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Early in 2021, Costa Rican filmmaker Hilda Hidalgo launched a pioneering initiative in her home country: the Unión de Directoras de Cine Costa Rica, or the Union of Female Film Directors of Costa Rica, in literal translation. The organization, which aimed to create a “more egalitarian and diverse society by promoting an equitable presence of women in the writing, creation, production, evaluation, and distribution of narratives and audiovisual content,” quickly ballooned to 24 members, growing steadily in the years since.

The organization reflected a pattern in this new generation of filmmakers in the Central American country, largely comprised of women, with many telling stories focused on issues of womanhood and, most specifically, being a woman in Costa Rica today. In the last five years alone, there have been several female-directed breakout films coming out of the country, including Antonella Sudasassi’s Berlin award-winning “Memories of a Burning Body,” Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s...

Antonella Sudassasi’s Substance Films has signed a co-production agreement with Catalonian production company Playlab Films for Manrique Cortés Castro’s directorial debut “Monsters.”

The film, a drama about the complex traumas a man believed to have long buried in his past, marks another collaboration between Substance Films partners Sudassasi and Castro, with the latter having produced the former’s breakout film, “Memories of a Burning Body.” “Monsters” has also secured El Fauno and Ibermedia’s development funds as it gears up to go into production early 2027.

The film follows Pablo, a 35-year-old man with no memories of his childhood. One night while dancing at the dive bar he routinely goes to after work, the man bumps into a group of young women and recognizes one of them to be his teenage daughter, whom he hadn’t seen in over ten years. This chance encounter and the panic of facing...

The 13th edition of the Costa Rica International Film Festival marks the first iteration with Patricia Velásquez Guzmán at the helm, but the filmmaker is a veteran when it comes to the San José-based event. Guzmán has participated at the festival since before it was a festival itself, producing the film showcase in the 2010s and returning several times both as part of the production team and as an invited filmmaker.

“I know the festival very well, so, as much as I love it dearly, I also know how it can be improved,” Guzmán tells Variety ahead of the festival’s kick-off. “One of the most important things right now is connecting with younger audiences without lowering the quality of the films we’re programming. We’re also heavily focused on the festival’s communication, catering the publicity to the themes we’re covering and how people can best experience the festival.

Renowned for its stunning landscapes and biodiversity, Costa Rica is emerging as a serious contender in the global production arena. With competitive film incentives, a skilled bilingual crew base, political and economic stability and a proven track record from recent international shoots, the country is positioning itself as a viable alternative for producers seeking visual richness and reliability.

The Costa Rica Film Commission, led by producer Marysela Zamora, has been spearheading new initiatives, including the Costa Rica Channel on Filmin and the Costa Rica Media Market. It has also facilitated Costa Rican filmmakers at key events, established six film-friendly zones, and forged international partnerships.

All these are part of a broader strategy, Costa Rica on Every Screen, geared toward turning the country into a full-service global content hub.

“In just four months, we’ve issued nearly half the number of permits we processed in all of last year—a clear...

In one single, bold move, Costa Rica has secured SVOD distribution in one of its largest international markets — Spain — by launching a dedicated channel on

popular streaming platform Filmin.

To be unveiled at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the new Costa Rica Channel, Canal Costa Rica, will spotlight a curated selection of up to 20 recent and standout feature films, documentaries and shorts from the small but increasingly prolific territory.

This initiative represents an innovative path to international distribution and underscores the growing support for cinema from the Costa Rican government, a rising wave of local productions and the country’s increasing creative ambition.

Indeed, Costa Rica is emerging as a leading filmmaking force in Central America.

“After the great experience we had with Chile last year, we were encouraged to repeat the experience with Costa Rican films,” says Filmin co-founder and chief creative officer Jaume Ripoll, who noted that...

The 12th edition of the Madrid-hosted Platino Awards, honoring the highest in Ibero-American film and television, saw major wins for the Oscar-winning Brazilian film I’m Still Here, as well as director Walter Salles and star Fernanda Torres (who were not in attendance). The night also featured three accolades for Netflix’s Colombian serialized adaptation of One Hundred Years of Solitude, which took home best actor and supporting actor categories, as well as best television series overall.

