Latin American nations have been producing national LGBT+ cinema since at least the 1980s,[1] though homosexual characters have been appearing in their films since at least 1923.[2] :75 The collection of LGBT-themed films from 2000 onwards has been dubbed New Maricón Cinema by Vinodh Venkatesh; the term both includes Latine culture and identity and does not exclude non-queer LGBT+ films like Azul y no tan rosa.[3] :6-7 Latin American cinema is largely non-systemic, which is established as a reason for its wide variety of LGBT-themed films.[4] :142
A "boom" in LGBT+ cinema of the region began at the turn of the century and was reinvigorated in the 2010s, which also notably included output of such films from spaces in Latin America (e.g. Venezuela) with film industries that "have lagged behind" the rest of the region.[3] :6-7, 19, 192
The bisexual-themed Mexican film Y tu mamá también (2001) was nominated for an Oscar,[1] with the Chilean trans+ film A Fantastic Woman (2017) winning one. Azul y no tan rosa (2012) won the Goya Award for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film at the 28th Goya Awards, becoming the first Venezuelan film to do so.[5]
Before LGBT+ cinema was produced in Latin America, there were still such themes in films of the region; a notable director of this period was Arturo Ripstein. B. Ruby Rich clarifies that, in these earlier films, the queer elements were used symbolically and tailored for an arthouse and international audience, a form of intelligent cinema. They became popular in queer communities nationally, though.[4] :143 Rich also believes that they likely inspired the later LGBT+ cinema, which took influence from them because "the most interesting narratives and characters were often gay and lesbian".[4] :142
Rich describes the popularity of LGBT-themed cinema in Latin America to have emerged from various Latin American nations' similar political histories. A culture of independent filmmaking arose during unfavourable political or military-political situations limiting popular freedom in the late 20th century; this same culture remained even after political stability was achieved from the 1980s — with stability the filmmakers could tackle different themes that critiqued society and the government, including telling LGBT+ narratives.[4] :142
From the 1990s, internal reinvigoration and growing interest in its cinema from people in the West, allowed for the emergence of more diverse filmmaking in Latin America. Rich notes that the independent-esque industry of Latin American cinema, including its large contributions to New Queer Cinema, is appreciably different to the system of the United States — allowing for such greater creativity in queer film.[4] :142 She also proposes that there is influence from the flamboyant and performative burlesque, cabaret, and carnival aspects of many Latin American cultures, often included under the same umbrella as their filmmaking, which "communicates an unapologetic energy that can be claimed as queer".[4] :168
The Mexican performance artiste Ximena Cuevas, whose works often feature themes of lesbianism, has been called "a perfect prototype for an emergent Queer New Latin American Cinema". Some of her notable works are from 2001,[4] :172 the same year as Y tu mamá también was released across the Americas, a trigger moment for LGBT+ themes to be incorporated in more of the region's productions that would be mainstream.[4] :176-177
In 2012, Gustavo Subero wrote that "Although it is undeniable that there have been a dramatic increase in the body of lesbi-gay themed films made in the region", they do not normalize or liberate queerness and queer characters. He theorizes that cinematic queerness and the reality of sex and sexuality are kept separate.:214-215
Within conventions of Latin American cinema there is a normative ideal that it is acceptable for women to sleep in the same bed together, with such situations not automatically placing a movie within the realm of queer cinema, but not for men; two men sharing a bed in Latin American cinema, even if those men are young, is often used as an indication of queer acts that are not explicitly shown. Related to the machismo present both in society and culture, Gustavo Subero suggests that bed-sharing for men is used as a stand-in when male homosexuality will not be physically expressed in order to not "challenge the rigid sexual system operating in Latin America".[6] :213
Several works of Latin American LGBT+ cinema are rendered as stylistically black-and-white. These include Tan de repente (2002), where the choice is said to give the film a charming innocence that promotes its narrative, and A Thousand Clouds of Peace (2003), where it furthers the experimental intentions both in standing out and affronting expectations.[4] :178
Venkatesh notes that "strongly haptic sounds [...] are common" in the genre; this is typically loud sound that feels distant and reaching out to the listener, including examples such as waves crashing on a shore in the background of a scene far from any coastline. The sound will have amplified bass and treble, and may be overlaid in scenes symbolically, especially if the scene is also intended to be distant but associated with longing.:183-184
Gustavo Subero pursued research on queer representations in Latin American cinema. He has argued several points through cultural lenses, focusing largely on the machismo culture of many parts of Latin America. Subero suggests that queer individuals' contradiction of the heterosexual norm significantly impacts these ideals within the Latin American culture, where men are expected to be strong and dominant, and that the strongly male-dominated culture is afraid of a male that contradicts the traditional ideal; this has led to a lack of exposure for the transgender male even within Latin American queer cinema.[7]
Bernard Schulz Cruz, who focused on Mexican Gay Cinema, suggested that even when Latino transgender men have appeared in queer cinema (like in Arturo Ripstein's 1978 El Lugar sin limites), it is rarely in a positive light, suggesting that in queer Latin American cinema, the body is a tool that is used in order to attain satisfaction above all other things.[8]
See also: Mexican sex comedy and Pornochanchada. Fichera is a genre of Mexican film predominant in the 1970s and early 1980s that commonly featured homosexual characters. They derive from an earlier genre of nightclub films that would usually feature a queen performing. Lewis describes the gay characters in the genre as fitting the "in-between" type of Richard Dyer's categories.[2] :75 In this early market, LGBT+ themes were only shown in Mexican films through minor characters of gender deviance, fulfilled in this genre; Lewis noted that though less-studied and not explicitly named by Lewis, Brazilian cinema showed the same phenomenon.[2] :76 Also based on Italian sex comedy, this is the Pornochanchada genre.[9] :269
Venkatesh writes in chapter 9 of his book on New Maricón Cinema about films within and surrounding the genre that show a convention of using child characters to represent a neoliberal future.:175-177 Diverging from the arguments of Ignacio Sánchez Prado, Venkatesh notes that child and youth characters in many films of the new era can become exposed to or involved in LGBT+ surroundings and situations without also experiencing a coming-of-age. Whilst acknowledging young characters realizing their sexuality in many of these films, Venkatesh highlights that several also feature young characters that provide a reflection of non-normative adult sexuality and/or a narrative on it, and may act as mediation between normative and non-normative realms.:177 These include characters like Pedro in Lokas (Chile, 2008), where he is given the power to accept his father's homosexuality or not as a symbol of the society in his father's future, suggesting that how children respond to the LGBT+ themes reveals the narrative's ultimate outlook,:183 and Hendrix in La otra familia (Mexico, 2011), who has a similar choice regarding prospective adoptive parents (a gay couple) and allowing queerness to be introduced into national identity.:188-190 Venkatesh also proposes that in films with such characters, the viewer largely sees the film through the child's eyes.:183-189 This also serves to allow the audience to be willing students to messages the films deliver, some with an "explicit agenda to educate".:190
The British Film Institute compares the typically religious and machismo cultures of many Latin American countries with their "extraordinary" ranges of queer films; their 2019 Flare festival selected seven Latin American features.[1]
Outrage against the high ratings given Y Tu Mamá También both in Mexico and the United States[10] ultimately led to the Mexican ratings board (RTC) being made a separate body autonomous from the government.[11]
The release and popularity of the Chilean film A Fantastic Woman, about a trans woman, helped the country pass its Gender Identity Law in 2018.[12]