[4] Costa Rican auteur directors successful in the international art film circuit include Paz Fábrega and Isthar Yasin Gutierrez.

The prohibitive cost of equipment and materials for celluloid film-making combined with the lack of both private and governmental support meant that a national or regional film industry was difficult to realize.

[3][4] It supported 80 productions in Central America including Agua Fría de Mar (Cold Water of the Sea, 2010) by Paz Fábrega, which earned the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Festival.

[3] In 2015, a national production fund called El Fauno was launched and supported 40 indigenous film, TV, and Internet projects as of April 2019.

[7] Since 2004, the festival's touring showcase, known as Muestra Ícaro, has been exhibited in every Central American country and, recently, to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the US.

[6] In 2001, a collaboration of productions companies and television network, Televisora de Costa Rica, created a film that was financially success in its theatrical release, Asesinato en El Meneo [es].