Other notable winners included Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, which clinched the original score and cinematography categories.

The Platino Awards followed February’s Goya ceremony, which also saw wins for the aforementioned projects, in addition to other winners honored today, including El 47, La Infiltrada and Segundo Premio.

A standout from the evening was also Eva Longoria’s acceptance of the Platinum of Honor Award as an example of Latin excellence in Hollywood,...

Walter Salles’ political drama “I’m Still Here” swept top honors at the 12th edition of the Premios Platino, Ibero-America’s most prominent awards event.

The Brazilian drama, winner of the Best International Feature Film Oscar this year, took home prizes for Best Iberoamerican Feature, Director for Salles and Actress for its Oscar-nominated lead, Fernanda Torres, at the glittering event held in Madrid.

On the television side, Netflix’s ambitious Colombian series “100 Years of Solitude” beat out another equally large-scale Netflix series, Brazil’s “Senna,” as well as O2 Filmes’ “City of God: The Fight Rages On” and Endemol Shine Boomdog-hbo Max’s lush “Like Water for Chocolate.”

“100 Years of Solitude” director Alex Garcia Lopez thanked Netflix VP of Content Paco Ramos and the company “for having the vision, the guts, the crazy idea of buying the rights to this book and giving all of us the opportunity to...

Walter Salles‘ I’m Still Here was the big winner at Madrid’s Platino Awards on Sunday night, honoring the best of Ibero-American film and television.

The Brazilian filmmaker took home the best director and best Ibero-American fiction film awards, while the Oscar-nominated Fernanda Torres won best actress for her performance.

Elsewhere, Daniel Fanego won the best supporting actor performance for Luis Ortega’s Kill the Jockey, and Clara Segura of El 47 won in the equivalent category for women. Eduard Fernández took home the best actor prize for his role in Marco.

There were also two wins for Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language debut, The Room Next Door, as Edu Grau and Alberto Iglesias won the best cinematography and best original score awards, respectively.

Eva Longoria, star of Desperate Housewives and Only Murders in the Building, picked up the prestigious Platino honorary award — past recipients of which include Benicio Del Toro,...

Cinema Tropical, the premier presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States, has announced its annual list of the Best Latin American and U.S. Latinx Films of 2024. This year’s prestigious selection showcases 32 exceptional films—26 from across Latin America and six from U.S. Latinx filmmakers—representing a vibrant spectrum of contemporary storytelling. These films will compete for the 15th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards, with winners to be revealed on January 14, 2025, at a ceremony at Film at Lincoln Center in New York City.

The selected films span diverse genres, themes, and countries, highlighting the creative and cultural richness of Latin American cinema. Festival favorites such as La Cocina by Alonso Ruizpalacios, The Delinquents by Rodrigo Moreno, Pepe by Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, and Sujo by Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero are among the contenders for top honors. The winners will be recognized in categories including Best Film,...

There’s an unexpected implication when Antonella Sudasassi Furniss exposes the parameters of her film set at the start of “Memories of a Burning Body,” following lead Sol Carabello into one room to have her makeup done and a gaffer in another arranging the lights for a scene. It isn’t to accept the artifice of the film or to set up a premise, but rather to plant the idea that there may be certain limitations to what a particular life can be, with Sudasassi Furniss’ refusal to leave the room for the rest of the film reflecting something that might be too on the nose to ever say directly. The film centers on a trio of wisened women, all around the age of 70, who are asked to recall how they developed their individual sexual consciousness in a culture where to even speak of the subject was considered shameful.

Even now,...

Michael Gracey’s Robbie Williams biopic musical Better Man will open the 36th annual Palm Springs Film Festival on Thursday, January 2, while The Penguin Lessons, directed by Peter Cattaneo and starring Steve Coogan in the heartwarming story of a teacher who rescues and adopts an adorable penguin, closes it out January 13. Both films had premieres at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this year, and Better Man first had its world premiere at Telluride.

As always a hallmark of Psiff are screenings of numerous entries into the Oscar International Feature Film race, this year with 35 scheduled to screen in the desert.

The festival has programmed 158 films from 71 countries including 68 premieres. The lineup also includes sections like Talking Pictures, a focus on Spanish films with a spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar, New Voices New Visions, Modern Masters, Queer Cinema, Cine Latino, True Stories,...

