Speakers at AFCI’s (Association of Film Commissioners International) first Cineposium conference in Latin America will include global experts ranging from Oscar-winning producer Yvett Merino (Disney’s Encanto) to HBO SVP of production Jay Roewe.
This year marks the first time in the event’s 45-year history that AFCI is bringing its multi-day educational Cineposium conference to Latin America. It will be held September 20-22 in Bogotá–Colombia’s capital city and a growing center for media production. Colombia currently boasts more than 100 production facilities for film/TV, animation and video game projects.
Cineposium sessions will be based upon three core themes: sustainable production, gender initiatives and film tourism.
Merino will lead a session about how Encanto helped portray Colombia’s culture to a global audience. HBO’s Roewe will join Brian O’Leary (external counsel for the Motion Picture Association/MPA), Camila Winches (VP of business affairs at Sony Pictures Classics) and Maria Fernanda Cristo (head of production services at Dynamo) to discuss optimizing tax incentives while producing a project in multiple territories across the globe. Other confirmed speakers include Lisa Day (manager of environmental sustainability at The Walt Disney Company), location manager Hans Dayal (Supergirl, Minority Report and Robocop) and veteran telenovela producer/director Magdalana La Rotta.
With Colombia–and Bogotá in particular–blossoming as a production destination, Cineposium sessions will also cover the nation’s recent successes in hosting large-scale productions for international audiences.
One such project is Netflix’s Palpito which reached #1 on the streamer’s global charts. Written and produced in Colombia, its recent success story will be presented by producer Ana Piñeres and Netflix production manager Juliana Moreno, who will focus on the impact of Colombia’s tax incentives.
Another project that will be highlighted is Memoria, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and starring Tilda Swinton. The film, which debuted at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, was co-produced internationally between entities in Colombia, Thailand, France, Mexico, China and Germany. Producer Diana Bustamante and co-producer Julio Chavezmontes will discuss the challenges involved in producing internationally during the pandemic.
Cineposium 2022 is produced by a committee headed by the Bogota Film Commission of the District Institute of Arts–Idartes, together with the Bogota Chamber of Commerce.
Ricardo Cantor, audiovisual arts manager at Bogota’s District Institute of Arts–-Idartes, said, “Hosting Cineposium for the first time in Bogotá and Latin America is a vote of confidence from AFCI and the audiovisual industries internationally.”
