Costa Rica is the protagonist of Latin American Focus in MAFIZ, the industry area of the 25th Malaga Film Festival

The event will show the most recent cinematography of the country, and the talent that makes its success possible.

Costa Rica is the guest of honor at the 25th Malaga Film Festival, It will be the protagonist in the Latin American Focus at MAFIZ Industry area (Málaga Festival Industry Zone), with the aim to promote the most recent Costa Rican cinematography and the talent that makes it possible.

For this reason, Latin American Focus Costa Rica will be developed in different sections and activities in order to create the most favorable conditions to establish commercial, collaborative and artistic relationships, sustainable in the long term.
Thus, Costa Rican projects and creators will participate in the various sections of MAFIZ (MAFF - Málaga Festival Fund & Coproduction Event; Málaga Work in Progress; Málaga Talent and Hack Mafiz Málaga) while the country's producers, directors, authorities and institutions will seek exchanges, business opportunities and projection of the cinematography of their country throughout the event.

Malaga Film Festival will also include a Focus Costa Rica cycle in its program, with some recent productions from the country:

- Abrázame como antes, Jurgen Ureña (2016).
- Violeta al fin, Hilda Hidalgo Xirinachs (2017).
- Callos, Juan Ignacio Rodríguez (2018).
- Objetos rebeldes, Carolina Arias Ortiz (2020).

Costa Rica has developed in the last decade a talented and thriving audiovisual creation, in this decade has produced more than 100 works between feature films and series, both fiction and non-fiction. Without a doubt, this is an effect of the combination of several factors:

- The country's commitment to professional training, creating more than 12 higher education spaces, which are creators and technicians for the sector in areas such as direction, production, animation, post-production; an excellent cultivation of technical and professional skills.

- The political will of the state to invest in this sector, allocating economic, legal and institutional resources like never before for the production, audience building and foreign promotion. An example of this is the Faun Fund for financial support for film, TV and animation projects organized annually by the Costa Rican Center for Film Production of the Ministry of Culture; the creation of the Costa Rica Film Commission within the Foreign Trade Promoter PROCOMER of Costa Rica, of the International Film Festival of Costa Rica; of the Central American and Caribbean Audiovisual Market MAUCC and more recently the approval of the Audiovisual Incentive Law, among others.

- The strategic collaboration between the state, its different administrations and the private sector to consolidate this commitment.

- The national talent of directors, screenwriters, producers and technicians.

“The designation of Costa Rica as guest of honor in a prestigious festival, such as Málaga film festival, is not only a reason for entertainment, but also a reason for responsibility with the actions of audiovisual promotion, capacity building and audience education that have been promoted since a few years ago. The presence of Costa Rican works and filmmakers in the Andalusian event is an invitation to explore and discover”, comments Raciel del Toro, general director of the Costa Rican Center for Film Production of the Ministry of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica.

According to Jorge Zamora, director of PROCOMER Office in Spain, this is the result of a systematic effort of negotiation and visits that PROCOMER and the Trade Promotion Office in Madrid have been carrying out with the Festival for more than a year to make Costa Rica the country of honor. “It is about a diversity of activations in favor of the promotion of the Costa Rican film industry”, reiterates Zamora.