Portal:Venezuela/Selected article

Un célebre especialista sacando muelas en el gran Hotel Europa (English: A celebrated specialist pulling teeth at the grand Hotel Europa) was the first Venezuelan film. It was screened at the Baralt Theatre in Maracaibo, Zulia on 28 January 1897 as the second in a film block of four; the block also featured another film from Maracaibo (Muchachos bañándose en la laguna de Maracaibo: English: Children bathing at the lagoon of Maracaibo). Little is known about the film's production, and scholars are uncertain of the identity of its director.

No complete copies of the original film survive. During the 2010s, a reconstruction of the film was produced in Venezuela with preserved photographs from the original. In the film, a dental surgeon at the Hotel Europa in Maracaibo pulls a man's teeth. Although the subject matter could make it an early horror film, scholars agree that the film was an actuality film.

A contemporary reviewer criticized the screening for its inappropriate projection speed and theatre lighting, but gave praise to the film.

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