in collaboration with anthropologist Arturo Posnasky. Optical effects and miniature models were used to depict the decline and disappearance of Tiahuanaco culture, and the film helped to spur the formation of Condor Mayku Films.

The first motion picture made in Bolivia was Personajes históricos y de actualidad in 1904. The only surviving film from Bolivia’s silent era is Wara Wara, directed by José Velasco Maidana in 1930. The first sound film was Infierno Verde (aka ''La Guerra del Chaco , 1936) directed by Luis Bazoberry. The first color film was Donde nace un imperio (1957) directed by Jorge Ruiz.

The Instituto Cinematográfico Boliviano (ICB) was created in March 1953 to promote the government of Victor Paz Estenssoro in the wake of the national revolution of 1952. Waldo Cerruto was the ICB's first director. At the time, the government had a monopoly on film. The ICB created 136 newsreels between 1952 and 1956. In 1956, Jorge Ruiz became the next director of the ICB, and then was succeeded by Jorge Sanjinés in 1965. Two years later, the government shut the ICB down after Sanjinés exhibited his film Ukamau (1966), which authorities feared would incite Aymara people. Everyone involved with the film was fired, and the equipment and projects were transferred to Channel 7 - a station developed by the military government of General René Barrientos. Sanjinés and his crew founded a new group film, which they named after Ukamau.

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