Discoveries from Costa Rica World Cinema

A kid suffers a violent day at school

Lucía tells us about the day she discovered the reason for the things in her life, in a peculiar way

Christian and Antonio have been inseparable since their youth, bound by a deep friendship that hides something more. But at eighteen, a painful betrayal tears them apart, sending their lives in different directions. Years later, fate intervenes, giving them a chance to confront the lie that separated them and rediscover the love they were always meant to share.

Iraqi theater director Mohsen Sadoon Yasin has spent much of his life in involuntary exile. His daughter, Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez, has constructed a loving film portrait of her father, and an elegy for a homeland to which they can never return—partly because it has changed so much, and partly because it was perhaps always more a concept than a reality.

A man tries to understand why the stars went out

La Apuesta is a Costa Rican film for television, directed and produced by Miguel Salguero, from 1968. In this 16 mm feature film, the journalist Miguel Salguero portrays the adventures of a group of people who make a bet and undertake a risky trip by land to Puerto Limón, crossing mighty rivers and wild nature, at a time when there was no road to the Caribbean port.

These houses are built in the very center of these neighborhoods and have been surrounded with walls and bars, where before they were spaces for recreation, passage and communication between neighbors and neighbors. This has weakened the organization and relations between the different communities, deteriorated the physical space and has created barriers that did not exist before.

Wense Rodríguez is a musician who, in the midst of the pandemic, feels the need to return to Lepanto, his hometown. On this trip he meets a group of old musicians who remind him of the musical roots with which he grew up.

This documentary tells the story of eight characters who narrate how they escaped and fled their country

Anahí, a girl about to turn eighteen, tries to spend her day as usual; going to school, seeing his classmates… But his friends soon realize that something is wrong. Back at home, there is an unpleasant memory waiting for her.

María (55) is a peasant woman who maintains her plot with the help of her grandson (6), and they are harvesting the beans of the season. She lives far from town with her daughter (17) in Upala, Costa Rica.

A group of women and men flee and protect themselves from what is out there that is stalking them. Locked up without water or food, they will have to make extreme decisions and find a way to get out to get to Cartago where apparently there are still people.

After being harassed as a child for her fear of water, Esther's dream of being a "mermaid is saved. Years later, her friends accompany her to perform a magical ritual to turn her into a mermaid. Esther goes into the pool, however, the enchantment transforms it into something unexpected.

It is the year 1856, President Juan Rafael Mora Porras calls on the citizens to fight to defend the newly achieved freedom of the nascent country. Women and men set out on the fuzzy road that leads to war. But - "those executioners" are not men? Won't they love their women too? - she whispers to him as they leave together, in a sigh ...

When you look into the screen, it is possible to believe that the images that are projected on it come from within us. The images captivate, but even so, they cause us bewilderment. For a moment, it may seem that everything is intertwined, but then, disorder arises again. The digital world is revealed as a labyrinth, created in our form and likeness.

This film shows the experience of women coming from several sectors (indigenous, infected by HIV/AIDS, peasants, lesbians, fishing workers, handicapped, afro-Costa-Ricans, banana workers affected by toxic, etc.) when they participated in the II Women's Parliament of Costa Rica.

short costa rican film

"La Sequía" describes the relationship of an indigenous couple living in the aridity of the northern countryside. The climatic factor is depicted as a visual metaphor of the society and the internal self of individuals. The dryness in the male character and the desolate landscape critiques the patriarchal system of that time. "Un Matoneado" tells the story of Gabriel’s revenge. His hate and wish of death turns into a big mistake. It is an example of the sociocultural context of the countryside people, and once again the patriarchal point of view of how one´s supposed to deal with problems "as a man".

Deep in the mountains of Costa Rica, a young couple sets out to camp and connect, unaware that the forest hides ancient secrets. Strange markings, whispered voices and impossible footsteps reveal the presence of something that does not belong to the human world.

The complexity of the Anglo Bank case still confronts those who experienced it firsthand: Was the bank's closure due to technical or political reasons? This episode explores the final months, days, and hours before and after the collapse of the country's oldest bank, remembered as one of the corruption cases that most impacted an entire generation.

The murder of Indigenous leader Jerhy Rivera exposes the threats facing Costa Rica’s Land Back movement.

An old man that has given up finds a solution to his depression after an odd conversation with Camilo, a fly that is tired of his self-pity.

Fabiana and Marina live in a rural town and are best friends. The last day they spend together is full of magical moments that allow them to let go and finally do what they want so much, but no one ends up daring. A year later, Fabiana is reunited with a special object, which, being more than it seems, makes her return to the forest from which she has not really managed to leave, facing her pain and entering into a mystical experience that takes her. to conceive death with another perspective and at the beginning of its healing.

The film gives us an idea of how the Youth Symphony Orchestra operates, which was created taking into account a young member and a future violinist named Iván, who alternates soccer with violin exercises.

