Panamanian director Abner Benaim, who represented Panama three times at the Academy Awards, including his finalist “Plaza Catedral,” won IFF Panama’s all-important Audience Award for his documentary “Tropical Paradise” (“Paraiso Tropical”).
The festival, which concluded on April 12, also awarded prizes to industry participants, with Costa Rica’s Sofia Quiroz winning the coveted Post-Production Award for her all-female family drama Silent Birds, and Dominican Republic’s Jaycee Trompis taking home the Primera Mirada (First Look Award) for her documentary The Language of Water.
Paper Tower, an observational document written by Laura García Cordon of Guatemala and 14 other candidates in the development department of Sue Milada.
Tropical Paradise is Benaim’s most personal film to date, following Benaim’s quest to discover who and what was really responsible for the 1994 plane crash that killed his beloved uncle and was later deemed a terrorist attack.
“It deals with themes that are usually considered difficult, such as trauma and healing, so it was great to see such deep and meaningful reactions from the audience,” Benaim told Variety. “There was an immediate connection. It felt like people were a part of this film and made it their own. This award seals an unforgettable moment and helps provide momentum for our upcoming theatrical release in Panama.”
On the opening night of the festival, Pitca Ortega-Heilborn, President of the IFF Panama Foundation, alluded to the current state of global uncertainty, saying: “Cinema is life. Now more than ever. During these times, may we laugh, cry and feel deeply through our cinematic journey.”
“Let’s meet each other with more empathy as Panama becomes, for the next few days, a vibrant meeting place for cinema in dialogue with the region and the world,” agreed Carla Quintero, the festival’s executive director.
indigenous rights
The evening’s opening film, Luna Simi, by Peruvian director Augusto Zegarra, set the tone for the festival with its powerful call to make the invisible visible. Stunned by thunderous applause and cheers from the audience, the documentary’s protagonists, Fernando Valencia and his son Dylan, spoke about their quest to dub “The Lion King” in Quechua, the world’s most spoken indigenous language, with about 10 million speakers across South America. “I’m a simple person with a dream,” he said, thanking his friends and family for helping him along the way.
In a panel discussion held the day before, Guatemalan Jeiro Bustamante, who has championed the rights of indigenous peoples in many of his films, Zegarra, and This Island filmmakers Lorraine Jones and Cristian Carretero discussed this topic, and in the case of This Island, the rights of marginalized and poor people. “Our island, on the west coast of Puerto Rico, is rarely seen on screen. Stories of displacement and stories of marginalized communities are often ignored, especially in film. We wanted to change that: bring visibility, work closely with these communities, and portray the dignity that lies in their daily struggles,” Carretero said.
“This Island” provided by Habanero Film Sales
Peru’s indigenous peoples have always been marginalized, and while Zegarra’s document, which took nine years to create, focuses on the rights of indigenous peoples to access films in their own languages, “they have also had to fight for the rights to water, education and electricity in their communities,” he noted.
Professing pride in having Maya Kaqchikel’s blood running through his veins, Bustamante asserted that one of the worst insults you can levy against someone in Guatemala is to call them an “Indian.” In his latest drama, Mountains of Fire, two volcanologists warn indigenous communities about a new volcano and expose government neglect and corruption.
“We often hear the word ‘endangered’ in relation to plants and animals, but languages are also on the verge of extinction, as half of the approximately 7,000 languages in existence are at risk of extinction,” said Trompis and Gregorio Rodríguez, director and producer of Primera Mirada Award-winning The Language of Water.
Of the 40 films in competition for the Audience Award, at least six had indigenous themes, including Bustamante’s The Mountains of Fire, Panama’s Annie Canavaggio and Maria Neira Santamaria’s In Search of the Rabbit Indian, and Hélio B. Cunampio and Guido Bilbao’s documentary-fiction hybrid about a man and his man, The Travels of Cocordito. My 16-year-old niece and her search for the elusive Kocordite bird.
“This is the second year in a row that we are inviting emerging indigenous filmmakers through the program Voices of the Territories, run by Wagua Films,” said IFF Panama Industry Coordinator Cat Caballero.
Maria Neira Santamaria, who also served as executive producer of “The Travels of Cocordit,” said: As a producer and filmmaker, I’m interested in these kinds of stories. In times of crisis, these are the projects we need to communicate. ”
“In Search of the Rabbit Indian” represents the fine line between reality and mystery. It also encourages us to recognize the link between environmental needs, the human rights of the Naso people, and the gradual loss of the Naso culture of the past 4,000 people,” Canavaggio said.
“In Search of the Indian Rabbit” Credit: María Neyla Santamaria
Manuel Abramovic directs ‘Zama’ in Lucrezia Martel’s docu-portrait ‘The Light Years’
Meanwhile, Argentinian filmmaker Manuel Abramovic (Porno Melancholia), known for his introspective “docucinema,” entertained the masterclass audience by talking about his past work and sharing anecdotes about his experience filming “Light Years” (“Años Luz”), a behind-the-scenes documentary in which Lucrecia Martel films the historical drama “Zama.” He talked about hiding microphones throughout the set and using zoom lenses to make them as discreet as possible.
“Thanks to the production’s trust, we had access to all the raw ‘Zama’ footage, which allowed us to closely observe directing as a process: marks, instructions, repetitions, mistakes, actor blocks,” he says, adding that he was primarily interested in “showing directing not as inspiration or revelation, but as work: repetition, observation, collaboration, and constant exploration as ideas take shape.”
“I like this portrait of Lucrecia, who seems obsessed with her work. In Rush, we witness her repeatedly discovering a hidden microphone and joking, ‘Manuel, I found it again, turn off the device.’ It touched me because even while she was directing a large, complex scene, she revealed the collusion between us. Then, when I finished editing, I showed her the film and she wanted to change the scene to a close-up shot of her waiting in silence. She felt embarrassed, but it showed her playful and mischievous side, just like she was playing in the movie theater, so we ended up leaving it. ”
Former HBO and Media Pro Studio executive Leslie Cohen talks about film sales
In a conversation with Ortega-Heilbron, Leslie Cohen, drawing on her extensive experience working at HBO and elsewhere, offered insight into how acquisition executives evaluate potential acquisitions for their companies.
She noted that evaluation begins with a personal connection: “Does the story resonate with you?” but is always shaped by the needs of the commission. For HBO Latino, this means finding a balance across Latin American and Spanish genres and regions, so flavor is layered with strategic considerations.
The important questions are: “Why should we care?” and “Why now?” And whether the project has “heart” – strong characters and emotional resonance, she added.
She also emphasized the presentation. In a crowded market, projects need to clearly answer these questions and package them in a concise and professional manner. As she pointed out, “we’ve all become our own marketers” and while standards have improved, so too has the pressure on creators to both develop their work and present it effectively.
The 14th IFF Panama was held from April 9th to 12th.
