The cinema of Paraguay has historically been small; however, this has begun to change in recent years with films like El Toque del Oboe (1998), María Escobar (2002), O Amigo Dunor (2005) which competed for Best Movie in the Rotterdam International Film Festival, and Hamaca Paraguaya (2006), which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, gaining critical acclaim both in Paraguay and abroad; 7 cajas (2012), Latas Vacías (2014), and Luna de Cigarras (2014).
The first films shot in Paraguay were a series of silent shorts by Argentine director Ernesto Gunche in 1905. The first Paraguayan-made film was Hipólito Carrón's 10-minute-long silent film Alma Paraguaya, made in 1925. He went on to make a number of short documentaries with his nephew and assistant cameraman Agustín Carrón Quell. A handful of documentaries were filmed in the country over the next few decades, though most of these are now lost. The 1932 documentary En el Infierno del Chaco by the Argentine Roque Funes was the first film shot in Paraguay to use sound.
Feature-length film in Paraguay beings with 1955's Codicia, the first of several Argentine-Paraguayan co-productions the most famous of which is probably La Burrerita de Ypacaraí from 1962. The film industry in Paraguay has historically suffered from lack of funds, public interest and equipment, as well as the repressive Alfredo Stroessner government of 1954–1989. Argentine director Lucas Demare chose to film La Sed (1961), an adaptation of Paraguayan author Augusto Roa Bastos's Hijo de hombre, in Argentina because of this. The exception to this was the 1978 state-funded film Cerro Cora, directed by Guillermo Vera, which promoted the historical and political views of the Stroessner government. This was the first wholly Paraguayan-made film and was based on the events of the Paraguayan War.
Only a handful of films were made in the country during the 1980s, though some Brazilian films were partly shot in the country. 1989 saw the overthrow of Stroessner and the re-establishment of democracy. Since then the situation has slowly been improving; in 1990 the Fundación Cinemateca del Paraguay was set up and the annual Asunción Film Festival inaugurated, and several new cinemas have been built in Asunción and other Paraguayan cities. The 1994 film Miss Ameriguá gained some international interest, as did 1998's El Toque del Oboe. This has continued into the new century with films such as María Escobar (2002), Miramenometokei (2003), Hamaca Paraguaya (2006), Felipe Canasto (2010) and Semana Capital (2010). Funding remains a problem however and the market is dominated largely by American and Argentine films.
In 2015 Paraguay submitted their first entry for consideration for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film with Arami Ullon's documentary Cloudy Times.
Luis A. Aguirre
Hugo Cataldo Barudi
Hipólito Carrón
Enrique Collar
Renate Costa
Manuel Cuenca
Jorge Díaz de Bedoya
Paz Encina
Hugo Gamarra
Galia Giménez
Hérib Godoy
Juan Carlos Maneglia
Marcelo Martinessi
Agustín Carrón Quell
Mauricio Rial
Carlos Saguier
Tana Schémbori
Aramí Ullón
Guillermo Vera
Codicia (1955; Argentine co-production)
El Trueno Entre Las Hojas (1956; Argentine co-production)
La Sangre y la Semilla (1959; Argentine co-production)
En la Vía (1959; Argentine co-production)
La Burrerita de Ypacaraí (1962; Argentine co-production)
Cerro Corá (1978)
A Cafetina de Meninas Virgens (1981; also known as Kapanga)
Experimento Sicológico: Un Día en el Hospital Neurosiquíatrico (1985; documentary)
