Costa Rica is an active member of the international community and, in 1983, claimed it was for neutrality. Due to certain powerful constituencies favoring its methods, it has a weight in world affairs far beyond its size. The country lobbied aggressively for the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and became the first nation to recognize the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Human Rights Court, based in San José.
Costa Rican culture has been heavily influenced by Spanish culture ever since the Spanish colonization of the Americas including the territory which today forms Costa Rica. Parts of the country have other strong cultural influences, including the Caribbean province of Limón and the Cordillera de Talamanca which are influenced by Jamaican immigrants and indigenous native people, respectively.
Juan Arnoldo Cayasso Reid is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played during the 1980s and 1990s.
Ángela Molina Tejedor is a Spanish actress. Aside from her performances in Spanish films, she has starred in multiple international productions, particularly in a number of Italian films and television series.
Patricio Guzmán Lozanes is a Chilean documentary film director, screenwriter, director. He is most known for his film trilogy The Battle of Chile (1975–1979) and more recently for another trilogy; Nostalgia for the Light (2010), The Pearl Button (2015) and The Cordillera of Dreams (2019).
The 68th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 15 to 25 February 2018. German filmmaker Tom Tykwer served as Jury President.
Guadalupe Urbina is a Costa Rican singer-songwriter, poet, and activist. Urbina is a folk musician whose compositions reflect the oral tradition of Guanacaste, her birthplace. She has performed in both Europe and the United States and has won various awards for her work domestically and internationally.
Man Yu Fung Li, commonly known as Man Yu, is a Costa Rican artist, born in Hong Kong. She specializes in painting, but also incorporates multiple multidisciplinary media such as installation art, video art and performance art. Part of her work focuses on human anatomy, the different non-physical layers of the human being, humanism and respect for living beings.
Alcarràs is a 2022 Spanish-Italian drama film directed by Carla Simón. It is set and shot in Alcarràs, Catalonia, featuring a non-professional cast of Catalan-speaking actors. The plot is a family drama about the disappearance of traditional peach-harvesting activities. It won the Golden Bear at the 72nd Berlinale, becoming the first Catalan-language film to do so. The film was selected as the Spanish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, but did not make the shortlist.
Basel Adra is a Palestinian activist and journalist who in 2021 was falsely accused of framing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and who in 2022 was beaten while filming the IDF demolishing a structure that he built. He co-wrote and co-directed the 2024 documentary film No Other Land, which premiered at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, at which it won two best-documentary awards.
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén is a Costa Rican-Swedish director. She won the Guldbagge Award for Best Director and Guldbagge Award for Best Screenplay for her 2021 film Clara Sola.
Before the Fall is a 2008 Spanish thriller film with apocalyptic themes directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez which stars Víctor Clavijo, Mariana Cordero, and Eduard Fernández.
Miss Grand Costa Rica is a San José-based female national beauty pageant in Costa Rica, organized separately for in first time in 2022 by the Concurso Nacional de Belleza de Costa Rica, with Erick Solis as the president. The winner of the contest represents the country at its parent competition, the Miss Grand International pageant. Before 2022, the competition license belonged to different organizers, such as the Reinas de Costa Rica organization (2015 – 2017) and the Miss Costa Rica organization (2018 – 2021). Most of the country's representatives at the Miss Grand International pageant during such a period were appointed without organizing the respective pageant.
Matria is a 2023 Spanish social drama film directed by Álvaro Gago which stars María Vázquez. It is shot in Galician.
Meanwhile on Earth is a 2024 French science fiction drama film directed by Jérémy Clapin. The film starring Megan Northam as Elsa, revolves around an 'absent' hero, Franck, who disappeared during a space mission three years ago. His sister Elsa who was very close to him, find it difficult to continue her life, till one day she is contacted by an alien life form.
Disco Afrika : A Malagasy Story is a 2023 Malagasy-language drama film directed by Luck Razanajaona, produced by Jonathan Rubin, co-written with François Hébert, Marcelo Novais Teles, Ludovic Randriamanantsoa and starring Parista Sambo. It World premiered at 2023 Marrakech International Film Festival and European premiered at 74th Berlin International Film Festival where it received an honorable mention from the AG Kino – Gilde e.V. jury.
Ivo is a 2024 German drama film written and directed by Eva Trobisch. Starring Minna Wündrich, the film is about tough end-of-life decisions, told through the story of a palliative home-care titular nurse Ivo.
The Major Tones is a 2023 Spanish-language fantasy mystery film written and directed by Ingrid Pokropek in her feature directorial debut. Starring Sofía Clausen in her screen acting debut, the film tells the story of fourteen-year-old Ana, who discovers that the metal plate she has in her arm from an accident she suffered as a child is now receiving a strange message in Morse code.
No Other Land is a 2024 documentary film directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor in their directorial debut. The film was made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four activists as an act of resistance on the path to justice during the ongoing conflict in the region.
