Ecuador Movies

The film industry in Ecuador has been established for only a few years, although in existence for a century.

Although the history of film in Ecuador dates back to the 1920's, the country has produced very little.

Moving pictures in the country, date back to 1901 when films of Queen Vicoria's funeral, the Passion of Christ and scenes at the 1900 Paris expo were shown in Guayaquil.

A Golden Silence

Augusto San Miguel

August 1924 is one of the most important dates for Ecuador movies, marking the month that Augusto San Miguel's El Tesoro de Atahualpa was released, the first feature film in Ecuador. The decade was considered a golden age of cinema as the 'talkies' proved to be a technical challenge for the country.

Live sound was attempted unsuccessfully and until the 1960's, the Ecuador movie scene was virtually at a stand still, producing only documentaries, tourist films and news programs. Documentary budgets had the benefit of being reasonably low, but unfortunately, so too was interest in watching them. A mere four Ecuador movies were produced in the period from 1947 until 1959.

Asocine

Promotion of cinema in the 1960's saw the following decade introduce film study courses at Ecuador's universities and in 1977 the Asociación de Autores Cinematográficos del Ecuador (Asocine) was formed.

As the end of the 20th century came closer, the Ecuador movie industry started to begin. In 2006 the National Film Council was established to motivate filmmakers and assist with payment subsidies. The infrastructure for producing movies in Ecuador is still underway, but the 21st century has seen Ecuador filming television series, music videos and movies alike.

The annual Ecuadorian film festival of New York of the last few years has helped to promote the industry and a few productions have been making waves internationally.