Los Cabos International Film Festival: Seaside Cinema at its Best

The esteemed ‘Los Cabos International Film Festival: Cinema Encounters’ returns with fresh ideas, new venues and enhanced networking opportunities, December 4-8. Founded to unite North America’s cinema worlds, the annual gathering creates a vital dialogue within the global film industry.

Cabo’s annual cinema jamboree attracts many of the industry's leading directors, producers, actors and screenwriters. Premieres of both Mexican and international films are held, with a focus on diverse content and regional creators. While many of the events are open to the public, the festival’s primary mission is to facilitate meetings between film industry professionals, enabling them to exchange ideas and develop strategic alliances.

The festival, now in its 13th year, has expanded to include San Jose del Cabo where events and screenings will take place in locales such as Crania, the botanical garden of Wirikuta, Hotel El Ganzo, Casa Ballena and Plaza Mijares. Other planned activities will take place the festival’s long-time base, Cinemex Puerto Paraíso in Cabo San Lucas.

“After having toured the most relevant international film festivals around the world and establishing itself as a promising contender for the upcoming awards season, the Los Cabos International Film Festival will screen two top feature films at our opening and closing events,” said a festival spokesperson. “These premieres will complement our shared excitement of celebrating cinema in the paradise enclosed by two seas, the Los Cabos we all know and love.”

Mexican cinema will play a central role in this year’s film program. A selection of outstanding Mexican films will be featured in various venues. The participation of film crew members in post-screening Q&A’s will spark a deeper and more organic connection among filmmakers and the audience.

The support of the Mexican film industry, made possible by a grant from the Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund, is geared to rising national talents, with the focus on first films in development. The directors of selected projects will also be invited to participate in a Film in Development Workshop aimed at helping new filmmakers navigate the intricacies of creating a debut film.

In addition, the film festival intends to strengthen the ties and professionalism of the Baja California peninsula’s film community by organizing a workshop for regional filmmakers taught by prominent figures in Mexican cinema. The conversation around relevant film industry topics is still a crucial part of the festival’s agenda and will be prominent in discussion panels.

The 2024 poster is the work of filmmaker David Liles and a production of Hugo Payen, both from Baja California Sur. The inspiration for the image, which shows two children fishing in a vegetation-lined waterway facing a film screen, which rises like the sun among palm trees and reed beds, was inspired by the estuary of San José del Cabo. A unique ecosystem, the estuary has been a State Ecological Reserve and Natural Protected Area since 1994. It is recognized as one of Baja California Sur’s most important wetlands.

To create the poster, Liles tapped his own memories and historical digital footage to create a hyper-realistic depiction of the estuary. Liles’ vivid, nostalgic image of the Los Cabos of yesteryear is a tribute to local fishing practices, a tradition that still permeates La Playa, a settlement adjacent to the wetlands that will serve as one of the festival’s event venues this year.

For more information on the festival’s events, visit https://loscabosiff.org/#en