Visit Beautiful Costa Rica!
A local tour guide, the filmmaker’s father, leads us through two neighboring towns: Conchal, whose land is owned almost entirely by Westin Resorts, and Brasilito, one of the last coastal pueblos in Costa Rica. This film presents both the public and private impacts of working in the tourism industry from the workers themselves as they critique an American ideology that sees travel as an escapist and extractive process.
(TRT: 22min)
What are the possibilities of our world if power were reconfigured
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What are the possibilities of our world if power were reconfigured 〰️
Costa Rica has always been my home. For others, it’s often celebrated as a utopic travel destination. Through my travels between Costa Rica and the US, and my dad’s influence, I’ve spent my life discovering pura vida and witnessing Americans’ fascination with it. Today, there are few viable job opportunities outside of tourism, and the positions that exist within this industry are rarely dignified. Visit Beautiful Costa Rica!, as a poetic ethnography, presents a radical consideration of how pleasure and rest become conflated with a violently manufactured escapism.
By examining people’s relationships with work, immigration, and land (especially its privatization), this film explores issues that countries worldwide struggle to balance as they market their cultures, sell their land, and attempt to appease their people. It critiques American influence, specifically the hotel resorts Westin: Reserva Conchal and the W, both owned by Marriott. Through presenting the pride and beauty of the people of Costa Rica, this film asks:
What are the possibilities of our world if power were reconfigured?
¿Sí existe la pura vida?
If you’re interested in knowing more, read this!