El Secreto de la Señora (1989)
Miss Ameriguá (1994)
El Portón de Los Sueños (1998; documentary)
El Toque del Oboe (1998)
María Escobar (2002)
Réquiem Por Un Soldado (2002)
Miramenometokei (2003)
El Invierno de Gunter (2005)
La Tierra Ardía (2005)
O Amigo Dunor (2005; Brazilian co-production)
Paraguayan Hammock (2006)
Universo Servilleta (2010)
Felipe Canasto (2010)
Semana Capital (2010)
18 cigarrillos y medio (2010)
Che pykasumi (2011)
1811, Jirones de Gloria (2011)
7 Boxes (2012)
Vínculos (2012)
Libertad (2012)
Migraña/La enamorada (2012)
Eso que llaman amor (2012)
Kamiseta Pyta'i (2012)
Braian Magdaleno - La Película (2013)
El 8 día (2013)
Fin de la línea (2013)
El billete (2013)
El azúcar del naranjo (2013)
Lectura según Justino (2013)
Eliza Lynch: Queen of Paraguay (2013)
Esperanza (2013)
Costa Dulce (2013)
Latas Vacías (2014)
Luna de cigarras (2014)
Alma Paraguaya (1925)
La Catástrofe de Encarnación (1926)
El que se aburra aquí es porque no sabe distraerse (1926)
Desfile Militar (1926)
El Que se Aburra Aquí es Porque No Sabe Distraerse (1926)
Revista Militar en Campo Grande (1926)
Campaña electoral con la presencia de Eligio Ayala (1927)
El Señor Ministro del Interior (1927)
Manifestación Frente al Congreso (1928)
Vistas del Paraguay (1929)
Sepelio de Eligio Ayala (1930)
La Guerra del Chaco (1933)
Paraguay, Tierra de Promisión (1937)
Luna de Miel en Paraguay (1968)
La Caza y la Perdiz (1968)
La Represa de Acaray (1969)
Safari en el Chaco (1969)
Paraguay, Tierra de Progreso (1970)
El Pueblo (1971)
Estampas de Asunción (1971)
Oikove Don Bosco (1972)
Crisol de Gloria (1972)
La Voluntad de un Pueblo (1973)
Desde el Tejado (1986)
Cariñoso (1986)
Caños (1987)
El Caso de Luis (1987)
Rutina (1987)
La Fiesta (1988)
Proceso de Cambio (1988; documentary)
Las Gaviotas no Hablan Inglés (1996)
De Amor y de Guerra (1997)
Emboscada, campo de concentración (1997)
Abuso Sexual (1997)
Asunción a Cuatro Tiempos (1997)
Cachorros de León, la Batalla de Boqueron (1997)
Caireles de Sangre, 23 de Octubre de 1931 (1997)
Independencia (1997)
La Selva Debe Vivir: Los Ache del Ñacunday (1997)
Los Yshyr de Karchavalut (1997)
Estigarribia: Militar y Presidente (1998)
El Siglo Que Se Va (2000)
Una y Media (2001), by Luis A. Aguirre.
Horno Ardiente (2002)
Candida (2003)
La Cajita Feliz (2004)
La Permanencia (2007)
Ahendu nde sapukai (Oigo tu grito) (2008), by Pablo Lamar.
Karai Norte (2009), by Marcelo Martinessi.
Fuego (2009), by Sergio Marcos.
Don Policarpo & I: Travels with a Puppeteer (2009; documentary)
Opción 2 (2010)
Calle última (2010), by Marcelo Martinessi.
La Tierra sin Mal (2010; documentary)
Kuña Kamba (2010), by Miguel Agüero.
Kuña, El machismo se hereda (2010), by Marcos Ramírez.
Noche adentro (2010), by Pablo Lamar.
Cuentas (2010, Coronel Oviedo), by Herib Godoy.
Isla Alta (2011), by Federico Adorno.
Trinidad (2011), by Andrea Gandolfo and Sergio Colmán Meixner.
Viento sur (2011), by Paz Encina.
Pescadape (2011, Coronel Oviedo), by Herib Godoy.
La venganza de la vaca muerta (2011), by Carlos Tarabal.
Mita’i (2011), by Miguel Agüero.
Asaje Pyte (2012), by Juan Antonio Lezcano.
El Baldío (2012), by Marcelo Martinessi.
Vida reciclada (2013), by Daniel Candia.
Leona (2013), by Hebe Duarte.
Y al Tercer Día (2013), by Osvaldo Ortíz Faimán.
Kuña pyporé (2013), by Agustín Núñez.
Acá es así (2013), by Nelson Ibañes.
Des-precio (2014, Ñemby), by Ricardo D. Morínigo.
Roommate (2014), by Luis Galeano.
Al margen (2014), by José Bogado.
Caramelomi (2014), by Miguel Agüero.
Antolina (2014), by Miguel Agüero.
