In the last 25 years, Uruguayan cinema has reached an extraordinary level with films such as Whisky and El baño del Papa, which have won awards at festivals around the world.
In the last 25 years, Uruguayan cinema has reached an extraordinary level with films such as Whisky and El baño del Papa, which have won awards at festivals around the world.
Uruguayan cinema has more than a century of history. Although Louis Lumière’s invention arrived in the country early – as early as 1898 the country had its first documentary film, Carrera de bicicletas en el velódromo de Arroyo Seco by Félix Oliver – the first hundred years were marked by scarce resources and intermittent projects.
However, in the last 25 years, Uruguayan cinema has reached an extraordinary level, both for the national productions that stand out in the most diverse festivals around the world and for the production services offered in the country to foreign productions in areas such as advertising, documentary films or feature films.
The feature film 25 Watts (2001) was a great boost to the self-esteem of national cinema after receiving 10 international awards, including Best Film at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Best First Film at the Havana Film Festival. Since then, every year some Uruguayan film has won awards at film festivals around the world.
An interesting reading for those who want to learn about the evolution of Uruguayan film production in recent decades are the catalogs prepared by the Uruguay Film Commission & Promotion Office, which summarizes the main productions in both Fiction and Documentary. There is also one specifically dedicated to the promotion of Uruguay’s excellent filming locations.
