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Panama is eagerly positioning itself as an ideal international co-production hub for filmmakers looking to shoot in Latin America, with new incentives in the works.
The country is being feted this year at the Málaga Film Festival’s Latin American Focus, with a delegation of government officials, industry representatives and filmmakers taking part in events spotlighting the Central American country’s multitude of cinematic advantages, from scenic natural landscapes and both modern and historical cityscapes to a high level of technical expertise and a supportive government represented by the Ministry of Culture and the National Directorate of Film and Audiovisual Industry (Dicine).
In a presentation on Tuesday at Málaga, Panamanian Vice Minister of Culture Arianne Benedetti was joined by director-producer Arturo Montenegro of Q Films, whose political thriller “Papers” screens at the festival as part of the Panama showcase; producer-director Luis Romero of Bolero Films; and Spanish producer-director Frank Spano of Garra Producciones, who specializes in Panamanian and Latin American co-productions.
Panama’s film and TV industry is growing and “paving the way for sustainable development, not only in terms of national production but also through foreign investment, which strengthens the national production sector by creating jobs and professionalizing the market system and filmmakers,” Benedetti pointed out.
She stressed that Panama’s co-production scene was giving the country “an international presence that makes us a force to be reckoned with. Co-production, obviously, is what gives Ibero-American cinema its strength; it’s what allows those diverse budgets to be secured, because through co-production we find the necessary tools to finalize film projects.”
Benedetti pointed to the country’s new incentive introduced last year, an international co-production award that any film project can compete for, which provides $100,000 for fiction films and $25,000 for documentaries. The new award is just a first step, she added, noting that the Panamanian government is in the process of passing a new law that would expand the funding to six feature film and six documentary co-productions.
The new funding scheme would give Panamanian producers more leverage when they go to festivals and discuss potential co-productions with Panama while also facilitating synergies between companies that provide mutual benefit to domestic as well as international filmmakers, Benedetti said.
Montenegro underscored the advantages Panama offered for Latin America and Spain.
Co-productions offer “the possibility of building bridges, of uniting, of speaking together with the common language we share. I think that from there, our universe, our colors, the tropics, everything we’ve experienced, the stories we have to tell, how those stories clash with other realities, that seems very interesting to us,” Montenegro said.
Indeed, Benedetti emphasized Panama’s historic role for both sides of the Atlantic.
“Panama has the peculiarity that it’s the center of America. It began as a transit point, ever since the first Spaniard arrived in Panama, from where everything also departed, returning to Spain. There are stories about all of us. We have stories to tell that unite more than one country.”
Romero noted that while Panama was a small country, it is also a very large community, a very large society, because of the fact that it operates as a transit country. “It’s a hub of the Americas,” with the many flights, ships, ports and the most important banking center in all of Latin America. “In that sense, there’s a lot to offer.”
While it’s not always easy to do co-productions in Latin America, Panama has excelled in advertising and, as a result, the country also boasts a high level of technical expertise, Romero added.
“It’s mostly about finding common ground in our stories.”
Romero is currently partnering with Spanish firms Yolaperdono and Gachiro Films on the co-production “Juantxu,” a documentary directed by Manuel Jiménez and Andoni Famoso about Spanish photographer and journalist Juantxu Rodríguez, who was killed by U.S. troops during the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama.
For Spano, it’s not just Panama’s history, location and the canal that make it an interesting location for filmmakers. “It’s also because of this film industry. The fact that I have been able to co-produce and produce four feature films in the last eight years speaks to an industry, a ministry of culture, a film institute, funding, and a law that has provided a framework and impetus for us to tell our stories.”
Spano’s work has included Alberto Morais’ 2025 drama “La Terra Negra,” which screened last year in Málaga. Spano’s Garra Producciones, which has offices in Madrid and Panama, participated as the Panamanian co-producer.
Spano’s last four feature films have been co-productions between Panama and Spain, two of them as the Panamanian majority producer and two as a minority co-producer.
The director-producer is also working with a Panamanian, North American and Spanish team in the development of a new distribution and streaming platform for independent films.
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