Mexico’s Los Cabos Intl. Film Festival, one of the country’s very top pre-pandemic movie events, has cancelled its 2023 12th edition, citing “the lack of the economic support which was vital in prior editions to carry out this important film event.”
In a written statement, the festival organisers thanked “those people, companies and institutions who had confirmed their support and participation in the 2023. We are committed to strengthen our collaboration in the future.”
based out of Cabo San Lucas, and launched in 2012 as an three-way North American industry bridge between U.S., Canada and Mexico, Los Cabos proved one of the fastest-growing festivals in Latin America, playing off the huge hike in Mexican production levels, Mexico’s first big U.S./Mexico box office hits such as “Instructions Not Included,” which grossed $90.6 million between the two markets; and the enthusiastic support of Canada’s Telefilm and influential industry players such as CAA’s Micah Green and AG Studios’ Alex García.
By 2014, Los Cabos boasted a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Co-Production Forum, a Work in Progress Mexico pix-in-post industry section and a Los Cabos Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund, adjudicating a total $139,000 to Mexican films in pre or post-production.
Led from 2018 by executive director Alejandra Paulín and artistic director Marú Garzón, Los Cabos has traditionally looked to the support of local hoteliers, led by Festival co-founder Eduardo Sánchez Navarro. Los Cabos could also tap municipal funding, private investment and sponsors to bankroll editions.
Welcoming multiples stars, such as Reese Witherspoon, Los Cabos’ bugbear, however, has been the decimation of Mexican federal government festival funding under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which affects pretty much all events in the country, including other top events such as the Guadalajara and Morelia festivals.
