Cinema of Argentina

The cinema of Argentina has historically been among the most developed in Latin America and one of the most recognized and influential in the Spanish-speaking world. What is known as Argentine cinema is often equated to the cinema of Buenos Aires, as the city and its metropolitan area have historically concentrated the majority of film production, although in every era there have been more or less isolated cinematic experiences outside the capital. Throughout the 20th century, film production in Argentina, supported by the State and by the work of a long list of directors and actors, became one of the major film industries in the Spanish-speaking world. The Golden Age of Argentine cinema took place between the 1930s and 1950s.

Argentina holds the record for the most Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film in Latin America, with two wins: The Official Story (1985) and The Secret in Their Eyes (2009); and has had a total of 8 nominations, making it the most recognized Latin American country in this category. Additionally, Argentina has won 19 Goya Awards for Best Ibero-American Film, more than any other country. In Sight and Sound's Greatest Films of All Time 2022, Lucrecia Martel's La Ciénaga (2001) was the highest-placed Latin American film and the only one to appear in the directors' top 100, appearing in 62nd place.

History

1894–1914: Pioneering years

Argentine cinema is almost as old as cinema in the world. The first early motion pictures introduced to Buenos Aires were Thomas Edison's kinetoscopes, which were brought by Czech businessman Frederico Figner and presented on 18 September 1894—a few months after its first ever exhibition in New York City—in a special press screening. Although they consisted of small, single-view tapes, the kinetoscopes familiarized the local press and the general public with the concept of moving pictures, and the device came to be used as a parameter for all technical explanations regarding cinema.