Panama International Film festival gets double take off boost
Panama’s National Economic Council (CENA), has approved a $1,107,000 sponsorship of the country’s first International Film Festival (IFF) that will take place April 11-17, next year and a renowned Panamanian producer has been named co-director.
The General Directorate of the Film Commission of the Ministry of Trade and Industry has been working with the organizers of the festival, along with the National Tourism Authority and industry professionals to establish a national film festival that will serve as a high-level platform for cinematography in Latin America.
Pituka Ortega Hielbron
Henk Van der Kolk a co-founder of TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) and newly enlisted Pituka Ortega Heilbron, co-directors of the festival are collaborating with TIFF to tap into its knowledge and experience to make the event world class.
Heilbron Pituka Ortega with a background as a producer and director is best known in Panama for her documentary of boxer Roberto Duran: "The Fists of a Nation."
The festival, seeks to establish an international film market in Panama and among its goals is the creation of a film school to train professionals in industry in Panama and the region.
Additionally, it will seek to promote Panama as a destination for filming.
The announcement of the appointemnt of Pituka Ortega Heilbron as co director was made by Van Der Kolk on the same day that the government gave approval to the sponsorship.
Since 1994 she has directed, co scripted and produced several fiction and documentary shorts.
Her most important work, the feature length documentary The Fists of a Nation (about the life of Roberto Mano de Piedra [Hands of Stone] Duran) won international awards, and was selected as one of the most important films in the last 50 years of Ibero American film history.
She is currently working on a documentary exploring the impact of public transportation on the lives of the inhabitants of Panamá City and also on a fiction script with Cuban writer, Manuel Rodriguez.
“I am very excited to be part of the team of IFF Panamá,” Pituka says, “and joined because i am impressed by Henk Van der Kolk’s vision of such a film festival in my country. It is important for Panamá to step up and live up to its mission of being a connected center in a deeper, richer way.”
IFF Panama was co-founded by Canadian businessman Rob Brown and his father-in-law Van der Kolk. The inaugural edition of the festival will include the best of Latin American films, and the world’s top-grossing films and celebrities will converge on Panama.
Long term plans include the building of a Festival Center to house both the Festival and an international film school.
IFF's board members and creative advisors include internationally-acclaimed Panamanian filmmakers and local entertainment industry representatives, including Abner Benaim, Luis Pacheco, and actor, songwriter Ruben Blades who has recently been nominated for another Grammy.
