Variety talent to follow Nicolas Wong wins Fantastic Lab Central Am.

The winners have been announced. Fantastic Lab Central America & Caribbean has unveiled six finalists and one grand prize at the Cannes Fantastic Pavilion.

The top prize, presented by Baby Atómica, one of Fantastic Lab’s partners, goes to “We Won’t Let the Goat Die” (“No dejaremos que muera la cabra”), a co-production of Costa Rica, Perú and Panamá with Variety Talent to follow DoP Nicolas Wong (‘La Llorona’, ‘Love is the Monster’) produces.

As part of the prize, Baby Atómica will give director Felipe Zúñiga and Wong the opportunity to film their proof of concept in Costa Rica with the team.

Zúñiga was producer of “Love is the Monster” and first AD on many critically acclaimed Central American films such as “Clara Sola” and “Beloved Tropic.”

The fantasy drama follows 10-year-old Bernardo, who clings fiercely to his mother after the death of his father while secretly caring for an injured baby goat deep in the rainforest. But when he witnesses an ocelot feeding its young on the same animal under a mysterious glowing orb, he discovers that love and violence spring from the same instinct.

Launched last year at the first Costa Rica Media Market in partnership with Grupo Morbido, the Fantastic Lab Central America & Caribbean was coordinated by Costa Rican Film Commissioner Marysela Zamora and Grupo Morbido CEO Pablo Guisa and sent an open call that attracted 55 projects from across the region. Of these, 15 were selected as part of the first phase, in close collaboration with Grupo Morbido, led by Guisa and genre filmmaker Adrian Garcia Bogleano (“Night of the Wolf”), who was also a mentor.

The six finalists include one project from El Salvador, two from the Dominican Republic, one from Honduras in co-production with Mexico and Spain and two from Costa Rica. Overall, they reflect a strong regional trend towards politically charged genre cinema that transforms horror into a language for memory, history and lived social tension. They will pitch their projects at the upcoming Costa Rica Media Market in July.

“The winning projects of this edition of Fantastic Lab demonstrate the growth and evolution of fantastic cinema in Central America and the Caribbean. This initiative, developed by the Fantastic Pavilion of the Cannes Marché du Film in collaboration with the Costa Rica Media Market, will help strengthen talent development, foster collaborative networks and create greater opportunities for creators in the region to connect with the international audiovisual industry,” said Laura López, Managing Director of Costa Rica’s Foreign Trade Promotion Agency.

Said Guisa: “This first edition of the Fantastic Lab Costa Rica was a huge success. It was really exciting to see the projects grow through the online workshop – guided by our advisors. The diversity of themes, countries and sub-genres tells you everything about how vibrant Central America and the Caribbean are as a region, historically and culturally. The Fantastic Lab not only shows that, it takes it to another level. This is exactly what the Fantastic Pavilion is here to do: support and support the genre community in every region of the world enrich.”

The six finalists:

“Cocoa tea” (“Té de Cacao”), Marcia Isabel Arenas Víquez, Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico.

This psychological horror drama follows Alexa, a woman who returns to Costa Rica with her partner in search of ancestral connection in a spiritual retreat that promises healing and authenticity. But as dubious therapies and disturbing postcolonial rituals blur the line between wellness and manipulation, Alexa begins to expose the disturbing powers hidden beneath the sanctuary’s seductive facade. Sofía Meza Herrera of Blue Paradox Films produces.

“Echoes” (“Ecos”), Kryzz Gautier, Dominican Republic.

A gothic horror fantasy, it follows historian Catalina and her friend Salomé after they discover a mysterious artifact in a colonial sugar plantation that transports them to the 17th century. There they relive the tragic romance between an enslaved woman and the governor’s daughter, two lovers who share their faces. As past and present merge, the couple is confronted with hereditary traumas, forbidden desires and a haunting cycle that the house refuses to let go. Lead produced by Reclaimed Ent. co-produced by Rampante Films.

“Greetings from Maryland” (“Saludos desde Maryland”), Ricardo B’atz’, El Salvador.

The horror film follows a group of undocumented migrant workers in the United States who unknowingly unleash a cursed presence while demolishing an abandoned house. As the entity begins to track them down one by one, the film combines supernatural terror with the insecurity, exploitation and invisibility of immigrant labor. Cayaguanca Films produces.

“Macheteros,” Daniel Emilio Oramas, Dominican Republic.

The creature feature horror film delves into the jungles of the Dominican Republic, where a group of road workers battling harsh conditions encounter the Ciguapa – a terrifying figure from local folklore with retarded feet and the power to possess men through her gaze. Combining survival horror, environmental tensions and class conflict, the film reinterprets Dominican mythology as a brutal tale of revenge and ‘the law of the jungle’. Angélica Pérez-Castro produces.

“The fire within” (“El Fuego Interior”), Javier Suazo Mejía, Honduras, Mexico, Spain.

Produced by Zumo, Fosforito Films, El Médano and Aída Herrerías, the supernatural horror film set on a Caribbean island follows a successful priest who returns home after his adoptive brother dies from spontaneous human combustion. While investigating the mysterious death, he discovers hidden family secrets and awakens a terrifying force that threatens to consume everything around him.

‘What accompanies the storm’ (“Lo que trae la tormenta”), Miguel Angel Ferrer, Costa Rica, USA

This creature horror film follows a reclusive ex-military doctor who shelters a desperate mother and daughter as a deadly hurricane rages through the Caribbean, only to discover that a terrifying creature has followed them to his home. Trapped by the storm, he must fight both the monster stalking the house and the darkness within himself to survive the night. Produced by La Pajara Cine and Magic Films. Dinga Haines produces.