No. of screens 448 (2011) Documentary 2 National films 1,358,244 (4.9%) | Fictional 14 Total 27,705,576 | |
Main distributors Cinematográfica Blancica
The Walt Disney Company Venezuela
Cines Unidos | ||
Venezuelan cinema dates back to the late nineteenth century. The first films made in Venezuela were released on January 28, 1897 at the Baralt Theater in Maracaibo.
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Landmarks
Landmarks of Venezuelan cinema include the 1949 film La Balandra Isabel llego esta tarde, by Carlos Hugo Christensen, winner of the Best Cinematography Award at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival and the 1959 documentary Araya, by Margot Benacerraf, was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, where it shared the Cannes International Critics Prize with Alain Resnais's Hiroshima mon amour.
The 1976 film Soy un delincuente by Clemente de la Cerda got the Special Jury Prize at the 1977 Locarno International Film Festival and the 1977 film El Pez que Fuma, by Román Chalbaud.
1985's Oriana by Fina Torres, won the Caméra d'Or Prize at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival as the best first feature.
Sicario (1995), by Joseph Novoa, won the Best Feature Film Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Punto y Raya, 2004 film by Elia Schneider and starring Édgar Ramírez won four international awards including the Special Jury Prize at the Havana Film Festival. Secuestro Express (2005), by Jonathan Jakubowicz and distributed internationally by Miramax, became the highest-grossing films of Venezuela and El Caracazo (2005), also by Román Chalbaud was the most costly historical film about the Caracazo of 1989.
Postales de Leningrado, 2007 film by Mariana Rondón was awarded by Golden Sun Award at Biarritz International Festival of Latin American Cinema and 2009's Venezzia, produced by Haik Gazarian, won about fifteen awards around the world in film festivals. In 2010, Habana Eva by Fina Torres was awarded by the Best International Feature at New York International Latino Film Festival.
Pelo malo (2013), by Mariana Rondón, won the Golden Shell at the 2013 San Sebastián International Film Festival. Azul y no tan rosa (2012), by Miguel Ferrari, became the first Venezuelan film to won the Goya Award for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film in its 2014 edition.
In 2015, the film Desde Allá by Claudia Pinto, became the first Venezuelan and Latin American film to win the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.
Centro Nacional Autónomo de Cinematografía
Is the governing body of cinematographic public policy in Venezuela.