IFF Panama

IFF Panamá
Come For The Stars… Stay For The Sun
April 11 – 17, 2012

Pituka Ortega Heilbron named Co-Director of IFF Panamá

(TIFF – September 14, 2011) Henk Van der Kolk, Director of IFF Panamá, is pleased to announce today the appointment of Pituka Ortega Heilbron as Co-Director of the newly instated IFF Panamá, to run April 11 – 17 2012.

Pituka Ortega Heilbron began working in film and video in 1994, after being selected as one of eight Latin Americans to participate in a screen writing workshop with nobel laureate writer Gabriel García Marquez, in the School of Film and Television in San Antonio de Los Baños, Cuba.  Prior to that, she had worked production in advertising and written for different local magazines, before editing her own, the cultural magazine: Década.

Since 1994 she has directed, co scripted and produced several fiction shorts and documentary shorts.  Her most important work, the feature length documentary The Fists Of A Nation (about the life of legendary boxer, Roberto Duran, which took her seven years to finish) gained critical acclaim winning her 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 that explores 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.

She is vocal in social and environmental issues pertainining to her native country Panamá, and her Op Ed articles have been published in the most prestigious local papers.

“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.  The most powerful way to do this is by creating events like IFF Panamá which will not only bring people from all over the world, but will also bring their stories, dreams, fears and hope, in the compelling medium of film. I am proud and honored that Henk asked me to participate.  He and co-founder Rob Brown have passionately and selflessly given themselves to our country in the development of this film festival.”

IFF Panama was co-founded by Rob Brown and Toronto International Film Festival co-founder Henk Van der Kolk. The inaugural edition of the internationally-focused film festival will take place April 11 – 17, 2012. The best of Latin American films, the world’s top-grossing films and celebrities will converge on the unique Central American milieu to create an all-new experience on the world cinema scene.

The end-game is to initiate a new Central American stream of stardom and artistry. IFF Panama plans to build a Festival Center which will house both the Festival and an international film school. IFF Panama’s board members and creative advisors include internationally-acclaimed Panamanian filmmakers and local entertainment industry representatives, including Abner Benaim, Luis Pacheco, and internationally known actor/songwriter Ruben Blades.