With John Travolta, Gregory Nava and a number of other luminaries lighting it up, the 12th Panama International Film Festival wrapped Sunday on a high note, with general attendance exceeding expectations.
Speaking on the closing ceremony held on the Canal Museum, Pituka Ortega-Heilbron, IFF Panama Board President, hailed this latest edition as a vibrant rebirth for the festival.
“We were hit by the phenomenon of the pandemic, and we actually don’t wish to complain or victimize ourselves because to fight is synonymous with living, but this festival has fought tirelessly for the last 4 years to thrive.”
“There’s still much ground to cover. We must work together – government, community groups, and businesses – to know how essential cultural and artistic industries are for our country’s economy and society to grow,” declared Culture Minister Giselle González Villarué, who later told Variety that a delayed feasibility study that may explore the creation of a serious studio facility in Panama was underway. As the overall elections scheduled for May 5 draw near, there may be a way of uncertainty prevailing throughout the country’s creative industries, which rely upon some state support. “Let’s hope the following administration will back the festival as much as now we have… you could have my support today, tomorrow and perpetually,” she pledged.
Winners Ana Endara, Duiren Wagua and Pilar Moreno
The ceremony was capped with the announcement of the 2 winners within the festival’s Su Mirada section, which honors women filmmakers, and the Copa Airline Audience Award going to “Bila Burba,” the debut feature documentary of Panamanian Indigenous filmmaker Duiren Wagua.
The documentary played to a packed screening, beating a robust list of contenders that included Michel Franco’s “Memory, Italy’s “Io Capitano,” Japan’s “Monster” and Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves.”
A stunned Wagua said: “I’m deeply grateful for this Audience Award. It’s incredibly moving to know that not only I, but my entire community, my people, and the Guna Dule nation, are being seen. Our stories are reaching all of Panama, and we hope to transcend borders as well.”
“This award is vital since it brings visibility to our social struggle that took place in 1925, which is about to have fun its centenary, and it inspires current social, political, and cultural struggles,” he said of his doc that follows the annual live street reenactments of the “Dule Revolution” where native communities fought back against police forces.
John Travolta’s presentation of his musical romcom classic, “Grease” drew unprecedented crowds while U.S.-Mexican director Gregory Nava regaled audiences with anecdotes in regards to the making of his Oscar-nominated 1983 drama, “El Norte” that centers on a subject that is still as relevant today, if no more so: people escaping political persecution and economic hardship. He revealed that his movie, a couple of Guatemalan brother and sister fleeing to the U.S. after a massacre at their Indigenous community, remains to be banned in Guatemala where he received death threats on his last visit.
Speaking in regards to the festival’s various activities, starting from its Industry Day to the free screenings on the Mirador del Pacífico, recent festival director Karla Quintero remarked: “I’m thrilled because I had an exceptional team of employees, volunteers, and everybody engaged within the project who provided me with the arrogance and help to make sure that every detail seamlessly got here together.”
Spanish-born Panamanian resident Pilar Moreno (“For Your Peace of Mind, Make Your Own Museum”) trumped 13 other contenders for the Su Mirada Development award together with her docu-fiction project “The Sparkling Girl and Other Protests” (“La Chica destellante y otras protestas”) which incorporates a $5,000 award. The hybrid feature focuses on the members of La Perseverancia, a mutual support group for individuals with mental disorders who create their very own artistic representations of madness, a subject often stigmatized and shunned by society.
“Mental health is a subject I imagine we don’t discuss enough, yet it’s fundamental and affects us all,” said Moreno, a trained psychiatrist. “This award is important since the jury has deemed it a worthwhile film to make and has recognized the urgency and relevance of each the film and its material. The boost from IFF’s Su Mirada fund might be an awesome assist in starting our seek for resources to make the film,” she told Variety.
Ana Endara (“Reinas”) took home the Su Mirada Post-Production award for her poignant drama “Querido Trópico,” starring Chile’s Paulina Garcia (“Gloria”), which comes with a $10,000 money prize. “Receiving an award like this just every week after completing the film’s final edit is an incredible boost. It’s like finding someone who says, ‘I imagine in you’ at a moment of great vulnerability, corresponding to the birth of a movie. And for me, as that is my first fiction project, it’s much more significant,” said Endara, who has made 4 documentaries.
“Querido Trópico” centers on a wealthy woman (played by Garcia) with early-onset dementia and her initially testy relationship together with her caregiver, a pregnant and lonely immigrant, with problems of her own. Commenting on Garcia’s career-best performance, Endara told Variety: “I felt so supported by her within the shoot, it was such an awesome experience that I’m already preparing one other film together with her, ‘Victoria en los nubes,’ set along the Panama-Costa Rica border.”
The 12th IFF Panama ran April 4-7.