This list covers non-Paraguayan films (many Argentine or Brazilian) that were filmed,or partly filmed, there
Desfile del marcial Cuerpo de Bomberos al mando del comandante González, donde aparece multitud de personas conocidas (1905)
Su excelencia el presidente de la república Dr. Cecilio Báez, en compañía del ministro de guerra, Gral Benigno Ferreira (1905)
Mercado central, mercado guazú (1905)
Traslado de la Virgen de la Asunción de la iglesia hasta la casa particular (1905)
Au coeur de l'Amérique du Sud (1924; documentary)
Le Paraguay (1925; documentary)
Les indiens du Gran-Chaco (1925; documentary)
En el infierno del Chaco (1932/3)
Paraguay, Tierra de Promisión (1937)
India (1960)
Paraguay, Corazón de América (1961)
Le Rat d'Amérique (1963)
Éxtasis Tropical (1969)
Fuiste Mía Un Verano (1969)
O Amante de Minha Mulher (1978)
Moonraker (1979; waterfall scenes)
A Pantera Nua (1979)
O Último Cão de Guerra (1979)
República Guarani (1981; documentary)
Vicios de Mujer (1982)
Noites Paraguaias (1982)
Zama (1984)
The Mission (1986)
Guerra do Brasil - Toda Verdade Sobre a Guerra do Paraguai (1987; documentary)
Los Corruptores (1987)
La Bailanta (1988)
Desencuentros (1992)
El Viaje (1992)
Os Matadores (1997)
Hoteles (2004)
Cándido López - Los campos de batalla (2005)
Miami Vice (2006; partly filmed in Ciudad del Este)
The Pioneer of Paraguay (2009; South African documentary)
South of the Border (2009; documentary film, features a brief interview with the former president Fernando Lugo in Asunción)
El Niño Pez (2009)
Las Acacias (2011)
El silencio del puente (2011, documentary), by Eduardo Schellemberg, Argentina.
First Position (2011, documentary), by Bess Kargman, United States.
El impenetrable (2012, documentary), by Danièle Incalcaterra and Fausta Quattrini, Argentina-France.
La dictadura del parlamentariado (2012, documentary short), by Martín Céspedes, Argentina.
Ramón Ayala (2013), by Marco López, Argentina.
Bye Bye Lugo (2013, documentary), by Michel von Tell, Switzerland.
Mennonitas. Un Mundo Aparte (2013, documentary short), by Enrique Urdanoz, Spain.
De Arriba para Abajo (2014, documental), by Juan Carlos Carrasco, Mexico.
El Hijo Buscado (2014), by Daniel Gagliano, Argentina.
Landfill Harmonic (2014), by Brad Allgood, Graham Townsley, United States.
This list covers non-Paraguayan films that deal with Paraguayan issues/topics, but are not filmed there. It also covers films in which Paraguay is made reference to.
Storm Over the Andes (1935), de Christy Cabanne, United States.
Alas sobre El Chaco (1935), de Christy Cabanne, United States.
Flirting With Fate (1938), de Frank McDonald, United States.
His Best Student (1944), by Lucas Demare, Argentina.
La manigua sin dios (1949), by Arturo Ruiz Castillo, Spain.
Las aguas bajan turbias (1952), by Hugo del Carril, Argentina.
Aeropuerto (1953), by Luis Lucia, Spain.
La Sed (1961; an adaptation of Augusto Roa Bastos's novel Hijo de Hombre set during the Chaco War)
Volver (1969), by Germán Becker, Chile.
Argentino hasta la muerte (1971), by Fernando Ayala, Argentina.
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971; the fifth golden ticket is reportedly found in Paraguay), Mel Stuart, United States.
The Boys From Brazil (1978; a film about Nazi-hunters in Paraguay)
The Honorary Consul (aka Beyond the Limit; 1983; Richard Gere's character is Paraguayan)
Commando Mengele (1988; a film about Jewish Nazi-hunters in Paraguay)
Moon Over Parador (1988; set in the fictional Latin American country of Parador, a portmanteau of Paraguay and Ecuador)
One Man's War (1991 TV film; a film about Stroessner-era Paraguay starring Anthony Hopkins)
Diplomatic Immunity (1991), by Peter Maris, United States.
Anaconda (1997; Jon Voight's character is from Paraguay)
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997; features the line "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork")
Wedding Crashers (2005; Christopher Walken says a line about Paraguay)
Alpha Dog (2006; the main character is said to have been caught by police in Paraguay)
BirdWatchers (La terra degli uomini rossi; 2008), Marco Bechis, Italy-Brazil.
And Soon the Darkness (2010), Marcos Efron, United States-Argentina-France.
