ROB THE MOB directed by Raymond De Felitta and starring Andy GarciaROB THE MOB directed by Raymond De Felitta and starring Andy Garcia

Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) announced the films selected to screen during its 31st edition of the annual 10-day event, which runs March 7 to 16, 2014. The Festival will open with the North American premiere of ELSA & FRED directed by Michael Radford. Oscar winners Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer play the titular characters originated by China Zorrilla and Manuel Alexandre in this remake of the 2008 release of the Argentine/Spanish film of the same name.  Also in the cast are Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden; as well as George Segal, Chris Noth, James Brolin, Wendell Pierce, Jaime Camil and Osvaldo Rios.

The Festival‘s annual Awards Night gala will wrap with the World premiere of ROB THE MOB directed by Raymond De Felitta and starring Andy Garcia.  Rob the Mob also stars Michael Pitt, Ray Romano, Burt Young, Griffin Dunne, Frank Whaley, Cathy Moriarty, Aida Turturro, Yul Vazquez and Nina Arianda.

This year’s Career Achievement Tribute will be presented to actor and filmmaker John Turturro. Turturro, will present his latest directorial achievement, FADING GIGOLO, which also stars Woody Allen, Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara. 

Festival Competition Categories:

The Knight Competition, open to dramatic works from Latin America, Spain and Portugal, as well as Latino-themed works produced in the United States, will feature 10 films eligible to receive $40,000 in achievement recognition from the Festival, courtesy of James L. & John S. Knight Foundation. The 10 films competing in this category are:

  • All About The Feathers (Por las plumas) (Costa Rica, directed by Neto Villalobos) *US Premiere
  • Asteroid (Asteroide) (Mexico, directed by Marcelo Tobar) *World Premiere
  • Club Sandwich (Mexico, directed by Fernando Eimbcke)
  • The Man of the Crowd (O homem das multidões) (Brazil, directed by Marcelo Gomes and Cao Guimarães) *North American Premiere
  • Memories of the Desert (Romance policial) (Brazil / Chile, directed by Jorge Durán) *World Premiere
  • Natural Sciences (Ciencias naturales) (Argentina, directed by Matias Lucchesi) *North American Premiere
  • Séptimo (Spain / Argentina, directed by Patxi Amexcua) *North American Premiere
  • To Kill A Man (Matar un hombre) (Chile / France, directed by Alejandro Fernández Almendras)
  • We All Want What’s Best For Her (Tots volem el millor per a ella) (Spain, directed by Mar Coll)*North American Premiere
  • A Wolf at the Door (O lobo atrás da porta) (Brazil, directed by Fernando Coimbra)
  • Knight Documentary Competition, open to engaging and thought-provoking feature-length documentaries created by international filmmakers that examine social issues, diverse cultures, icons and inspiring people, will feature 10 films eligible to receive $10,000 in achievement recognition from the Festival, courtesy of James L. & John S. Knight Foundation. The 10 films competing in this category are:

  • The Art Rush (France, directed by Marianne Lamour) *North American Premiere
  • The Dog (USA, directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren)
  • Europe in 8 Bits (Spain, directed by Javier Polo)
  • Finding Vivian Maier (USA, directed by Charlie Siskel and John Maloof)
  • Ivory Tower (USA, directed by Andrew Rossi)
  • Locations: Looking For Rusty James (Locaciones: buscando a Rusty James) (Chile, directed by Alberto Fuguet)
  • The Notorious Mr. Bout (USA / Russia, directed by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin)
  • The Overnighters (USA, directed by Jesse Moss)
  • Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (USA, directed by Mike Myers)
  • Whitey: United States of America V. James J. Bulger (USA, directed by Joe Berlinger)
  • The Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition for first-time feature filmmakers emerging from Spain, Portugal and Latin America will feature four films eligible to receive $5,000 in achievement recognition from the Festival, courtesy of Lexus; and an additional $5,000 in achievement recognition for screenwriting from the Festival, courtesy of Jordan A. Ressler Foundation. The four films competing in this category are:

