The IFF Panama Foundation thanks all the filmmakers from Central American and Caribbean countries who applied with their projects for the PRIMERA MIRADA award, a fund dedicated to supporting post-production work exclusively, and SU MIRADA award, a fund that seeks to strengthen the participation of women in the film industry in Central America and the Caribbean. Both granted by our ally, the Inter-American Development Bank IDB.

PRIMERA MIRADA FUND

Last April,  the IFF Panama Foundation invited guests to form a jury for the 6th edition of Primera Mirada. Julia Meik, Giancarlo Nasi and Jim Kolmar met virtually to deliberate and choose the winners for this new edition.

The first prize of ten thousand dollars (US $10,000) was awarded to the Dominican fiction film RAFAELA by director Tito Rodríguez, for narrating a realistic and crude story, in a close and empathetic way, and being able to approach a cinema socially committed to audiences in Central America, the Caribbean and the entire world.

Second place, with a prize of five thousand dollars (US $5,000) was awarded to the Cuban documentary film LA SELVA by director Marcel Beltrán, a story created from images in migrant’s cell phones, passing through the Darien jungle in the last 3 years. The memory of a journey captured with an instrument that allows you to share moments, concerns and complaints. With a total of 10 hours, coming from more than 200 cell phones, La Selva gives structure to a collective portrait and proposes a reflection on the contemporary experience of capturing and sharing images.

SU MIRADA FUND

After a successful call of 56 projects from 8 countries in Central America and the Caribbean (Panama, Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Puerto Rico). 10 projects were reviewed by the Su Mirada jury, made up of three women with backgrounds in the international film industry: Diana Sánchez (Senior Programming Director of the Toronto International Film Festival), Gema Juárez Allen (Argentine Production Company) and Lía Rodríguez (Industry Director of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema of Cuba).

Delirio by Alexandra Latishev is awarded five thousand dollars (US $ 5,000) in the category for projects under development, produced by Cynthia García Calvo from Costa Rica, for the solidity in building a history of absences and gender violence, framed in a subtle and delicate story.

In the category for post-production projects, ten thousand dollars (US $ 10,000) is awarded to Tatiana Fernández Geara's Waltz of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for her ability to show us a children's universe of search, creative expression and optimism.

The IFF Panama Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank IDB congratulates all the participants and looks forward to seeing the finished films at the next edition of the Panama International Film Festival.