The Cannes Film Festival has announced the nine short films that will compete for the Palme d’Or in its 75th edition, including the Costa Rican production Nigh Light / Luz nocturna by director Kim Torres as the only Latin American contender. The Central American country will have two productions in competition at Cannes this year. In addition to Torres’ short film, the feature film Domingo and the Mist / Domingo y la niebla by Ariel Escalante Meza will compete in the Un Certain Regard section of the French film festival.
Torres is a Costa Rican screenwriter and director. Daughter of a Cuban immigrant and a Costa Rican, she was born in Miami, but grew up in Costa Rica. She studied Communication Sciences with an emphasis on audiovisual production at the University of Costa Rica, and is a graduate of the Film and Television Script specialty of the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC) in Mexico.
Torres has directed the short films The Champion that premiered at the Costa Rica International Film Festival 2015 and more recently Suncatcher / Atrapaluz, which had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival and is currently screening as part of New Directors/New Films in New York City.
In the past years two Latin American filmmakers have won the Palme d’ Or for Best Short Film: the Colombian film Leidy by Simón Mesa Soto in 2014, and the Mexican film Ver llover by Elisa Miller in 2006. The 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will take place May 17—28.
