Panama Film Commission’s Inaugural Grants Project Announces Winning Projects at IFF Panamá

At this year’s International Film Festival of Panama (IFF Panamá), it was thrilling to witness the enthusiasm around Panama City’s National Theater on April 16th as the winning projects of the Panama Film Commission’s first ever grants project (FONDO CINE / CINEMA FUND) were announced.  Twelve projects were selected from a total of 52 cinematographic projects that participated for more than $2 million of support, generating an injection of resources into the film industry.

Neighboring Costa Rica was well represented at IFF Panamá, with Tico filmmakers Hilda Hidalgo (Of Love and Other Demons) and Juan Manuel Fernández (Los Vargas Brothers) in attendance, as well as María Lourdes Cortés, director of Cinergia, the funding organization based in San Jose, which serves to foster and promote audiovisual works from Central American and the Caribbean.

At MIFF 2013, Costa Rica’s Neto Villalobos won the top prize in MIFF’s Encuentros competition for his film Por las plumas (All About the Feathers), picking up a $10,000 cash prize sponsored by EGEDA to help finish the film’s post-production, and a two-year sales representation offer from Madrid’s 6 Sales.

With such a flowering of creativity coming out of the Central American region, we hope that one or more of the newly announced Panamanian projects will be ready for MIFF’s Encuentros program in 2014…

– Jaie Laplante