Cinema is the most impactful storytelling tool today. And, for makers of films in Honduras, it is also an essential medium to preserve the national heritage. For example, Mi Amigo Ángel, filmed in 1962 by Sami Kafati, was hailed as the Honduran Cinema's origin.

The said film was not the lone first nationally-produced fictitious feature. Nevertheless, it provided a vibrant portrait of the busy Tegucigalpa in the 60s decade, both its poverty-hit neighborhoods and verdant environments.

According to Cinemateca Universitaria Enrique Ponce Garay director René Pauck, the film was criticized at the time, adding, "Everyone was upset" that Kafati filmed the unimpressive realities when there were a lot more beautiful truths that could have showcased.

Cinemateca is an institution committed for the restoration and conservation of the "Honduran audiovisual media," which was named after the first film critic of the country.

The 1970s, the Documentary Era

Pauck, who originally hailed from France, arrived in Honduras during the early 70s and has become an influential advocate of the national movie industry as an acclaimed documentarian, director, and producer. 

As such, he describes the 70s decade as the documentary era where, alongside filmmakers Vilma Ramirez and Mario Lopez, he helmed the Cinema Department of the Ministry of Culture, aiming to back and preserve the archive of the national media.

During this time, the typical documentaries included Mundo Garífuna, which represented the Garífuna Carnival preparations in the Northern Territory of the country, and the native Lenca people's agrarian customs, and Ritos y Magia, which made further explorations of both communities' spiritual tradition.

The 1980s, A Decade of Documentaries on Health and Water Access

While the 70s decade provided the Honduran filmmakers with room for experimentation and representation of original stories, the military battles that cleared through Central America within the following decade brought the new undertaking to a screeching end.

Pauck recounted, a lot of filmmakers recorded the battles of the era, "and were still recovering much of that material." Practically, he added, no other films were ever produced during the 80s decade, then documentaries, where most of them were institutional features on access to health and water.

Nevertheless, a big group of students taking filmmaking received scholarships to study overseas, particularly in Argentina and Cuba. This opportunity made way for the film industry to be more focused on what it does, during the 1990s and 2000s. 

Filmmakers of the New Generation

This new generation of filmmakers introduced screenwriter and director, Elizabeth Figuero, who's knowh for her Al Compás del Campanario and Los Fantasmas del Huracán projects; documentarian Katia Lara for her Quién Dijo Miedo and Corazón Abierto documentaries; and Hispano Durón, who adapted the short story of Roberto Castillos, entitled, Anita, La Cazadora de Insectos into one of the Honduran cinema's modern classics.

Meanwhile, the new millennium saw the growth of the blockbuster, as well. The first one was the 2002 horror film, Almas de la Media Noche, by Juan Carlos Fanconi. Then, in later years, it was followed by comedy films including Una Loca Navidad Catcracha by Carlos Membreño and the violent tale of revenge, El Paletero by Michael Bendecks.

Women's organizations have been an instrumental force, too, of creative fairness in Honduras. Specifically, according to screenwriter, Julia Herrera, it is the primary goal of the Colectiva de Mujeres Cineastas Hondureñas to train new filmmakers, support and promote films by women, and build networks "that empower each of us to create on our own."

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