It increased after the end of the Pinochet regime in 1989, with occasional critical and/or popular successes such as Johnny cien pesos (1993), Historias de Fútbol (1997) and Gringuito (1998).
Greater box office success came in the late 1990s and early 2000s with films like El Chacotero Sentimental: la película (1999), Sexo con Amor (2003), Sub Terra (2003), and Machuca (2004) all of which were surpassed by Stefan v/s Kramer (2012) and Sin filtro (2016).
[5] On 17 February 1895 entrepreneur Francisco de Paola presented the first Kinetoscope, an early motion picture exhibition device, in Santiago.
[6] In the north of Chile, the Potassium nitrate mining industry created enough wealth to allow cities like Antofagasta and Iquique some privileges rare in other parts of the country.
On 20 May 1897, he screened the short documentary "Una cueca en Cavancha"[7] in the Great Philharmonic Hall on Tarapaca Street.
[12] The film, Ejercicio General del Cuerpo de Bomberos[13] (General Practice of the Fire Department), filmed on 20 May the same year, was only three minutes long and showed the annual public show performed by the Valparaíso Fire Department in the city's Aníbal Pinto square.
Nothing is known of the film's director, cinematographer or production team, and only 27 seconds of footage remain today, held by the Catholic University of Valparaíso.
First, a huaso charges into the scene, causing some commotion among the people around, and dances the traditional Chilean cueca accompanied by musicians.
Maurice Albert Massonnier was sent to Chile by the Lumiere Brothers' company, one of many sent around the world to document and produce films for them.
Directed by Adolfo Urzúa, and starring Nicanor de la Sotta, it told the story of Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, who fought for Chile's independence from Spain until his death in 1818.
[16] Among the many Chilean directors who took up the art in this period – Salvatore Giambastini, Juan Pérez Berrocal, Jorge "Coke" Délano, Nicanor de la Sotta, Carlos Borcosque and Alberto Santana – one name in particular stands out for film historians: Pedro Sienna, a former stage actor who went on to direct and act in some of the best films of the age.
[16] It was Sienna who wrote, directed and starred in the first Chilean feature-length film that has survived to this day, El Húsar de la Muerte (The Hussar of the Dead).
El Húsar de la Muerte was shown in the Treasures from the Archives category of the 2005 London Film Festival.
Critic Carolina Robino described El Húsar de la Muerte in BBC Mundo as "an extremely refined film for its era.
Without words, it tells an epic story with exquisite touches of humor and provides an accurate description of Chilean colonial society.
"[17] The last silent movie produced in Chile was Patrullas de Avanzada (Advanced Patrol), directed by Eric Page and released in 1931.
Large sums of money were spent on cinematic "super-productions" to attract foreign directors, but most failed to make a profit.
[16] One film which did buck the trend, however, was adventure-comedy El Diamante de Maharajá (The Maharaja Diamond), starring comedian Lucho Córdoba, which was a box-office hit.
Towards the end of the 1950s, however, two films appeared which gave a taste of the new wave of socially conscious cinema that would sweep Chile in the 1960s: Naum Kramarenko's Tres miradas a la calle (Three Views of the Street, 1957) and Deja que los perros ladren (Let the Dogs Bark, 1961).
During this period, young directors such as Raúl Ruiz, Patricio Guzmán, Aldo Francia, Helvio Soto and Miguel Littín emerged, along with a new genre inspired by social and political currents on the 1960s, the documentary.
Shortly afterwards some of the most important films from the New Chilean Cinema period were released: veteran Patricio Kaulen's Largo viaje (1967), Raúl Ruiz's Three Sad Tigers (1968), Miguel Littín's Jackal of Nahueltoro (1969), Aldo Francia's Valparaíso mi amor (1969) and Helvio Soto's Caliche sangriento (1969).
Instead they were reinterpreted in the cinema of exile as protest against the repression under the military regime or expressing nostalgia for the shattered revolution."
In 2003, the comedy Sexo con Amor (Sex with Love) by Boris Quercia set a new national box office record which would remain unbroken until 2012.
[16] Chilean President Ricardo Lagos founded the National Council of Culture and the Arts in 2003 and, since 2005, FONDART has been supplemented by additional competitive State funds which are allocated to encourage film production, distribution, literacy and heritage through the Consejo del Arte y la Industria Audiovisual (CAIA) and the Fondo de Fomento Audiovisual.
[28] Selected as the Chilean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards,[29] but didn't make the final shortlist.
Won the Grand Jury Prize - Knight Ibero-American Competition at the Jordan Alexander Kressler Screenwriting Award at the Miami Film Festival.
FICAMS is a green film festival which invites filmmakers of all nationalities to enter audiovisual works that address global warming, renewable energy, the environment and sustainability issues.
This festival began in 2011, and is held in Punta Arenas and Puerto Williams, two of the southernmost cities in Chile and the world.
Cine B festival is accepts all kinds of independent works, including feature films, shorts, music videos and other non-traditional formats.
This festival has taken place in Chiloé in southern Chile every year since 2006, and is focused on audiovisual works about heritage, identity and the rescuing of memory.