Following the 1973 coup, Clea's family had to leave Chile. Her mother ends up living in Costa Rica and her uncle in Germany. Both built their lives in exile, always with an open wound. The unexpected contact of a German cousin is the catalyst that leads Clea to take a trip to Chile and discover the family past.

Eric tries to keep alive a memory in which his life is questioned during a dream trip with a friend. Through a rustic mechanism built in his back yard, eric realizes that reliving the past does not give him the happiness he wants.

From a virtual space, two young people seek connection in the middle of a city confined during the pandemic. Subject to the exposure of their private acts through technology, they build a private universe that keeps them attracted to each other from their safe bubbles.The fantasy of a first meeting poses a reality that will awaken ambiguous feelings,heading towards an unexpected ending. The loss of illusion, the idealized sexual desire and the idea of post-romantic love in the city of San José, Costa Rica.

Abril's whimsical quest to find what is love?

What does a couple do when they find out that they might be pregnant?

On any given morning, a girl will see how her life changes due to a disappointment in love

In 1982 when she arrived in Paris, my Costa Rican mother sent a series of letters to her parents. Forty years later, I revisit these letters to have a better understanding of my history.

In a country with no numerical system for street addresses, a young woman explores the unique system that has taken hold, and the prospect of its rapid disappearance.

Part of the adrenaline rush of a shoot is knowing that something can always go wrong. But what happens when everything that could go wrong goes horribly wrong? When the Costa Rican artist Jeudy García hires a crew for his acoustic music session video, he realizes that the project is doomed to fail.

In her store“Hipnos”, Elena buys and sells dreams for those looking for an escape. On what seems like any other day, Elena encounters a dream that forces her to reckon what she had ignored. Questioning her reality, she must go back through a distant past, although the answers she finds are not what she expected.

Experimental short film that aims to create alternative readings of reality through technological revolution that, in an almost omnipresent way, mediates our experience of the world through virtuality, by the mix media construction of collage, live action and manual animation

The old man's miserable life finally comes to an end.

Tálamo is an experimental video art that is the result of artistic research called “Colectivo En Fuga,” made up of artists of different ages, learning experiences, and artistic disciplines such as dance, visual arts, and music.

A young screenwriter will seek in every way to overcome his creative block and finish his great work.

Sara is 5 years old and loves the stories of her grandmother, Nina. Due to the pandemic, they have not been able to see as much as they would like. Sara constantly asks her mother to call Nina to hear "the best story in the world."

An elderly pianist mourns a relative for many years of his adult life. After the loss of his son Jorge, he seeks to overcome the guilt he has felt for years.

It is based on real testimonies of six women from different social strata that reflect the misery, anger, repressed and silent suffering, as well as the illusion, the dream and the ideal.

low budget film from Costa Rica

During the 90's, religious leaders and politicians went on a rampage against superhero-themed trading cards. This documentary chronicles the absurd persecution of the beloved Pepsi Cards.

Images of the transfer of power between Presidents Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno and Alfredo González Flores. Don Ricardo Jiménez enters the National Palace; the civic atmosphere is evident, with shots of Jiménez Oreamuno, González Flores, and other Costa Rican political figures. Finally, Don Ricardo, accompanied by his supporters, walks down the Paseo de las Damas, heading toward his hometown, Cartago.

A group of students live together in an apartment while the "Semana U" (University Week) takes place at the University of Costa Rica—a time for cultural activities, fun, and interaction within the university community. This sets off a series of events that lead each of the characters to discover, both within and outside of themselves, the necessary information to grow and mature.

Set during the last days of the Vietnam War, Miles, an American soldier, tries to escape. With the company of Josiah (another soldier) and Isaac (a photographer), the three abandoned men try to leave once and for all while Miles remembers his past, the only beautiful thing he has left to live for.

In the early 1980s, Viviana Gallardo is a teenager growing up in a traditional middle-class family in Costa Rica. Motivated by the context of political revolutions in Central America, Viviana nurtures a strong interest in social justice and becomes involved in radical political organizing. To the surprise of those closest to her, Viviana is accused of participating in a shootout and murdering several police officers. While awaiting trial and unprotected in a cell, she is shot dead by a police officer. Years after her murder, several people close to her allege Viviana's innocence and a conspiracy involving high-ranking power figures to commit the crime.

According to the words of J.L. Borges in his work “A History of Eternity”, “eternity is a simpler and more magical thing: it is the simultaneity of those times… The past is in its present, as is the future.” In the short film, a metaphor is created with the “leaf” of a tree that withers and falls onto the “leaf” of paper, which is in turn a score of J.S. Bach’s Prelude in B-flat minor, which incidentally is played throughout the journey of the protagonist, the “leaf”. The timeless rhythms of Bach’s genius resonate, that immortal genius who centuries ago left his legacy on the eternal “leaves” of his scores, transcending time.