Paz Fábrega’s New Film “To the Future” Gears Up for ECAM Forum Pitch

Costa Rican filmmaker Paz Fábrega, renowned for her debut feature Agua fría de mar (Cold Water of the Sea), which earned the VPRO Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2010, is set to present her latest project, To the Future (“Al Futuro”), at the ECAM Forum’s Last Push session in Madrid. The hybrid documentary, produced by Fábrega’s Temporal Films, has secured funding from the Uruguayan Audiovisual Program (PUA), Costa Rica’s El Fauno Fund and the Catalan government’s ICEC cultural agency.

Collaborative Effort and Thematic Depth

The film, co-produced by Federico Moreira of La Mayor Cine and featuring Guatemalan producer Pamela Guinea, explores Fábrega’s personal journey as a mother. Highlighting themes of motherhood, financial strain, and artistic ambition, the documentary captures Fábrega’s daily life with her two children, Kai (3) and Matti (5), while navigating the challenges of balancing creativity with parenthood. A logline describes the narrative as follows: “While Paz searches for a job, she rents out a room in her house to tenants who come and go at the fleeting pace of Airbnb tourism. The children’s overwhelming emotions clash with the weight of financial pressure, and the days blur into one another.”

Matti’s discovery of a talent for prolonged apnea—holding his breath for increasingly long stretches—adds a layer of tension to the film. Fábrega, who has previously tackled themes of vulnerability and youth in