12th IFF Panama Captures the Excitement of Central American and Caribbean Film Industry Advances

12th IFF Panama Captures the Excitement of Central American and Caribbean Film Industry Advances. Moved from its usual December berth last year, the 12th Panama International Film Festival (IFF Panama) runs April 4-7, replete with new industry activities and double the number of films since its previous edition. True to its mandate to serve as a showcase for Central American and Caribbean cinema, the festival’s program this year includes a bevy of acclaimed films from the region, including two Panamanian Indigenous-themed features, “Bila Burba” and “God is a Woman.” Recent years have seen the growing international recognition of pics from the region, with Nelson Carlo de los Santos becoming the first Dominican – and first Latin American – filmmaker to snag the best director Silver Bear at the Berlinale for his drama, “Pepe.” Costa Rican director Antonella Sudasassi Furniss’ sophomore feature, “Memories of a Burning Body,” clinched the Audience Award for best fiction film in the Panorama section of the A-list German festival. Both are screening at IFF Panama. Announced last December, “Pepe” is one of three winners of the festival’s Primera Mirada (First Look) industry section for pics in the post, alongside Guatemalan filmmaker Jayro Bustamante’s “Cordillera de Fuego” and Dominican Johanné Gómez Terrero’s “Sugar Island.” Winners of the Su Mirada section, in development and post, will be unveiled at the closing ceremony on April 7, as will the audience award winner, chosen from 18 contenders.