Discoveries from Panama World Cinema

Trapped in the middle of the world-shaking Panama Papers scandal, Ana Mendez must fight the system, the global media and her own ethical compass to try to restore her reputation and save her family.

Through the magic of 3D and IMAX cameras, audiences everywhere can take a mind-blowing trip through one of the seven wonders of the modern world in PANAMA CANAL 3D: A LAND DIVIDED A WORLD UNITED, revealing not only its vast scope, but plunging down into the locks and mechanical operations, boarding the giants sailing the Canal, gliding airborne over the entire country, the Panama railway, exploring by native canoe, discovering the unexpected tropical rain forest beauty and wildlife. The film sweeps from the days when Conquistadores struggled through a water-soaked quagmire to the 19th-Century French canal-digging debacle to the American engineering achievement that revolutionized shipping and tropical medicine. It's also about the visionary present, documenting efforts by Panama to expand the 100-year-old waterway to accommodate post-panamax ships. It concludes with a fusion of old and new Panama, its skyscrapers, its culture, a rising economic nerve of Central America.

The story follows the adventures of various characters in their desperate attempt to obtain a "visa" or the necessary means to accompany the team to the World Cup.

Ana escapes from the hotel where she works dressed as a bride and decides that she must get married that same day. She must put everything together before she is caught by Lucia, the owner of the dress, or the police. On this journey Ana reflects on true love,

Alicia is a 42-year-old-woman whose grief has caused her estrangement from society. Her world is turned upside down when 14-year-old Chief, a young boy who looks after people’s cars, stumbles into her house, bleeding.

After spending 25 years as a domestic worker, Edilsa faces the reality of unemployment in an era where all the rules seem to have changed.

Two young siblings ended up living on the streets, having nothing left but their love. It's a story about survival, second chances and second falls, with an unexpected turn at the end.

Tanit, Valeria and Shaila are three women from very different parts of the world who face the same problem: climate change. They will lose everything because of global warming effects and they will be forced to emigrate to survive.

Five shorts spanning a century on lives impacted by the Panama Canal. Men, women and children who are influenced by the existence of the "Canal", the event that changed the history of not only a country but the world.

Ali decides to move to a small town in the mountains with her little daughter Sofía after her devastating separation from her husband. Weeks later, she will be immersed in the mysterious atmosphere of the place and then have an accident and realize that her daughter has disappeared. As a consequence, she will undertake a tireless search to find her daughter's whereabouts.

At the height of the 1980s AIDS epidemic, Cuban boxing champion Horacio's punishment for failing a drug test is to watch over the brash, combative Daniel, a patient in a sanatorium where HIV patients are compulsorily confined. The two collide as Daniel yearns for freedom while Horacio dreams of returning to the ring.

Summer vacation. Two sisters, Marina (17) and Luna (14), travel from Costa Rica to Panama to look for their absent father. While dealing with frictions that arise between them, they find space to explore their desires, new friendships, lovers, and skateboarding, on a journey toward emancipation where they discover the joy of the simple act of hanging out.

Jimmy celebrates his 45th birthday at the beach house, inviting his close circle of friends to a weekend full of fun,excess, and concessions. Everything is interrupted by Jimmy's confession of wanting to end his life before the party is over.

Miquel moves to a town in the Spanish countryside. He is there to work in an industrial mill, ran by siblings María and Ángel. María, who dislikes her work and the neighbours she has to do business with, finds in Miquel a person similar to her.

In 1975 French Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Pierre Dominique Gaisseau traveled to Panama to make a film on the indigenous island-dwelling Kuna people. Accompanied by his wife and their daughter, Gaisseau lived with the Kuna for a year, gaining their trust and filming their most intimate ceremonies. He promised to share the resulting film with the community, but that never happened. Fifty years later, the Kunas are still waiting to discover “their” film, now a legend passed down from the elders to the new generation. One day, a hidden copy is found in Paris…While uncovering this fascinating story with humility and warmth, Swiss-Panamanian filmmaker Andrés Peyrot succeeds in capturing a true sense of culture and place. The result is simultaneously a cautionary tale raising questions around how and why documentaries are made and for whom, and a testament to the power of what it means to see yourself on the big screen.

A documentary film crew follows Diego, a newly turned vampire who struggles to adapt with the help of his vampire roommates. Between family disputes and clashes over vampire behavior, Diego tries to get used to his new bloodthirsty life while remaining true to himself and the people he loves.

