Agustina Chiarino is a prestigious Uruguayan film producer who is currently forming part of the Horizontes Latinos jury. She is a regular at the Festival which she has visited with several of her projects, many of which have been debut films. These are what she’s most interested in: “It’s always difficult to bring them to fruition and trying to get funding, but there’s an energy in debut films that I love, a vitality that is gradually lost. Before starting I don’t just look at a project; but also look at the person who is making the film and who is able to transmit this vitality to the cast and crew, and get us all to take part. All this snowballs in a first film; then in a second one it’s already more difficult,” she says.

She thinks that things r e a l l y have improved enormously on the Latin American film scene. “I think what is most important is the variety of films that are emerging from all the countries in Latin America: documentaries, dramas, comedies, indigenous films, indie films…”