In Mexico, the development of the cinematography is in favor noticeable basically of three types of factors. On the one hand they are the risky economic and political swings, common situation to all the Latin American and Spanish cinema. By another one, the proximity and influence of the United States brought with himself the accomplishment of numerous runnings of that nationality, specially after II the World war, and determined the solid formation of technicians and actors to whom soon the national industry not always could give capacity. Finally, the influence of folclore and the folksong made of singers like Tito Guizar or Jorge Negrete outstanding actors, and even, as in the case of the last one, powerful controllers of means through strong union that dominated the industry in the decades of 1940 and 1950.

To these factors it would be necessary to add the European cultural influences that arrived from the hand of producers formed there (Felipe Cazals) and of film directors sheltered in Mexico or attracted by the culture of the country (Luis Buñuel, Serguéi Eisenstein). All it gave like result a series of isolated figures whose importance has extended the borders of the country, between which they are Emilio Fernandez, Mario Moreno, Cantinflas in the humorous cinema, and exiliado the Spanish Luis Buñuel, good part of whose work it was developed and it developed in Mexico. Nevertheless, in spite of these incursions in the international panorama, the Mexican cinematographic industry not yet has been able to establish sufficiently solid foundations like competing with effectiveness in the foreign markets.

The presence of new means is early in the country and, hardly a year after the first exhibition in Paris, the cinematograph of the Lumière brothers opened his first room in 1896. The promoter of this event was Rescuing Toscano Barragán, an engineer of mines which later he would become documentary traveling and introductory distributor of the cinema in Mexico, producer of on the Mexican Revolution (reunited in 1950 under the title Memories of a Mexican) and author of the first Mexican fiction film, Don Juan Tenorio (1898).

The documentary one predominated until 1910, and was necessary to wait for until 1906 so that it appeared the first largometraje (film of more of a roll): San Lunes of the Defender, imitation of then the predominant Italian cinema. To that tape him that he followed the shout of Dolores (1910, of Felipe Jesus of the Haro), on the independence of the country, that transmitted a more native feeling.