Costa Rican Director Hidalgo Tackles Sexual Abuse in Bold Third Feature

Costa Rican filmmaker Hilda Hidalgo is developing her third fiction feature, “Cousins” (“Primas”), a coming-of-age drama that confronts the difficult topic of sexual abuse through an creative hybrid technique. The film follows two 12-year-old girls compelled to escape their homes following a distressing occurrence, as they grapple with escape, complicity and unsettling visions whilst using their mobile phone cameras to expose the truth. Hidalgo, celebrated for her adaptations of Gabriel García Márquez’s “Of Love and Other Demons” and the drama “Violeta at Last,” is working once more with producer Emi Kodo and cinematographer Nicolás Wong, a Costa Rican talent recognised by Variety. The ambitious project merges scripted narrative with documentary aesthetics, encouraging the young actresses to become creative partners and co-authors of their own story.

A Combined Approach to Storytelling

Hidalgo’s inventive technique for “Cousins” intentionally breaks down the boundaries between documentary and fiction filmmaking. Rather than sticking with a traditional scripted structure, the director has crafted a screenplay that functions as a malleable blueprint, enabling unscripted moments and real discovery. This approach embodies her view that cinema succeeds when filmmakers embrace unpredictability and maintain the personal character that documentary work naturally provides. By prompting her young leads to engage fully in the filmmaking process, Hidalgo converts what could be a standard story into a collaborative exploration of trauma and resilience.

The actress’s involvement transcends acting into the sphere of visual storytelling. The two 12-year-old main characters will use their personal smartphones to film specific moments, generating footage that pertains as much to them as to the completed film. This creative approach not only empowers child actors but also creates real footage that outside cameras might struggle to achieve. Hidalgo believes this cooperative structure enhances the overall film, cultivating a deeper investment from all production team members and producing a more emotionally impactful finished work.

• Young actresses capture scenes with their own smartphones
• Authentic documentary approach infused throughout scripted narrative framework
• Spontaneity and exploration favoured above fixed frameworks
• Actresses serve as creative co-authors of the film

Merging Factual Credibility with Fictional Elements

Hidalgo drew inspiration for this hybrid methodology from her earlier documentary work, particularly “Two Homelands,” her film exploring Cuba shot while studying at the renowned International School of Film and Television (EICTV). Dealing with considerable logistical difficulties filming on the island, she provided high-quality mobile phones to the women at the centre of her documentary and asked them to record moments from their day-to-day lives. The footage produced demonstrated an authenticity and emotional immediacy that conventional cinematography could fail to replicate, proving the significance of user-generated visual material.

Applying this lesson to “Cousins” offered a unique opportunity to marry documentary authenticity with fictional narrative. Whilst the film is not a documentary about the actresses’ own lives, Hidalgo aims to capture that same sense of immediacy and truth-telling that mobile phone footage inherently communicates. By encouraging her young performers to record their characters’ experiences through their own lenses, she establishes a layered visual language that mirrors both the story being told and the genuine perspectives of those telling it.

Confronting a National Emergency

“The film Cousins” serves as Hidalgo’s most direct examination of a profoundly disturbing societal problem that remains a persistent issue in Costa Rica and the wider Latin American region. The film’s narrative, built around two twelve-year-old girls forced to flee their homes in the aftermath of a traumatic event, directly confronts the epidemic of sexual abuse affecting children across the country. Rather than avoiding this deeply unsettling material, Hidalgo dedicates herself to presenting the real experiences of survivors with dignity, complexity and unflinching honesty. Through her distinctive directorial vision, she reshapes what could have been exploitative material into a powerful statement to resilience and the urgent need for systemic change.

The director’s choice to tackle sexual abuse through the lens of two young protagonists reflects her broader commitment to elevating marginalised voices within cinema. By positioning her young leads not merely as victims but as active agents in their own narrative—literally wielding cameras to record their truth—Hidalgo restores the storytelling power from those who would suppress them. This approach acknowledges that survivors possess the most authentic understanding of their experiences and deserve the creative agency to shape how their stories reach audiences. The film thus becomes both a bildungsroman and a political statement about whose voices matter in modern cinema.

The Personal Motivation Behind the Project

For Hidalgo, creating “Cousins” originates in a deeply personal dedication to social responsibility within film. Having previously explored multifaceted emotional and political landscapes through both documentary and fictional narrative formats, she acknowledged an obligation to address the pervasive crisis of sexual abuse of children with the gravity and artistic precision it demands. Her track record of engaging with challenging themes—from her celebrated adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s “Of Love and Other Demons” to the intimate drama “Violeta at Last”—demonstrates her willingness to engage with difficult truths that provoke audiences and provoke necessary conversations.

Hidalgo regards filmmaking not merely as entertainment but as an instrument of social transformation and collective healing. By establishing opportunities for young survivors to take part in their own storytelling, she showcases an alternative approach to how cinema can respond to trauma. The director believes that authentic representation demands genuine collaboration, particularly when working with vulnerable populations. “Cousins” therefore becomes a manifesto of sorts—a declaration that cinema can simultaneously be artistically innovative and socially conscious, delivering both aesthetic sophistication and meaningful contribution to urgent cultural conversations.

