In its mission to be a platform for the development of projects in Central America and the Caribbean, First Look/ Primer Mirada of the Industry Section of Iff Panama grants aid for the completion of feature films are in post-production to increase their visibility in the international film market.
Alliance with Cannes
First Look has Us$ 15,000.00 from private funds to support the completion of productions. Thanks to the alliance between Panama Iff and Cannes, the winning film will be screened at the Marché du Film de Cannes - one of the most important film markets in the world. The winner will also receive an accreditation to the Cannes Film Festival plus travel and accommodations.
The winner will also receive the official poster design by Boogieman Media . A creative team that made the posters of acclaimed films as “The Clan” and “Wild Tales”. In addition, the production teams of the five pre-selected projects will receive advice on the graphic image of their respective films. This consultancy will be conducted by Leandro Mark, the director of Memorial Map, and Max Saad .
In addition to economic aid to the winner, all selected projects will be shown in private sessions for industry distributors, representatives of other film festivals and sales agents. The directors and producers of the projects will answer questions and receive suggestions from members of the international film industry, in order to enrich their projects in this final stage.
The international jury will be responsible for deciding the winner of works-in-progress. The jury, composed of specialists from Latin American cinema who share Iff Panama’s mission to support the growing film industry in the region include the director of the Film Festival in Havana, Ivan Giroud the uncle of Pavel Giroud, who is participating in Iff Panama with his film “The Companion”; Canadian Jaie Laplante who is the director of the Miami Film Festival; and Yissel Ibarra of the Mexican Film Institute (Imcine).
This year, First Look received 46 nominations for movies in progress. The five films chosen for competition are:
”Hold Me Like Before”/ “Abrazame como antes”, 70 min. (Costa Rica, 2016)
Director: Jurgen Ureña
Producer: Gustavo Sanchez Cubero
Veronica is a transgender prostitute on the streets of San Jose. One night, a car of her client strikes an enigmatic teenager known as Tato. Impulsively, Veronica decides to take the boy to her apartment for shelter and food. The next day, misunderstanding of the motives behind the actions of his hostess, Tato plans to escape. A relationship of identification, solidarity and tension initially arise between Veronica and Tato but they are affected soon by Veronica friends.
"Jeffrey," 80 min. (Dominican Republic, 2016)
Director - Producer: Yanillys Pérez
Despite his difficult life, 12-year-old Jeffrey, a Dominican windshield wiper, dreams of being a reggaeton singer. This dream helps him escape the harsh reality of his adult life full of responsibility. He writes songs with his older brother Jeyson, 18, about his life, his neighborhood and society they perceive. Guided by Jeffrey, they deal with their daily lives, their broken family while they dance reggaeton and dembow.
“Play the Devil,” 92 min. (Trinidad and Tobago, 2016)
Director: Maria Govan
Producer: Abigail Hadeed
Set in the exquisite landscape of Trinidad at the time of Carnival, Gregory, a black working class youth of 18 acts in a local theater where he is discovered by businessman James Young, who is immediately attracted by Gregory and seeks all means to approach him. Carnival arrives on Monday, young men cover their bodies with blue paint and dressed as devils, they descend into the valley, where howls and drums that are lost in the carnal dance are heard. This is the scene of a fatal showdown that will change their lives forever.
“Play the Devil” was first presented as a pitch last year at the inaugural Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival’s Industry Days.
"Noelí Overseas," 65 min. (Dominican Republic, 2016)
Director: Laura Amelia Guzmán
In attendance: Actress Desiree Reyes
The dream of many Dominican women is to go to Europe, as in the case of Noelí and her mother. Noelí is an actress and is hired to film a movie in Venice, while her mother does domestic work in Spain. After filming, Noelí visits her mother whom she has not seen for 10 years; nostalgia and desire to return to the island are just below the surface of their meeting.
“Sultán,” 95 min. (Panama, 2016)
Director: Enrique Castro Rios
Producer: María Neyla Santamaría
Ten years after the brief but brutal 1989 U.S. military invasion of Panama, three survivors, a boy, his mother and grandmother, share an uncomfortably intimate reconciliation guided by the ghost of one person who lost the most on that pitiless night.
Variety’s exclusive reportage in 2015 quoted Castro Rios explaining how the film touches on race relations and segregation in Panama and within families. In the film, the grandmother has married whiter, part of a mindset to “improve the race”; her son marries a girl of West Indian descent, which the mother sees as a “backward” step. When the son is killed during the U.S. invasion, racial and other tensions drive the grandmother, daughter-in-law and her young son apart, until a ghost from the past comes to try and reunite them.
