Open Doors announces today the first selection of projects and creative producers from its new focus on Latin America and the Caribbean regions. This group of film directors and producers, who are catalysts of the region’s cinematic output, will be hosted and presented at the 75th Locarno Film Festival this August.
Open Doors returns to the region that was last featured in 2008 with titles like La vida de los peces by Matias Bize, Tanta agua by Ana Guevara and Letitia Jorge, El verano de los peces voladores by Marcela Said and La tercera orilla by Celina Murga. However, it will also feature many countries that were not part of the selection yet. The program will therefore be an occasion to meet exciting new voices from countries where cinema is mostly undiscovered. The diverse choice of projects showcases various genres and filmmakers of different genders and backgrounds, giving voice to contemporary issues of importance for today’s society across the entire globe.
Among the participants selected for the co-production platform are Ana Cristina Barragán’s new title, whose first works were shown in Locarno and Rotterdam; Yanillys Pérez whose previous documentary, Jeffrey, won the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF); Michael Labarca who won a prize with his short at Cannes Cinéfondation in 2016 and is now presenting his first feature at Open Doors, produced by Patricia Ramírez Arévalo from Venezuela. Among the 24 directors and producers participating, 15 identify as female or gender non-conforming.
The delegation will participate in the first part of the program online from 22 to 29 July and will meet the industry professionals from 4 to 10 August 2022 in Locarno as part of the following initiatives:
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Co-production Hub
A platform for feature-length projects looking for international collaborations
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Cuando cae la lluvia (When Rain Falls)
Director: Yanillys Pérez
Producer: Yanillys Pérez, YPR Films
Dominican Republic
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Diamante (Diamond)
Director: Yashira Jordán
Producer: Alvaro Olmos Torrico, Empatia Cinema
Bolivia
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Kokue
Director: Miguel Agüero
Producer: Cynthia García Calvo, Asociación Cultural Arraigo, CYAN prods
Paraguay, Chile
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Los hombres morimos antes (Men Die Sooner)
Director: Federico Montero
Producer: Alexandra Latishev, La Linterna Films
Costa Rica, Uruguay
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MOA
Director: Marcel Beltrán
Producer: Paula Gastaud, Mediocielo Films
Cuba, Brazil
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Muchachos bañándose en el lago (Kids Swimming in the Lake)
Director: Michael Labarca
Producer: Patricia Ramírez Arévalo, Todos Los Ríos
Venezuela, Chile, France
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Los invisibles
Director: Andres Rodríguez
Producer: Mauricio Escobar, La Danta Films
Guatemala
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Sopor y ave (Sopor and Bird)
Director: Ana Cristina Barragán
Producer: Joe Houlberg, Boton Films
Ecuador, Argentina, Spain
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Producers’ Lab
A training workshop for creative producers with feature projects
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Ricardo B'atz'
Cayaguanca Films, El Salvador
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María Félix Morales Lotz
Asertiva, Nicaragua
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Daniela Fuentes Moncada
Epopeya S.A., Ecuador
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Karolina Hernandez Chaves
Dos Sentidos, Costa Rica
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Gilbert Mirambeau
Muska Group, Haiti
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Illari Orccottoma
Independent Producer, Peru
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Nadean Rawlins
RAW Management, Jamaica
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Michelle Serieux
Imagine Caribbean, Saint Lucia
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Camila Urrutia
Camaleon Films, Guatemala
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Open Doors is designed to nurture talent and promote independent cinema from countries in the Global South and East, in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
The program is possible thanks to the support of various partners such as Visions sud est and the City of Bellinzona, sponsoring the Open Doors Grant worth 50,000 CHF; the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée) presenting a development grant (8,000 euros); and ARTE France awarding the Arte Kino International Prize (6,000 euros). More grants and in-kind prizes are given by the Sørfond Film Fund, Rotterdam Lab, Moulin d'Andé – CECI and the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur. This year, BrLab, World Cinema Fund, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and Lexia Insights are joining to offer in-kind prizes to the selected participants and projects.
Open Doors will continue with the announcement of its public curated program, Open Doors Screenings, where the Festival audience will have the chance to immerse themselves in contemporary productions from Central America and the Caribbean. This selection of short and feature films promises just as much diversity and excitement and will be published at the Festival’s press conference on July 6th.
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