The Costa Rica International Film Festival returns for its 5th edition and is scheduled from December 8th to the 17th.

A total of 58 feature films and 14 short films will be shown in five different theaters: Magaly Movie Theater, La Aduana Theater, Theater 1887, the Theater of Dance and the Amphitheater of the National Center of Culture. Entrance is free of charge for the 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. shows, while all activities and shows scheduled after that time will have a cost of only 2,000 colones (under $4.00) for general public and 1,500 colones for students.

Costa Rican movies are, of course, part of this event, participating films are: El Sonido de las Cosas (The Sound of Things) by Ariel Escalante; Abrazame como antes (Hug me like you used to) by Jurgen Ureña and La Sombra del Naranjo (The shadow of the orange tree) by Oscar Herrera and Patricia Velasquez.

The Film Festival will include three different competitions in categories: International Films, Central American Films and National Short Films.

Movies that stand out in this Edition are: Elle by French Paul Verhoeven; The Salesman by Asghar Farhadi; American Honey by Andrea Arnold; Right now, Wrong Then by Sang-soo-Hung; and Fire at the Sea by Gianfranco Rosi.

It will also have five special sections:

Panorama (Overview), which includes international topics such as migratory situations, the ongoing battle of the sexually diverse population to have their rights respected, among others.

Another section is Puentes (Bridges), which establishes connections between the film industry and other arts, through special activities, for example the film One More Time With Feeling, which links movies and music since it tells the story of the production process of the last album of songwriter Nick Cave, this will be presented in El Sotano (Barrio Amon) where the attending audience will also get to listen to music by Nick Cave.

Third section is Radar, fresh and inventive movies by filmmakers who are still in an early stage of their career, includes 12 films, among them: The Eyes of my Mother (directed by Nicola Pesce- U.S.)

Retrospective: with special guest Kelly Reichardt, U.S. director and scriptwriter known for her feminist and low budget films. Six of her movies will be included, among them Certain Women (2016) and Night Moves (2013)

Of The Young: from fiction to documentary and animation, we are confronted with the idea of growing up. The stories of young characters with many dreams, doubts and questions. Three films in total: My Life as a Zucchini (directed by French Claude Barras); Jonas and the Circus without a Tent (directed by Brazilian Paula Gomes) and Girl Asleep (directed by Rosemary Myers from Australia)

The event will kick start with Argentinian film: The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis, a movie by Francisco Marquez and Andrea Testa. This edition will also include the world premiere of three movies in addition to four Latin American and sixty Central America premiers.

Tickets can be purchased at the movie theaters or online at costaricacinefest.go.cr and yappexperience.com.