Attached to the event is MECLA, a film market aimed at promoting Latin American product. Apart from representatives from the key national film institutes on the continent, the market also attracts independent producers who use it as a platform to promote their films and establish co-production agreements and sales. The importance of the New Latin American International Film Festival as a meeting point for professionals cannot be underestimated. As the largest and most significant festival of its sort in Latin America, it also provides an excellent test ground for the reception of the films elsewhere on the continent.

Apart from Latin American product, the festival also showcased Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Danish and Canadian sidebars, as well as a section with US independent works from the Sundance Institute and recent La Sept/Arte productions. Tributes were paid to Gabriel Figueroa, Joris Ivens, Cosme Alves Netto and Ken Loach, whose Carla's Song opened the fest. Two extensive retrospectives covered the works of the late Cuban director Tomas Gutierrez Alea and German filmmaker Werner Herzog.

Profundo Carmesi (Deep Crimson) by Arturo Ripstein won the First Coral Prize, with the second and third prizes going to Francisco Lombardi's Bajo la piel (Under the Skin) and Rosemberg Cariry's Corisco & Dada respectively. Alberto Lecchi's El dedo en la llaga received the Fipresci prize. Catalina Ribalta