Costa Rica, protagonist of Latin American Focus

Last night Ana Helena Chacón, Ambassador of Costa Rica, received the Silver Biznaga from the Mayor of Malaga Francisco de la Torre, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Malaga City Hall. Shortly afterwards the Costa Rica Series was underway at the Cine Albéniz, with the screening of Violeta al fin, by the filmmaker from Costa Rica Hilda Hidalgo.

The filmmakers Carolina Arias Ortiz (Objetos rebeldes), Juan Ignacio Rodríguez (Callos) and Jurgen Ureña (Abrázame como antes) complete the selection of films for the series, which brings the most recent cinema of Costa Rica to spectators in Malaga.

José G. Castro, from the Costa Rica Film Commission, expressed his appreciation not only for “the honour of being the guest country at the Festival’s 25th anniversary” but also for “being part of the event the year that Costa Rica approves for the first time a law to attract investments”; a law that “provides benefits to the international productions that are filmed Costa Rica, and also provides incentives for producers of Costa Rica who coproduce abroad and bring investments to the country.”

This recognition arrives “at a very important moment for Costa Rica”, with the unrelenting rise of Costa Rican talent in recent years as a result of “the creation of the first fund for the development of national cinema, a Film Commission with budgetary allocations and of having centres of higher education for training in audiovisual communication and production”. In addition to these three factors, the fourth one acts “as a catalyser, because we have created the first market of Central America and the Caribbean, the fourth edition of which will be held this year."

For the 2022 guest country, “being in Malaga is promoting Costa Rica as a creative hub, as well as an opportunity to host international productions”. The arguments used by the Film Commission to convince producers to shoot in the country include “its political security and the short distances between locations, in a country with eight of the ten climates in the world.”

Projects and creators of Costa Rica are present in different sections of MAFIZ. The content producer Sofía Meza Herrera is the representative in the Malaga Talent Campus, a breeding ground for talent and a stimulus for young filmmakers. Along with her, Adrián Roberto Campos Navarro is one of the 20 digital creators who won Hack MAFIZ Malaga, an event that highlights the importance of new talent and connects them with the industry’s international players.

Lastly, two projects have been added to the 15 selected for Malaga WIP, a space designed to give impetus to the finalisation of Sapnish and Latin American films in the postproduction phase. The projects are El Zoólico de la Milla 70 / 70 Mile Zoo, directed and produced by Daniel Ross Mix, and Guián by Nicole Chi, produced by Alejandra Vargar Carballo.

Costa Rica, which in the last decade has produced more than 100 feature films and series, has its own stand at La Village, the exhibition and meeting space for the Ibero-American Film Institutes. In addition, it will host a networking event with members of the Valencian Community, the guest at Territory Spain, the industry activity which every year promotes an Autonomous Community.