Global IssuesOP-ED: Solid Present, Bright Future for Latin America's Film Industry
Since the 1980s, despite chronic social crisis, Latin America has seen significant advances in economic and industrial development, which have given a boost to the region's film industry.
But the industry is still in the process of getting established, thanks to the improvement of legislation and the greater funds made available for filmmaking projects selected by national film institutes.
Film production in Latin America is still mainly made possible by the support of national governments.
The region's economic opening, which began in the 1990s, aggravated the problems of distribution and exhibition faced by Latin American films.
These difficulties are cited to justify government action to protect national filmmaking industries, which suffer from a serious lack of competitiveness against Hollywood fare, with the exception of a handful of box office hits.
Experts say the issue is also related to the scarcity of cinemas in the region and the high price of tickets, which are unaffordable for the vast majority of the population.
But the countries of Latin America are working to boost distribution of and access to nationally-made films.
This effort is represented by the Specialised Group of Cinematographic Authorities (RECAM) of the Mercosur trade bloc, which is the founder of OMA (Mercosur Audiovisual Observatory), whose aim is the unification of the data systems of the bloc's members — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — in order to bolster the development and integration of the national film industries.
The available data confirms that most films do not reach a minimum level of distribution within the national territory, let alone in other countries of the continent.
In Brazil, a country of 191 million people with just one cinema for every 47,000 people, experts are aware that expanding the distribution of local films would require a broadening of the market and the opening of more movie theatres.
According to Gustavo Dahl, the head of Brazil's national film agency ANCINE, 'It is clear that unequal distribution of wealth limits the number of showings, and the audience.'
A notable exception was the 2007 film 'Tropa de élite' and its 2010 sequel, directed by José Padilha, which explored the inner workings of the Rio de Janeiro Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE), whose methods have frequently drawn fire from human rights groups.
The first part won the Golden Bear at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival and the second became the most watched movie in the history of Brazilian filmmaking. Only Hollywood blockbusters have enjoyed similar levels of success in Brazil.
'Tropa de élite' 1 and 2 were a milestone for Brazil's movie industry because distribution was 100 percent independent, by the film's production company, Zazen Produções, founded by Padilha and his fellow filmmaker Marcos Prado.
And in Argentina, only one locally-made production was among the 20 most popular films in 2009: 'El secreto de sus ojos' (The Secret in Their Eyes) by director Juan José Campanella, which was not only the most watched film of the year, but also won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010.
However, it was not the only national film to draw wide audiences in Argentina. In 2008, 'El nido vacio' (Empty Nest) by Daniel Bruman was among the most widely-watched films, and in 2007 'La Señal' (The Signal) was described as a masterpiece by popular actor Ricardo Darín. But these were exceptions. Hollywood films still have a virtual monopoly on the market, as they do in many other parts of the world.
Quality films often receive good reviews from critics, but fail to get adequate distribution. One example is 'La sangre brota' (Blood Appears), directed by young Argentine filmmaker Pablo Fendrik and released in 2008.
One challenge in terms of distribution and exhibition is how to schedule a relatively large number of films in a declining number of cinemas in South America.
And once a national production does manage to get distributed, how will it compete against films from the U.S.?
Publicity is clearly key to achieving the necessary audience. Because most of the government incentives go towards production, only a small proportion is left to cover the costs of promotion. Many nationally produced films, without star power to draw in audiences, find it difficult to promote themselves.
One solution could be expanding the number of theatres, so that local films could be more widely shown. But there is also the question of how to reach the considerable number of people in Latin America who have never been to the movies.
Because of the competition from U.S.-made movies, government subsidies are justified by the need to protect national productions, which often have social, cultural and artistic content not normally found in mass-produced Hollywood films.
In using federal funds to produce local films with their own cultural character, most of which never reach the attention of the general audience, the people and governments of Latin America expect the investment to benefit society as a whole.
In this sense, Latin American films are more similar to productions coming out of Europe, where governments, or national film agencies, are also the main stimulus for the production and protection of local film industries in the face of competition from Hollywood.
Despite the challenges faced by the region's growing film industry, there is no doubt that it is benefiting from the current favourable economic conditions, and it is likely to have a promising future.
Since the turn of the century, authorities in the region have proclaimed the cultural value of national filmmaking industries, which were severely undermined by previous governments.
In the last 10 years there has been strong support for national film industries, as reflected by the quality and quantity of films produced, such as 'The Motorcycle Diaries' (a 2004 international co-production), 'Y tu mamá también' (And Your Mother Too), a 2001 Mexican film, and 'Cidade de Deus' (City of God), a 2002 Brazilian hit, which express the level of maturity achieved by Latin America's film industry.
© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service