On Tuesday, the Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) announced its official 2025 lineup for the nearly two-week event that’s being held from Jan. 2 to Jan. 13.

The opening night movie will be Paramount Pictures’ “Better Man,” starring Robbie Williams and directed by Michael Gracey, which chronicles the pop star’s meteoric rise and dramatic fall. And the festival will close with Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Penguin Lessons,” starring Steve Coogan and directed by Peter Cattaneo, in the dramedy about a teacher whose life changes when he adopts a penguin. In all, Psiff will screen 158 films from 71 countries, including 68 premieres.

Artistic director Lili Rodriguez said, “Our lineup this year is truly something special. In true Psiff fashion, it spans genres and crosses borders to bring an exciting mix of films to the Coachella Valley. Over the past year, our Palm Springs International Film Festival team has carefully crafted a program that celebrates the art of storytelling,...

The Palm Springs International Film Festival is set to kick off on Jan. 2 with “Better Man,” directed by Michael Gracey, while the closing film on Jan. 12 will be “The Penguin Lessons,” directed by Peter Cattaneo.

The lineup will feature 35 of the international feature film Oscar submissions. Over 11 days, the festival will screen 158 films from 71 countries, including 68 premieres.

Also set are a focus on Spanish films including a spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar, and the return of sections such as New Voices New Visions, Modern Masters, Queer Cinema, Cine Latino, True Stories and World Cinema Now.

“Better Man” is based on the true story of the rise, fall and return of British musician Robbie Williams. Cattaneo will be in attendance for “The Penguin Lessons,” a dramedy about a schoolteacher in militaristic Argentina who rescues a penguin.

Several of the honorees from the Palm Springs International Film Awards are set to participate in the Talking Pictures screenings,...

Two Brazilian titles, Marcelo Gomes’ “Portrait of a Certain Orient” and Marianne Brennand’s “Manas,” swept the three biggest awards at Spain’s Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival, which wrapped Saturday night in the Southern Spanish city.

With Brazil’s Marcelo Caetano scooping a fourth trophy of a total seven on offer for competition titles, Huelva served to confirm the building renaissance of Brazilian cinema, already seen in Karim Aïnouz making Cannes main Competition cut two years running – with “Firebrand” and “Motel Destino” – and Walter Salles’ comeback and Brazilian Academy Award entry “I’m Still Here’s” reaping a rave review and reporting in Variety and other media, prompting Oscar buzz.

“Portrait of a Certain Orient,” Marcelo Gomes, Brazil, Italy: Golden Columbus, Best Picture

Shot in black-and-white and a 4:3 box format, “Portrait,” which took Huelva’s Best Picture Golden Columbus, tells a tender, lamenting parable of the tragedy of bigotry and patriarchy,...

L.A.-based Outsider Pictures, a U.S. distribution hub for Spanish-language cinema, has snagged North American rights to three International Oscar entries to the 97th Academy Awards: Costa Rica’s “Memories of a Burning Body,” Spain’s “Saturn Return” and Switzerland’s “Queens” (Reinas”), directed by Peruvian-born helmer, Klaudia Reynicke.

In addition, it has picked up Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed” by Argentina’s Hernán Rosselli and Toronto Platform awardee “They Will Be Dust,” starring Chile’s Alfredo Castro and Spain’s Angela Molina.

“I think the recent acquisitions from Outsider reflect the exciting and challenging cinema being produced in Latin America and Spain. These may not be star driven or hugely commercial films, but like most independent cinema, they are labors of love, passion pieces that film-makers have worked so hard for and that any company would be proud to distribute,” said Outsider Pictures founder-ceo Paul Hudson.

Predicting the eventual five Oscar nominees for Best International Feature is made difficult by the three-step process that begins after the October 2, 2024 deadline for countries to submit entries. To be part of the selection process for this category, which was called Best Foreign Language Film before 2020, requires a great deal of dedication. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best International Feature.)

In the days following the deadline for submissions, the academy determines each film’s eligibility. Then the several hundred academy members who serve on the International Feature screening committee are divided into groups and required to watch all their submissions over a six-week period that ends in early December. Their top 15 vote-getters will make it to the next round. That list of semi-finalists will be revealed on December 17, 2024.