Partnership and Creative Empowerment

Hidalgo’s strategy to “Cousins” radically transforms the relationship between director and child performers, positioning them as creative partners instead of mere performers delivering scripted lines. By encouraging the film’s 12-year-old leads to shoot portions of the narrative using their own mobile phones, she grants them genuine authorship over substantial sections of the visual storytelling. This technique builds upon her work in documentary, particularly her involvement with “Two Homelands,” a film about Cuba where she gave high-end smartphones to the women at the centre of the story, enabling them to document private scenes from their own lives. That project demonstrated how self-captured material generates an authenticity and emotional immediacy that external cameras cannot replicate.

The collective structure extends throughout the whole creative team, with cinematographer Nicolás Wong, producer Emi Kodo, and art director Olga Madrigal aligning with Hidalgo’s vision. Rather than establishing a fully predetermined aesthetic, Hidalgo allows room for spontaneity and discovery—hallmarks of documentary work—within the scripted narrative framework. This combined strategy acknowledges that the young actors bring irreplaceable perspectives and experiential knowledge to their roles. By regarding them as co-creators rather than vessels for adult-authored narratives, Hidalgo challenges established hierarchies within film production and demonstrates that artistic advancement and moral accountability toward vulnerable performers need not be mutually exclusive.

• Young actresses use their own devices to film scenes, establishing ownership over their storytelling input
• Documentary sensibility permeates narrative work, maintaining spontaneity and genuine moments during filming
• Entire creative team collaborates as equals, rejecting predetermined structures in support of shared creative ownership

The World of Cross-Border Production

“The film Cousins” exemplifies a meticulously coordinated international collaboration that highlights the creative and financial challenges of contemporary filmmaking in Latin America. By assembling a team that spans Costa Rica and beyond, Hidalgo positions her third film in the context of regional cinema production. The involvement of Emi Kodo, producer, who had earlier worked with Hidalgo on “Violeta at Last,” illustrates the importance of sustained professional relationships in securing funding and distribution channels. Such partnerships are essential for independent directors looking to maintain artistic control whilst accessing the resources necessary to achieve ambitious projects that explore sensitive themes.

The cross-border production model enables Costa Rican directors to compete in global markets whilst remaining rooted in their national contexts. Cinematographer Nicolás Wong’s acknowledgement of a Variety Below-The-Line Talent to Track signals how individual craftspeople achieve recognition through cross-border projects, raising the profile of Costa Rican technical expertise. This approach serves all parties: producers secure compelling stories with distinctive voices, international distributors gain access to culturally specific narratives with universal resonance, and Costa Rican talent gains visibility and career advancement. “Cousins” exemplifies how strategic partnerships can transform regional filmmaking into a sustainable industry.

Why Costa Rican Cinema Requires International Partners

Costa Rica’s cinema sector, whilst artistically dynamic, operates within substantial financial limitations that restrict the range of complex storytelling. International co-production partnerships offer crucial funding frameworks, allowing directors like Hidalgo to obtain financing options not accessible via local funding channels. Global partners bring more than just investment but also distribution networks that broaden a film’s audience beyond Central America into global film festivals and cinema distribution. In the absence of these partnerships, even critically acclaimed Costa Rican directors would struggle to finance projects addressing complex social issues like child exploitation with the production values necessary for meaningful cinematic impact.

Furthermore, international partnerships affirm Costa Rican storytelling on the world stage, attracting attention from critics, curators, and audiences who might otherwise dismiss regional cinema. By collaborating with respected international producers and technicians, Hidalgo establishes authority within global film communities whilst preserving her distinctive directorial voice. This mutual partnership strengthens Costa Rica’s position within Latin American cinema, encouraging other emerging filmmakers to pursue ambitious projects. The success of “Cousins” could establish templates for future Costa Rican productions, demonstrating that local stories deserve international investment and recognition.

Casting and Production Timeline

Hidalgo’s approach to casting for “Cousins” places importance on authenticity and emotional vulnerability, particularly given the film’s delicate themes surrounding childhood trauma and sexual abuse. The director has actively pursued young actresses capable of navigating complex emotional terrain whilst remaining protected throughout the production process. By involving the young cast members as creative collaborators through their own mobile phone footage, Hidalgo develops a collaborative framework that supports without exploiting. This innovative casting philosophy reflects her wider dedication to documentary-style narrative work, where the performers become active participants in forming their own narratives rather than mere instruments for directorial vision.

The production schedule for “Cousins” remains fluid, with Hidalgo emphasising creative work over rigid scheduling constraints. By bringing together her established team—including cinematographer Nicolás Wong and art director Olga Madrigal from “Violeta at Last”—the director maintains consistency in visual approach whilst developing proven working dynamics. This consistency allows the team to focus on the nuanced process of exploring trauma through cinema without sacrificing both artistic quality or the wellbeing of young performers. The production’s mixed documentary-narrative approach necessitates extended pre-production to document improvised scenes alongside written scenes, potentially lengthening production time beyond conventional fiction film timelines.