In the traditional carnival of the small town called Las Tablas, there are two rival streets: Up Street and Down Street. A young couple, after an unexpected encounter at the airport, fall hopelessly in love.

INVASION is a documentary about the collective memory of a country. The invasion of Panama by the U.S in 1989 serves as an excuse to explore how a people remember, transform, and often forget their past in order to re-define their identity and become who they are today.

The Ponce family is the perfect family that lives in the quiet mountain town of Bambito, Panama. Federico is a successful father. Carol is the loving mother of three wonderful children. Despite perfect appearances, Federico and Carol share a secret: when they have a date night, they are accompanied by Lizzie - a fun and confident woman who is actually Federico dressed up as a woman. What perhaps began as a fun game, soon becomes Federico's struggle to keep his family together and save his own life when he chooses to undergo gender reassignment surgery in Thailand.

In Panama City, a Colombian immigrant employed as a home health aide, who harbors a secret, develops a touching and unexpected bond with a strong-willed, wealthy businesswoman struggling with encroaching dementia.

A small community of lovers of freestyle rap begins to grow in the parks and squares of Panama. From rapping on buses to on stage, the love of Hip-Hop abounds in their hearts.

A "Diablo Rojo" bus driver, his helper, a priest, and two policemen fall victim to a mysterious spell and end up lost somewhere in the Chiriqui jungle, where they will have to survive the creatures that inhabit the roads, with the old bus as their only refuge.

Five celebrities, from latin america and spain, come to unfollow with the hope of re-experiencing the pleasure of anonymity. Unfollow is the new reality show of rehab and social reinsertion for celebrities where the biggest prize is that: You enter famous and leave without anyone knowing you.

Two sisters will have to fight to survive in their grandmother's farm, as the old lady is immersed in a curse that has been consuming her for years.

Nina, a 30 year-old comedian, is haunted by an embarrassing viral video that left her in a creative slump. After abandoning her office job, with the doom of debt and the pressure to decide what to do with her life, Nina tries to dominate the art of surviving the biggest scam: adulthood.

Mateo Osorio, Mexico’s best criminologist is sent to Acapulco to investigate a series of murders. The corpses he finds, that no one comes forward to claim, are all wearing a purple bathing suit by the famous fashion designer Benjamín Santanaya. The movie is based on the book by the same name by the writer, art critic and curator Olivier Debroise.

Tired of being treated like a child by everyone due to his physical limitations, Jonathan, 29, embarks on a wild and heartfelt trip to Panama with unlikely companions to confront the doctor who caused his disability.

Lía and Manuel live illegally in a closed house. Tania, trying to regain her rights over the space that her uncle left her, intends to evict them. But the couple is not ready to leave and Tania decides to retrench on the top floor of the house. The war that starts ends up moving them closer.

A veteran judge is nominated to the Supreme Court, sparking a fierce battle between opposing sides. As his past comes under scrutiny, accusations and rumors threaten to change everything.

The stories of a Panamanian officer who feels betrayed by his superiors, of a young man from the neighborhood trying to prevent his friends from going out to fight, of a fisherman going through a thousand adventures trying to bury his compadre, of an imprisoned American businessman for conspiring as a CIA agent against the dictatorship and an alcoholic prostitute who cannot escape her past ... all in the middle of the Christmas preparations, just as the US invasion of Panama begins.

An ornithologist goes on a field trip to a deserted island near the mainland with his wife and small son, and is joined by the wife's sister, who is getting over an abortion; later, an escaped convict is discovered. A situation which may seem naturalistic enough, but the form never is: incidents are isolated, cross-relations are oblique, emotions are unexplained.

Francisco, a former priest, shares his story. When a demon possesses his daughter, he's forced into a spiritual battle that drags him back to confront his past. The only way to save her is to face his own history.

Reyna, head of the school choir and daughter of the Parish Office Chair is rattled once her meticulously orchestrated music group is disrupted by the spontaneous and unorthodox new pianist, Sam.

A visit to a bedridden lover from several decades ago takes Silka on a painful journey through her memory, where she confronts the romantic and political betrayal she thought she had left in the past.

Drama based on the legend of La Llorona

The story is about Manuela, the daughter of a drug trafficker who plans a tumbe against the cartel where her own father works, unleashing a war between narcos and tumbadores.

In front of the waves of the Panamanian Pacific in the town of El Higo, a woman walks and tells the story lived by the Panamanian Tito Arias and Margot Fonteyn, the most acclaimed dancer in the world and incomparable ballet figure.