These 15 films will be made available to the entire academy membership who can cast ballots for the final...

France has selected Jacques Audiard’s bold musical “Emilia Perez” to represent the country in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film race, giving that category an instant frontrunner at the 97th Academy Awards.

The Netflix film, which caused a sensation at the Cannes Film Festival with its story of a Mexican drug lord undergoing sex reassignment surgery, is considered one of the year’s likeliest Best Picture nominees, making it a clear favorite in the international category as well.

It was chosen on Wednesday by a selection committee that had narrowed its choices to four: “Emilia Perez,” Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,” Matthieu Delaporte’s “The Count of Monte Cristo” and Alain Guiraudie’s “Misericordia.”

Last year, that committee chose “The Taste of Things” over “Anatomy of a Fall,” going with a ravishing romance over an edgier drama that had won the top prize in Cannes. “The Taste of Things...

Santiago Loza, Natalia Meta and Martín Boulocq are among the filmmakers returning to San Sebastian with projects in this year’s Europe-Latin America co-production forum (September 23-25), alongside the latest project from the directors of Sundance prize winner Sujo.

This will be Argentinian director Loza’s eighth participation in the Spanish festival, previously taking part in the forum in 2017 with Brief Story Of The Green Planet. His latest project is Animales Del Desierto.

Argentina’s Meta is taking part with The Spirit Of Law, after The Intruder played in Horizontes Latinos in 2020.

Bolivia’s Boulocq returns with The Strange Woman,...

Sanfic Industria, the industry section of the Santiago International Film Festival running over August 18-25, is showcasing a slew of promising new fiction and non-fiction projects at its Santiago Labs. “We were overwhelmed by the number of entries this year, a 55% uptick from 2023,” said Sanfic Industria director Gabriela Sandoval, a co-founder of the festival.

Out of the 28 selected Santiago Lab projects, 12 are directed by women. “Among our many objectives, we have always aimed to expand opportunities for women filmmakers by equipping them with the essential tools and creating pathways for their success,” said Sandoval, a producer herself at Storyboard Media alongside festival co-founder Carlos Nuñez. She added that nearly 50% of the Santiago Lab projects are produced by women.

Some projects are presented by established producers like Chile’s Lucas Engel, who backed such notable dramas as “Tengo Miedo Torero” and “Los Huesos.” Lauded filmmaker Nicolás Videla, who identifies himself as binary,...

Metis Films, the UK company launched this year by former Altitude and eOne executive Ben Metcalf, has acquired UK-Ireland rights to Antonella Sudasassi’s Memories Of A Burning Body.

The second feature from Costa Rican filmmaker Sudasassi debuted in Panorama at the Berlinale this year, where it won the independent audience award. Metis will release it in UK cinemas at the end of 2024, having acquired it from Bendita Film Sales.

The drama explores how the memories of three women who grew up when sexuality was taboo, are channeled through one 65-year-old protagonist.

Metis has also pre-bought The Resonance, a UK feature in pre-production,...

Running April 4-7, the Iff Panama brings to this year’s edition a rich mix of standout director driven titles from Europe, the Spanish-speaking world and beyond, spangled by highlights from Central America, including Panama:

“Bila Burba,” (Duiren Wagua, Panama)

Documentary. Wagua’s debut feature. The Gunadule nation’s ties with the Panamanian government were fraught with territorial and cultural disputes. In 1925, leaders Simral Colman and Nele Kantule, inspired by their warrior ancestors, joined forces to unite their communities in the ‘Dule Revolution’ against police brutality. Today, their descendants honor this legacy through street theater, transforming community streets into stages to commemorate their ancestors’ struggle.

Bila Burba

“Brown,” (Ricardo Aguilar, Panama)

Penned by Aguilar’s regular collaborator, Manolito Rodríguez, the story centers on Teófilo Alfonso, also known as “Panamá Al” Brown, the first Latin American World Boxing Champion. After a fixed fight costs him his title, he retires to Paris.

Backed by the Cannes Film Market and Argentina’s Incaa film agency, the 15th Ventana Sur and its much anticipated works in progress sections, Primer Corte and Copia Final, unspool over Nov. 27-Dec. 1 in Buenos Aires.

