The Korean film Bogotá: City of the Lost, Pimpinero: Sangre y Gasolina (Pimpinero: Blood and Oil), and four other productions are added to the list of beneficiaries available in the coming months.
Several productions have benefited from Law 1556 of 2012 through the Colombian Film Fund (FFC), which facilitates the contracting of logistical and cinematographic services for filming in the country. In addition, the Audiovisual Investment Certificates (CINA) are issued by the Colombian government and managed by Proimágenes Colombia, and offer a 35% tax reduction on expenditures for audiovisual services in the country.
Recent films shot in Colombia with the CINA incentive include Los Iniciados (The Initiates, 2023) by Juan Felipe Orozco and its sequel Los Iniciados: El Diario de las Sombras (The Initiates: the diary of shadows, 2024) by de Carlos Moreno. After its premiere on September 27, the sequel quickly became one of the most watched productions on Prime Video Colombia during its opening weekend. Another film that benefited from the tax certificates is Pimpinero: Sangre y Gasolina by Andrés Baiz, which was released in theaters on October 10 and later on Prime Video.
Bajo este incentivo, series such as Ritmo Salvaje (Wild Rhythm; Netflix), Pasión de gavilanes (Hidden Passion) (Telemundo, Caracol Televisión) and La Primera vez (The First Time; Netflix) have been produced. The latter has already been confirmed for its next season, making it the first Colombian original series to reach a third season on the platform. In addition, seasons 1 and 2 of Pálpito (The Marked Heart; Netflix) have been very successful, climbing the list of the most-watched non-English series in the world. The documentary Hermanos por accidente (The Accidental Twins; Netflix) was also in the top 10 worldwide. Other notable productions include Primate (Prime Video), Medellín (2023) by Franck Gastambide, Paraíso Blanco (White Paradise) -a series by Caracol Televisión for ViX-, Calle y Poché: Sin etiquetas (Calle and Poché: No Labels; Prime Video), and one of the most anticipated premieres of 2024, the series Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude; Netflix), which will debut on December 11.
It is worth mentioning the post-production of the series The Morning Show (Apple TV+) and the film Pedro Páramo, which will have its world premiere on Netflix on November 6th, following its screening at the recent Toronto Film Festival.
FFC-supported productions include Patricia Riggen's Los 33 (The 33; 2015), Fernando León de Aranoa's Loving Pablo (2017), Peter Berg's Mile 22 (2018), Jonathan Levine's Long Shot (2019), Ang Lee's Gemini Man (2019), the Narcos series (Netflix), Pierre Morel's Freelance (2023), Alfonso Quijada's Tomorrow Before After (2023), Alejandro Monteverde's Sound of Freedom (2023), Nicholas Tomnay's What You Wish For (2023), the series Changeling (Apple TV), the reality competition series Buddy Games hosted by Josh Duhamel, which will premiere on CBS in 2023, and The Luckiest Man, which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last September, among others.
Other productions benefiting from Law 1556 will be released soon, including the Korean film Bogotá: City of the Lost, directed by Kim Sung-Jae and starring Song Joong-ki, Lee Hee-jun, and Cho Hyun-Chul, which will be released in Asia in October. The crime thriller is the first South Korean film shot in Colombia. For 2025, Netflix is preparing the premiere of Medusa, a series filmed in Barranquilla, with a cast that includes a Manolo Cardona, Sebastián Martínez, and Juana Acosta. Delirio (Delirium), starring Juan Pablo Urrego, Paola Turbay, Juan Pablo Raba, and Estefanía Piñeres, will also premiere, along with Perfil Falso 2 (), starring David Palacio, Manuela González, Carolina Miranda, and Rodolfo Salas.
Law 1556 of 2012 aims to promote filmmaking in Colombia and establish the country as an attractive destination for audiovisual production. In addition to strengthening cultural heritage by fostering national settings, the law also aims to promote tourism and increase Colombia's international visibility. A key objective of the law is to promote the sustainable growth of the local film industry by creating favorable conditions for both national and international productions to choose Colombia as their creative backdrop. The law provides two main incentives: the Colombian Film Fund (FFC), which supports the contracting of logistical and cinematographic services for filming in the country, and the Audiovisual Investment Certificates (CINA), issued by the Colombian government, which offer a 35% tax reduction on expenses related to audiovisual services in Colombia.
This law applies to the following scenarios: national cinematographic works, foreign cinematographic works (productions that do not qualify as national), cinematographic services (pre-production and post-production activities, as well as artistic and technical services provided by Colombian individuals or legal entities residing in the country), and cinematographic services companies (companies legally established in Colombia that provide cinematographic services).
For more information on CINA Certificates and the FFC, please visit locationcolombia.com.
