The Costa Rica International Film Festival (CRFIC) has announced its complete lineup for its fifth edition. This year, 72 films have been chosen to represent the world’s best in independent cinema, with four world premieres and three Latin American premieres taking place, and over 60 features to be presented for the first time in the region.
“At CRFIC we are interested in approaching the idea of artistic diversity; covering a broad spectrum of styles and proposals found in contemporary national and international cinema,” said Marcelo Quesada, Artistic Director for the Festival. “Our identity and our program is built around a free, coherent and risky cinema that moves away from the usual places and bring us closer to different voices and world visions from over 30 countries.”
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Taking place at the capital city of San José, the festival will run from December 8 through the 17. The CRFIC will shine a light on Central American cinema with two competitive sections, the Central American Feature Film and the National Short Film competitions. Other sections include the International Feature Film Competition, Panorama, Radar, Youth, Bridges, Special Presentations and a Retrospective in honor of filmmaker Kelly Reichardt, who will be attending the festival.
The “Certain Women” helmer, who was recently nominated for Best Director at the Independent Spirit Awards for this film, will be honored at the Costa Rica Film Festival for her achievements and contributions to cinema. The retrospective will screen “Women,” as well as five additional movies including “Night Moves” and “Old Joy.”
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Check out the complete lineup below:
Central American Film Competition
Created to capture the pulse of local and regional production, bringing a detailed overview of our current film industry, and contributing to its national and international visibility.
“Abrázame como antes,” director Jurgen Ureña – Costa Rica
“El sonido de las cosas,” director Ariel Escalante – Costa Rica
“Los ofendidos,“ director Marcela Zamora – El Salvador – Mexico
“La felicidad del sonido,“ director Ana Endara – Panama
“Es hora de enamorarse,” director Guido Bilbao – Panama
“La sombra del naranjo,” directors Patricia Velásquez and Oscar Herrera – Costa Rica
International Feature Film Competition
Made up of a selection portraying issues of relevance to contemporary social fabric, these high-quality cinematographic films invite us to engage in deeper dialogues about our social, political, economic, environmental and identity environment.
“Alba,“ director Ana Cristina Barragán – Ecuador
“El Cristo ciego,“ director Christopher Murray – Chile
“El futuro perfecto,” director Nele Wohlatz – Argentina
“Tarde para la ira,” director Raúl Arévalo – Spain
“The Girl Without Hands,” director Sébastian Laudenbach – France
“Clash,” director Mohamed Diab – Egypt / France
“Radio Dreams,” director Babak Jalali – Iran/USA
“My Entire High School is Sinking into the Sea,” director Dash Shaw – USA
“La tempestad,” director Tatiana Huezo – Mexico
“The Land of the Enlightened,” director Pieter -Jan De Pue – Belgium / The Netherlands / Ireland
“Memories of a Penitent Heart,” director Cecilia Aldarondo – Puerto Rico/USA
“All These Sleepless Nights,” director Michal Marczak – Poland
National Short Film Competition
It comprises eleven Costa Rican stories aimed at highlighting the work of new national filmmakers, as well as contributing to boosting their career by providing a privileged meeting space with programmers, producers, and managers for future projects.
“El despertar de las hormigas,“ director Antonella Sudasassi
“Marco Lemaire,” director Zenén Vargas Salas
“Historia de dos hermanos,” director Felipe Calvo-Montero
“Belleza, valentía y fortaleza en la ocupada Cisjordania,” director Glorianna Ximendaz
“Selva,” director Sofía Quirós
“El Árbol,” director Roya Eshraghi
“Bajo 0०,” director Itai Hagage
“Cabeza de Orquídea,” director Angélica Sánchez
“Filip,” director Nathalie Álvarez
“Los Konceptualez,” director Juan Pablo Castillo Acuña
“Paul está aquí,” director Valentina Maurel Soto
Panorama
Dedicated to this year’s great films which have been making their way into different latitudes, this section includes great contemporary authors and the best representatives of today’s world cinema.
“The Salesman,“ director Asghar Farhadi – Iran/France
“Elle,“ director Paul Verhoeven – France/Germany/Belgium
“Fire at Sea,“ director Gianfranco Rosi – Italy
“Little Men,“ director Ira Sachs – USA
“El Clan,“ director Pablo Trapero -Argentina
“American Honey,“ director Andrea Arnold – England/USA
“Right Now, Wrong Then,“ director Hong Sang-Soo – South Korea
“La muerte de Luis XIV,“ director Albert Serra – Spain/France
“La región salvaje,“ director Amat Escalante – Mexico
“El Ornitólogo,” director JoäoPedro Rodrigues – Portugal/France/Belgium
“The Handmaiden,“ director Chan-wook Park – South Korea
“Like Crazy,” director Paolo Virzi – Italy
Radar
This section seeks fresh and inventive cinema, films by early-stage filmmakers that stand out for the great maturity with which they build their stories. They are all strong and empowered voices that are leading the way and will soon be looked up to.
“Aquarius,” director Keber Mendoça Filho – Brazil
“Sonita,” director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami – Germany/Iran/Switzerland
“Toni Erdmann,” director Maren Ade – Germany
“The Red Turtle,” director Mikael Dudok de Witt – Japan/France/Belgium
“A Dragon Arrives!,” director Mani Haghighi – Iran
“Behemoth,” director Zhao Liang – China
“Thithi,” director Raam Reddy – India /USA
“Kaili Blues,” director Gan Bi – China
“Cartas da guerra,” director Ivo Ferreira – Portugal
“Baden Baden,” director Rachel Lang- Belgium/France
“The Eyes of My Mother,“ director Nicola Pesce – USA
“La larga noche de Francisco Sanctis,” directors Francisco Márquez and Andrea Testa – Argentina
Special Presentations
These are good opportunities to get closer to films by unique national authors who portray the realities of others as well as their own in peculiar ways.
“Ausencias,” director Tatiana Huezo- Mexico/ El Salvador
“Nada ni nadie,” director Roya Eshraghi- Costa Rica/ Cuba
“Yo no soy de aquí,” directors Maite Alberdi y Giedrė Žickytė – Chile
“Entonces Nosotros,“ director Hernán Jiménez – Costa Rica
“Gorgojo,“ director Ernesto Valverde Villalobos – Costa Rica
“Mutlab,“ director Elena Gutiérrez – Costa Rica
“El calor después de la lluvia,“ director Cristóbal Serrá Jorquera – Costa Rica
Kelly Reichardt Retrospective
CRFIC 2016 will be dedicated to American filmmaker Kelly Reichardt, one of the most powerful voices of independent film in the United States. The retrospective will include six of her films.
“Certain Women” (2016)
“Night Moves” (2013)
“Meek’s Cutoff” (2010)
“Wendy and Lucy” (2008)
“Old Joy” (2006)
“River of Grass” (1994)
Puentes (Bridges)
This is a free space aimed at finding new languages, not only inside the screen but outside as well. This is a section made for dialogue with other artistic manifestations, to remind us that we must constantly reinvent ourselves and seek new ways to generate experiences.
“Notes on Blindness,“ directors Pete Middletown y James Spinney – USA
“Dancer,“ director Steven Cantor – England/Russia
“One More Time With Feeling,” director Andrew Dominik – England/France
De jóvenes (Youth)
Fiction, documentary, and animation make us face the idea of growing up. It includes stories about young characters full of dreams, doubts, and restlessness, narrated through their perspective and sincerity.
“My Life As a Zucchini,“ director Claude Barras, France
“Jonás y el circo sin lona,” director Paula Gomes – Brazil
“Girl Asleep,” director Rosemary Myers – Australia
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