The cast includes Nina Vincent from Panama and Jerónimo Henao of Colombia, as well as Panamanian newcomers Delicia Montañez and Alex Jiménez.
“Sultán’s” first financial support was announced at the closing night of the Panama Film Festival in 2013, when it became the first feature to be supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Fondo Cine Cinema Fund. Paid in installments, the award was a very respectable $700,000. The budget Castro Rios projects is around $1.1 million.
The film is a coproduction between Sultan el Film (Panama) and Milagros Producciones (Colombia). It also received support from the Ibermedis Fund and of the Film Development Fund of Colombia (Fdc).
Written and directed by Enrique Castro Ríos and produced by María Neyla Santamaría, "Sultán" is the first feature film produced with the support of the Panama Film Commission and represents a new Panamanian independent film industry.
Castro Rios’ previous credits include the short “Wata,” awarded best Central American short film at the Icarus Film Festival of Guatemala in 2010.
The co-production was filmed by cinematographer Diego Jiménez (Colombia), and executive produced by Miriam Pons (Panama).
About the Foundation Iff Panama
Foundation International Film Festival of Panama (Iff Panama Foundation) is a non - profit organization created to support the implementation of the International Film Festival of Panama and promote cultural and educational activities that are an integral part of the event organization . The Festival is sponsored mainly by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Miti), Tourism Authority of Panama, MasterCard®, Copa Airlines, 507 Red Lager, Mayor of Panama, K Magazine, Tvn FIlms, among other generous sponsors .
See more here.
Alliance with Cannes
First Look has Us$ 15,000.00 from private funds to support the completion of productions. Thanks to the alliance between Panama Iff and Cannes, the winning film will be screened at the Marché du Film de Cannes - one of the most important film markets in the world. The winner will also receive an accreditation to the Cannes Film Festival plus travel and accommodations.
The winner will also receive the official poster design by Boogieman Media . A creative team that made the posters of acclaimed films as “The Clan” and “Wild Tales”. In addition, the production teams of the five pre-selected projects will receive advice on the graphic image of their respective films. This consultancy will be conducted by Leandro Mark, the director of Memorial Map, and Max Saad .
In addition to economic aid to the winner, all selected projects will be shown in private sessions for industry distributors, representatives of other film festivals and sales agents. The directors and producers of the projects will answer questions and receive suggestions from members of the international film industry, in order to enrich their projects in this final stage.
The international jury will be responsible for deciding the winner of works-in-progress. The jury, composed of specialists from Latin American cinema who share Iff Panama’s mission to support the growing film industry in the region include the director of the Film Festival in Havana, Ivan Giroud the uncle of Pavel Giroud, who is participating in Iff Panama with his film “The Companion”; Canadian Jaie Laplante who is the director of the Miami Film Festival; and Yissel Ibarra of the Mexican Film Institute (Imcine).
This year, First Look received 46 nominations for movies in progress. The five films chosen for competition are:
”Hold Me Like Before”/ “Abrazame como antes”, 70 min. (Costa Rica, 2016)
Director: Jurgen Ureña
Producer: Gustavo Sanchez Cubero
Veronica is a transgender prostitute on the streets of San Jose. One night, a car of her client strikes an enigmatic teenager known as Tato. Impulsively, Veronica decides to take the boy to her apartment for shelter and food. The next day, misunderstanding of the motives behind the actions of his hostess, Tato plans to escape. A relationship of identification, solidarity and tension initially arise between Veronica and Tato but they are affected soon by Veronica friends.
"Jeffrey," 80 min. (Dominican Republic, 2016)
Director - Producer: Yanillys Pérez
Despite his difficult life, 12-year-old Jeffrey, a Dominican windshield wiper, dreams of being a reggaeton singer. This dream helps him escape the harsh reality of his adult life full of responsibility. He writes songs with his older brother Jeyson, 18, about his life, his neighborhood and society they perceive. Guided by Jeffrey, they deal with their daily lives, their broken family while they dance reggaeton and dembow.
“Play the Devil,” 92 min. (Trinidad and Tobago, 2016)
Director: Maria Govan
Producer: Abigail Hadeed
Set in the exquisite landscape of Trinidad at the time of Carnival, Gregory, a black working class youth of 18 acts in a local theater where he is discovered by businessman James Young, who is immediately attracted by Gregory and seeks all means to approach him. Carnival arrives on Monday, young men cover their bodies with blue paint and dressed as devils, they descend into the valley, where howls and drums that are lost in the carnal dance are heard. This is the scene of a fatal showdown that will change their lives forever.
