Ariel Escalante Meza studied Political Science at the University of Costa Rica, then Directing at the International Film and Television School (EICTV, Cuba) and at Concordia University in Montréal, Canada. His feature-film debut came in 2016 with The Sound of Things. The film received the Kommersant Weekend Prize at the Moscow Film Festival and was submitted as Costa Rica’s entry to the Academy Awards. In 2018, Costa Rica’s Ministry of Culture awarded Escalante Meza the National Prize for the Arts. His second feature film Domingo and the Mist premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard selection in 2022.