The Conference of Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities of Iberoamerica (CAACI) and the Ibermedia Intergovernmental Committee met this weekend in Panama as part of the development of the International Film Festival (IFF PANAMÁ) 2024.

These meetings were held with the aim of establishing public policies to strengthen, promote, production and distribute cinema from the Ibero-American region, with 23 representatives from both agencies participating.

Following his welcome to the guests, Minister of Culture Giselle González said that "this conference puts Panama as an important country within the audiovisual industry of the region, being a Republic with clear and established public policies."

He added that "this meeting serves to bring Ibero-American countries together, to find best practice, to work as a team and as a whole with discussions for development, development and training through our industry and the Ibermedia Programme."

"We are taking the firm steps to create public policies necessary to achieve and continue the development of a strong industry and we are noticing with five Panamanian productions at the 2024 Film Festival, which means that Panama is taking firm and important steps for the development of an industry that is an important pillar of our cultural and creative industries," added González Villarrué.

For his part, Sheila González, national film director at MiCultura expressed that "this type of meeting is important, because it allows us to figure out a Roadmap among all countries with common interests and challenges and also promotes regional positioning of the film and audiovisual industry in Panama."

The meetings were attended by film authorities from the countries members of CAACI, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela, as well as representatives of the International School of Cinema and Television of San Antonio de Los Baños, Cuba and other institutions committed to strengthening cinematography and audiovisual in our community.

The challenges that have been addressed include the performance of the CAACI, Ibermedia and Ibero-American Audiovisual Observatory (IEA) programs, presentation of the work undertaken by the Gender, Circulation and Distribution Committees, Fomento and Regulation, Training and the establishment of the new Cultural Diversity Commission.

A review of the Ibermedia 2024 call was also submitted, the advances of the Ibermedia Next programme, the distribution and circulation of Ibero-American films and the presentation of the Ibermedia Fund's annual budget.

CAACI is an agency that aims to contribute to the development of cinema within the audiovisual space of Ibero-American countries, while Ibermedia is a program to stimulate co-production of films and documentaries made in our community.