Runner-up for the 2014 Publication Prize awarded by the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland This book presents an original historiography on fifty years of Uruguayan cinema. It is the first English language academic book in which Uruguay becomes a case study to reflect upon broader interests of both Film and Latin American Studies, such as the conditions of film archives, the many materialities of film, the relationship between film and politics, and the ways in which films are produced in countries without a mainstream film industry. Uruguayan cinema has recently begun to capture the attention of academics and critics. However, most of Uruguayan productions remain ignored and forgotten, and have not been explored in depth. This ground-breaking investigation unearths films and videos from private and public archives, made in both amateur and professional settings, to reflect upon the ever-changing nature of the concept of cinema. How is the concept of cinema defined in non-industrial contexts? Can we even talk about cinema, when most of the production was captured in small-gauge film and video? In seeking to answer these questions, this book uncovers the tensions behind the text and the - filmic, magnetic or digital - materiality of films. Detailed case studies are based on the analysis of the political, cultural and economic contexts of film production and current issues of accessibility. Beatriz Tadeo Fuica is an Associate Researcher in the Grupo de Estudios Audiovisuales (GESTA), Universidad de la República (Uruguay); and at the Centre d'histoire culturelle des sociétés contemporaines (CHCSC), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.