  • Here’s the Deal (Somos gente honrada) (Spain, directed by Alejandro Marzoa) *US Premiere
  • Mateo (Colombia / France, directed by Maria Gamboa) *World Premiere
  • Stockholm (Estocolmo) (Spain, directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen) *US Premiere
  • We are Mari Pepa (Somos Mari Pepa) (Mexico, directed by Samuel Kishi Leopo)
  • Papi Shorts Competition presented by Macy’s will present 10 accomplished short films from around the globe, eligible to receive $1,000 in achievement recognition from the Festival, courtesy of Papi and Macy’s. The 10 films competing in this category are:

  • A Big Deal (特殊交易) (China, directed by Yoyo Yao) *US Premiere
  • Blue (USA, directed by Justin Malone) *World Premiere
  • Chub (USA, directed by Samuel Albis) *World Premiere
  • Flamingo (Venezuela, directed by Carl Zitelmann)
  • Grace (Graça) (Brazil, directed by Anna Clara Peltier) *North American Premiere
  • The Phone Call (United Kingdom, directed by Mat Kirkby)
  • Skin (France, directed by Cédric Prévost) *North American Premiere
  • Shirt Out, Game Over! (Switzerland, directed by Eric Paternot) *World Premiere
  • Unicorn (Unicornio) (Bolivia, directed by Rodrigo Bellott)
  • Xenos (United Kingdom / Greece / Denmark, directed by Mahdi Fleifel) *North American Premiere
  • The Festival also unveils a number of films in non-competitive categories:

    CINEDWNTWN GALAS PRESENTED BY MIAMI DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

  • Brazilian Western (Brazil, directed by René Sampaio)
  • Deep City: Birth of the Miami Sound (USA, directed by Marlon Johnson, Dennis Scholl, and Chad Tingle)
  • The Devil’s Violinist (Der Teufelsgeiger) (Germany / Italy / Austria, directed by Bernard Rose)*North American premiere
  • SPECIAL PRESENTATION:  WORK IN PROGRESS FROM CUBA

    Filmmaker Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt (Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel) will attend the Festival for a“Work in Progress from Cuba” presentation. He will present clips from his forthcoming feature documentary Havana Motor Club, about Cuba’s top underground drag racers of classic American cars, and a quest to mount the first official car race since the Revolution’s ban on the sport. Perlmutt will discuss the issues and plans for shaping the final film.

    Lee Brian Schrager’s Culinary Cinema presented by Plymouth Gin

  • Brasserie Romantique (Brasserie romantiek) (Belgium, directed by Joël Vanhoebrouck)
  • Final Recipe (Fa-i-neol re-si-pi) (Republic of Korea / Thailand, directed by Gina Kim)
  • Food for Love (Greece, directed by Marianna Economou), preceded by the short film “Impromptu”  (Canada, directed by Bruce Alcock)
  • Jadoo (United Kingdom, directed by Amit Gupta)
  • Le Chef (Comme un chef) (France, directed by Daniel Cohen)
  • These titles join the preview to this program, the previously announced Soul of a Banquet (USA, directed by Wayne Wang), which screens on February 23rd at the New World Soundscape as part of Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

    Florida Focus

  • Cherry Pop: The Story of the World’s Fanciest Cat (USA, directed by Kareem Tabsch)
  • Ectotherms (USA, directed by Monica Peña) *World Premiere
  • International Noise Conference 2013 (USA, directed by Ronnie Rivera)
  • Strike: The Greatest Bowling Story Ever Told (USA, directed by Joey Daoud)
  • Other Florida Focus films announced in other categories are the CINEDWNTWN title Deep City: Birth of the Miami Sound (USA, directed by Marlon Johnson, Dennis Scholl, and Chad Tingle) and the Papi Shorts Competition presented by Macy’s title “Chub” (USA, directed by Samuel Albis).

