Earlier this week, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sat in their Sunset Screening Room and enjoyed the second screening of a movie directed by Laura Astorga, a filmmaker from Costa Rica. Making it to a second screening at the Academy is a big deal for a movie that hopes be nominated for the Foreign Language Film category of the 2015 Oscars, and there is a strong chance that Princesas Rojas (Red Princesses) could be the first film from Costa Rica to earn that honor.

Although Princesas Rojas is a film for the entire family, it will appeal even more strongly to women who came of age in the shadow of the Cold War in Central America. Many dear readers of The Costa Star will remember the geopolitical instability brought on by the proxy battle between the United States and the former Soviet Union, the two warring superpowers that took advantage of the Sandinista Revolution and the mess that ensued.

It is important to remember that although the military of Costa Rica had already been abolished by a few decades by the time the Cold War came knocking, our country played a covert role in the proxy battle, mostly supporting shadowy missions perpetrated by the U.S. This support, which was fictionalized in the video game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, came to an end when former President and Nobel Peace Laureate Oscar Arias negotiated an end to hostilities.

Red Princesses is a beautiful tale of how the lives of two little girls from Central America were shaped by the political ideology of their parents, who were not even so sure of their convictions in the end. This film has already garnered accolades at various international film festivals, and the esteemed publication The Hollywood Reporter actually listed this movie from Costa Rica at the top of the list among the 83 contenders to be nominated.

The last time Costa Rica came sort of close to being nominated was in 2005 with Caribe, directed by Esteban Ramirez. This was sort of an ecological melodrama that proved to be a little too heavy-handed for the Academy screeners. We wish director Astorga the best of luck; for such a nomination would be wonderful to elevate the film industry of Costa Rica.