“Play the Devil” was first presented as a pitch last year at the inaugural Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival’s Industry Days.
"Noelí Overseas," 65 min. (Dominican Republic, 2016)
Director: Laura Amelia Guzmán
In attendance: Actress Desiree Reyes
The dream of many Dominican women is to go to Europe, as in the case of Noelí and her mother. Noelí is an actress and is hired to film a movie in Venice, while her mother does domestic work in Spain. After filming, Noelí visits her mother whom she has not seen for 10 years; nostalgia and desire to return to the island are just below the surface of their meeting.
“Sultán,” 95 min. (Panama, 2016)
Director: Enrique Castro Rios
Producer: María Neyla Santamaría
Ten years after the brief but brutal 1989 U.S. military invasion of Panama, three survivors, a boy, his mother and grandmother, share an uncomfortably intimate reconciliation guided by the ghost of one person who lost the most on that pitiless night.
Variety’s exclusive reportage in 2015 quoted Castro Rios explaining how the film touches on race relations and segregation in Panama and within families. In the film, the grandmother has married whiter, part of a mindset to “improve the race”; her son marries a girl of West Indian descent, which the mother sees as a “backward” step. When the son is killed during the U.S. invasion, racial and other tensions drive the grandmother, daughter-in-law and her young son apart, until a ghost from the past comes to try and reunite them.
The cast includes Nina Vincent from Panama and Jerónimo Henao of Colombia, as well as Panamanian newcomers Delicia Montañez and Alex Jiménez.
“Sultán’s” first financial support was announced at the closing night of the Panama Film Festival in 2013, when it became the first feature to be supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Fondo Cine Cinema Fund. Paid in installments, the award was a very respectable $700,000. The budget Castro Rios projects is around $1.1 million.
The film is a coproduction between Sultan el Film (Panama) and Milagros Producciones (Colombia). It also received support from the Ibermedis Fund and of the Film Development Fund of Colombia (Fdc).
Written and directed by Enrique Castro Ríos and produced by María Neyla Santamaría, "Sultán" is the first feature film produced with the support of the Panama Film Commission and represents a new Panamanian independent film industry.
Castro Rios’ previous credits include the short “Wata,” awarded best Central American short film at the Icarus Film Festival of Guatemala in 2010.
The co-production was filmed by cinematographer Diego Jiménez (Colombia), and executive produced by Miriam Pons (Panama).
About the Foundation Iff Panama
Foundation International Film Festival of Panama (Iff Panama Foundation) is a non - profit organization created to support the implementation of the International Film Festival of Panama and promote cultural and educational activities that are an integral part of the event organization . The Festival is sponsored mainly by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Miti), Tourism Authority of Panama, MasterCard®, Copa Airlines, 507 Red Lager, Mayor of Panama, K Magazine, Tvn FIlms, among other generous sponsors .
See more here.
- 4/6/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Magallanes
Directed by Salvador del Solar
Peru, 2015
Philadelphia Film Festival
Magallanes (Damián Alcázar), a struggling cab driver, also doubles as the caretaker of his former colonel from the troubled Shining Path period in Peru. When a woman from his past gets into his taxi he concocts an elaborate blackmail scheme.
There’s some complex plotting in Magallanes, and some of the more intricate ironies, which come to the fore towards the end of the second act, are deeply satisfying. Ostensibly a film about denial, Magallanes’ truest motivations are kept expertly hidden, and his ultimate payoff – a reminder of a horrific event – is no exception.
Del Solar includes plot points that, depending on how tightly woven the film should be, are either missed opportunities or nice red herrings: a couple of disgruntled, underpaid thieves who seem certain to come back violently; secret smiles from cops who always seem to know more than they do.
Directed by Salvador del Solar
Peru, 2015
Philadelphia Film Festival
Magallanes (Damián Alcázar), a struggling cab driver, also doubles as the caretaker of his former colonel from the troubled Shining Path period in Peru. When a woman from his past gets into his taxi he concocts an elaborate blackmail scheme.
There’s some complex plotting in Magallanes, and some of the more intricate ironies, which come to the fore towards the end of the second act, are deeply satisfying. Ostensibly a film about denial, Magallanes’ truest motivations are kept expertly hidden, and his ultimate payoff – a reminder of a horrific event – is no exception.
Del Solar includes plot points that, depending on how tightly woven the film should be, are either missed opportunities or nice red herrings: a couple of disgruntled, underpaid thieves who seem certain to come back violently; secret smiles from cops who always seem to know more than they do.
- 11/3/2015
- by Neal Dhand
- SoundOnSight
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