    Mayhem

  • Coherence (USA, directed by James Ward Byrkit)
  • In Darkness We Fall (La cueva) (Spain, directed by Alfredo Montero) *North American Premiere
  • The Sacrament (USA, directed by Ti West)
  • These 3 films join Witching and Bitching (Las brujas de zugarramurdi) (Spain / France, directed by Álex de la Iglesia), previously announced in this category.

    America the Beautiful

  • The Immigrant (USA, directed by James Gray)
  • Memphis (USA, directed by Tim Sutton)
  • War Story (USA, directed by Mark Jackson) *Stars Catherine Keener and Ben Kingsley
  • Visions

  • The Congress (Israel / Germany / Poland / Luxembourg / Belgium, directed by Ari Folman)
  • Wetlands (Feuchtgebiete) (Germany, directed by David F. Wnendt)
  • REEL Music

  • Serrat & Sabina: Two for the Road (Serrat y Sabina: el simbolo y el cuate) (Spain, directed by Francesc Relea) *North American Premiere
  • In addition, the Festival will soon announce 10 selected music videos that will compete in the MTV/TR3S Music Video Art Competition. The Festival is partnering with MTV and Tr3s to present the program and the videos will be reviewed by a panel of MTV Latin America judges.

    CINEMA 360° PRESENTED BY VIENDOMOVIES

    Two films have been added to the Cinema 360° presented by Viendomovies program, joining those previously announced on January 14th.  The two newly added films are:

  • Dom Hemingway (UK, directed by Richard Shepard) *Starring Jude Law and Demian Bichir
  • I’ll Follow You Down (Canada, directed by Richie Mehta) *Starring Haley Joel Osment andGillian Anderson
  • CLOSE-UPS ON NATIONAL CINEMAS:  CHINA (presented by ByeJoe), GERMANY and MEXICO

    This year, the Festival has created special CLOSE-UPS on national cinemas, China, Germany and Mexico.  Each of these prolific film-producing nations is represented in a variety of the Festival’s programs.

    Close-up on China presented by ByeJoe

  • American Dreams in China (中國合伙人) (China, directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan)
  • Bends (Hong Kong / China, directed by Flora Lau)
  • Trap Street (Shuiyin Jie) (China, directed by Vivian Qu)
  • Web Junkie (Israel / USA, directed by Shosh Shlam & Hilla Medalia)
  • Close-up on Mexico (all titles previously announced as part of other Festival sections)

  • The Amazing Catfish (Los insólitos peces gato) (Mexico, directed by Claudia Sainte-Luce)
  • Asteroid (Asteroide) (Mexico, directed by Marcelo Tobar)
  • Club Sandwich (Mexico, directed by Fernando Eimbcke)
  • Heli (Mexico, directed by Amat Escalante)
  • La jaula de oro (Mexico, directed by Diego Quemada-Díez)
  • We Are Mari Pepa (Somos Mari Pepa) (Mexico, directed by Samuel Kishi Leopo)
  • Close-up on Germany (all titles previously announced as part of other Festival sections)

  • The Devil’s Violinist (Der teufelsgeiger) (Germany / Italy / Austria, directed by Bernard Rose)
  • Fack ju Göhte/Suck Me Shakespeer (Germany, directed by Boar Dagtekin)
  • Global Player (Global Player – Wo Wir Sind Isch Vorne) (Germany, directed by Hannes Stöhr)
  • Wetlands (Feuchtgebiete) (Germany, directed by David F. Wnendt)
  • A From The Vault special presentation in collaboration with Miami Beach Cinematheque this year will feature a 45th anniversary screening of John Schlesinger’s Oscar-winning classic, Midnight Cowboy. The screening will be preceded by the footage of the original screen tests that Jon Voigt made to win the role, presented by the late Schlesinger’s partner Michael Childers. Miami Beach Cinematheque will also present a photo exhibit of Childers work as part of a month-long tribute to Schlesinger.

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