Hi ☺

I'm Kim, a Costa Rican-American director and screenwriter, born in the U.S. to a Cuban-Costa Rican family and raised in Costa Rica. I studied Communication Sciences with a focus on Audiovisual Production at the University of Costa Rica. Later, I studied Screenwriting for Film and Television at the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica in Mexico City, where I spent seven years working as a screenwriter and script consultant on auteur and independent films, as well as on series for Netflix and other platforms.

My work explores intimate, immersive stories that examine the passage of time and our relationships with the natural world, with one another, and with the more-than-human. I am drawn to films that unfold patiently, opening space for empathy and connection, often through hybrid formats.

My short Night Light (2022), became the first Costa Rican film to be nominated for a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. My other shorts, Suncatcher (2021) and The Moon Will Contain Us (2023), have screened at Locarno, San Sebastián, the New York Film Festival, Mar del Plata, New Directors/New Films at MoMA and Lincoln Center, and the Eye Filmmuseum, among others.

My debut feature, If We Don’t Burn, How Do We Light Up the Night (2025), premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival and took part in development programs such as La Fabrique Cinéma and Cinéma de Demain Focus Co Pro at Cannes.

In 2022, I was invited as a Guest Artist at CalArts University. I joined the Berlinale Talents Program in 2023 and the Locarno Filmmakers Academy in 2024.