This year’s crop of films, either in post-production or completed, make scant reference to the region’s brutal historical past, perhaps with the exception of “Pepe” by Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, which begins with the capture of drug lord Pablo Escobar who sowed terror and chaos for years in Colombia, or José María Cabral’s “Tiguere,” set in a ‘90s Dominican Republic.

In contrast, they focus more on human interest stories as in the territorial dispute in “El Casero”; family clashes in “November” and “Una casa con dos perros” – also a reference to Argentina’s economic crisis – as well as issues of identity and intergenerational relationships.

In Mexican filmmaker Rigoberto Perezcano’s poignant black-and-white drama,...

“Yo no moriré de amor,” the feature debut of theatre actress Marta Matute, among the five titles selected by the Madrid Film School’s Ecam incubator program, has been boarded by Elastica Films,

whose credits include Berlinale Golden Bear prize winner “Alcarràs” and “Creatura,” Elena Martin’s best European film winner at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

The family drama is lead produced by José Esteban Alenda and César Esteban Alenda’s Solita Films, which saw their first international co-production, “El despertar de las hormigas,” by Costa Rican Antonella Sudasassi, world premiere at Berlinale’s Forum and become the first Central American film to be nominated for a Spanish Goya.

Executive producer Cecilia Rivas of Solita Films told Variety she is hoping to close a European co-production deal for “Yo no moriré de amor” in San Sebastian.

“Elastica Films makes an ideal partner as we share the same vision,” she noted, adding...

Spain has found a place on the global film industry’s radar as an attractive market for co-producing projects, boosted by its bigger-than-ever-public-sector funding.

The trend comes in a moment of maturity for its audiovisual industry, with competitive tax incentives and the emergence of fresh talent, often female, whether directors or producers. Unlike U.S. indie producers, hard hit by streamers pulling back, European counterparts still have public sector financing.

But to make movies of any artistic ambition, which might justify that funding and break out to foreign sales and a theatrical release, producers are looking overseas more and to other parts of Spain for production partners.

Co-production is booming. Only last year, Spain co-produced 70 films, beating its average production for the period 2018-2022 of 256 titles, according to Spanish film agency Icaa.

Icaa’s selective aid for movie production reached €20 million (21.48 million). Of that, a minimum 5 went to support minority co-productions.

Spain’s Solita Films and Auna Producciones, and Puerto Rico’s Canica Films, the production team behind Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition entry “La Pecera” (“The Fishbowl”), by Glorimar Marrero Sánchez, is joining again for the Puerto Rican filmmaker’s new feature, “El Grito de la Trinitaria.”

Written and directed by Marrero Sánchez, “El Grito de la Trinitaria” (a working title) follows a Dominican woman searching for her own space in the world and the elderly woman in whose house she lives, when they are about to lose the apartment they have shared for years.

The project replicates “La Pecera’s” Spain-Puerto Rico production partnership, with Solita co-founder José Esteban Alenda, Auna’s Amaya Izquierdo and Canica’s Marrero Sánchez serving as producers.

“The search for my own space rolls off my interest, as a Puerto Rican, to address the human need for self-determination,” Marrero told Variety.

“This time,...

The 10th Panama Int’l Film Festival wrapped Sunday, Dec. 5 with Michel Franco’s Acapulco-set drama “Sundown” closing the event.

Winners of the rough-cut sidebar Primera Mirada were announced at closing night, which took place at festival venue, La Manzana de Santa Ana. Costa Rican entries took home the top prizes this year, indicative of the tiny Central American nation’s outsized filmmaking talent.

The Primera Mirada jury, led by Diana Sánchez, Marcelo Quesada and Paula Gastaud, bestowed the top prize to Costa Rican supernatural drama “Domingo and the Mist” by Ariel Escalante who took home the $10,000 cash prize; Mauricio Morales of El Salvador won the second cash prize of $5,000 for his docu “Milo, Breaking Frontiers.”

“I’m enormously thankful to Iff Panama for having not only supported ‘Domingo and the Mist,’ both in Primera Mirada as well as in the Panama Film Match a year and a half ago,...