Five young Panamanian freestyle artists fight to turn their craft into a way of life, as rap becomes their only voice in a country that doesn’t always listen.

Filmed just months after the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, the film offers a critical perspective on the events and documents the subsequent actions of the civilian population.

Originates in the small, rural town of Culebra, Mexico and takes place in one day between the hours of 6AM – 3:30PM. As a team of hit men ascends upon the small town looking for their mark, they encounter all walks of life along their way. Unexpected circumstances interconnect different characters into a whirlwind of drama, action, and suspense.

Kira finds it difficult to wake up, as sleep paralysis and psychological trauma from her childhood keep her in an endless cycle of nightmares.

Based on a poem and archive images, the military aggression of the US army stationed in the Canal Zone against the Panamanian people who demand to raise their flag in the territory occupied since the beginning of the 20th century is reconstructed and denounced. The aggression that occurred between January 9 and 11, 1964 left a balance of 21 patriots.

Eugenio and Manuel give each other the opportunity to begin what promises to be true love. However, a revelation will lead them to have to make certain decisions.

In the year 2000 the United States returned the Panama Canal . To achieve this, the Torrijos-Carter Treaties were signed in 1977. There was a complex game of international diplomacy and intrigues . This is the story of the negotiations.

Two friends who worked in the vinyl record shop Panamá Radio remember the post-II World War days when they entered the working scene of the city, the music of the times and all the artists that visited the shop.

The dream of Panama is to qualify for the World Cup. Jamel, a big fan of the national team, is depressed after a 4-0 loss to the United States. When making a promise to the Black Christ of Portobelo, Jamel goes towards Russia. On his arrival, he meets a compatriot who helps him in the adaptation of the new culture and thus fulfills the promise made to the saint.

Isa, who is aggravated by her life, decides to visit a non traditional doctor. Through the use of hypnotherapy, Isa discovers that her pain is caused by repressed feelings and that the way for her to heal is to say everything she thinks.

Confined to his Tahitian hut by the French colonial authorities in 1903, the painter Paul Gauguin is forced to paint a new masterpiece to save his five-year-old native son, while battling illness and torn between madness and sanity. In the course of these events, memories of the past, especially of his life and work at the Panama Canal, the place where his artistic career began and his guilt at abandoning his family in Paris, begin to haunt him.

Afro-Antillean workers hired for the construction of the Panama Canal are brought from their homes to work in conditions that were not those promised. They, the descendants of African slaves and domesticated from England, manage to raise their voices against American injustices.

Memories haunt a man and blur the lines between reality and imagination.

A short film of Evelyn Nesbit singing Jack Yellen and Lew Pollack's song "No Man's Mama" at Bilgray's Garden in Panama, June 1930. She performs the song three different times.

Ten years after General Antonio José de Sucre - Grand Marshal of Ayacucho- was murdered in the Berruecos jungle, Colombia. The inquiry into his death is reopened, Captain Alejandro Godoy take charge as prosecutor. Several political motives mean that the case must definitively be drawn to a close. Godoy discovers that a large part of the documentation produced during the original inquiry has been destroyed. With his own life in danger, Godoy discovers a highly intricate plot that put an end to Sucre's life.

Documentary about the relation between Panama and the United States, during the building of the Panama Canal.

Chacaleria is a crime film about Antonia, a self-made entrepreneur who, after losing her livelihood to the COVID-19 pandemic, wants to secure her financial future by selling and distributing alcohol illegally using a drone during Panama's nationally mandated dry law. This becomes increasingly difficult when Ronny, a by the book cop, who is forced to be corrupt, catches Antonia in the act and blackmails her into robbing a bank.

Amanda's relationship with Adrian hangs by a thread. As a mysterious figure approaches Amanda during a cold autumn night in Rome, her dignity will be put to the test.

Compilation of 18 animated short films made by Spanish-speaking artists from around the world for the Filmoteca Maldita Short Film Festival. This collection contains very diverse works, both in technical and thematic aspects, although they all share a genuine spirit of dedication and creativity.

In the midst of Panama's ongoing water crisis, Luis, a child from a struggling family, seeks hope in the legend of an ancient spirit that can bring nourishment to their community through collective belief.

James returns to his native Latin America after 30 years, with just one thing in mind-taking an organ from a human victim and smuggling it back to the United States. On this trip, relives memories of his own violent past, which makes him think twice about redeeming his future.

Juancho is in search of his real family after the death of his adoptive mother, only to find out his father is a corrupt politician who tried to kill him.