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Venezuela was introduced to cinema as a for-profit industry in the 1890s, when the medium became international. There were at least eight national films made in the decade, by three groups of filmmakers — one of the groups was based in Maracaibo and one was based in Caracas. The first film screening in the nation may have taken place as early as 1894, but is generally reported as 1896, with this later date being the first scheduled public screening.
Unlike other countries where cinema came as a product of modernity and development, cinema came to Venezuela through two pathways; one with Venezuelans only as the viewers, the other with them being viewed. This passive involvement with the development was simply described by Paulo Antonio Paranaguá by referring to cinema at its arrival as "another foreign import".
While some films may have been shown in the nation in 1894 and 1895 by the Kinetoscope Company on a Kinetoscope, the first scheduled, multi-show, and completely public screenings took place in 1896 with a Vitascope operated by Manuel Trujillo Durán under the employ of Luis Manuel Méndez.