Miami Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_2564" align="alignnone" width="550"]Knight Foundation Grand Jury Prize: Bonsái from Chile[/caption]

The 29th annual Miami International Film Festival wrapped and presented juried awards in the following competition categories: Ibero-American and Documentary; Short Film,  and Ibero-American Opera Prima.

THE 2012 MIAMI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS ARE:

KNIGHT FOUNDATION IBERO-AMERICAN COMPETITION:

Knight Foundation Grand Jury Prize: Bonsái from Chile, a co-production with Argentina, Portugal and France, directed by Cristián Jiménez –  a $30,000 USD cash prize awarded by the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which will be split with US distributor Strand Releasing.

Grand Jury Discretionary Prize: Blood of My Blood, from Portugal, directed by João Canijo– a $5,000 USD cash prize awarded by the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Grand Jury Discretionary Prize:  Violeta Went to Heaven, from Chile, a co-production with Argentina and Brazil, directed by Andrés Wood – a $5,000 USD cash prize awarded by the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

KNIGHT FOUNDATION IBERO-AMERICAN DOCUMENARY COMPETITION:

Knight Foundation Grand Jury Prize: The Imposter from United Kingdom, directed by Bart Layton – a $10,000 USD cash prize awarded by the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Honorable Mention: Unfinished Spaces, from USA, directed by Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray

Honorable Mention: The Strawberry Tree, from Canada, directed by Simone Rapisarda Casanova

THE JORDAN ALEXANDER RESSLER SCREENWRITING AWARD:

Bonsái from Chile, a coproduction with Argentina, Portugal and France, screenplay by Cristián Jiménez, based on the novel by Alejandro Zambra —a $5,000 USD cash prize awarded by the Jordan Alexander Ressler Charitable Fund; open to films in the Ibero-American Competition

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SHORTS COMPETITION:

University of Miami Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film: Catharsis, from France, directed by Cédric Prévost —a $2,500 USD cash prize awarded by the University of Miami

LEXUS IBERO-AMERICAN OPERA PRIMA competition  –

Lexus Opera Prima Award: Expiration Date, from Mexico, directed by Kenya Márquez — $5,000 USD cash prize sponsored by Lexus, official automotive sponsor of MIFF.

Read more

Director Alejandro Brugués’ film Juan Of The Dead won the coveted Lexus Audience Award at the just concluded 29th annual Miami International Film Festival (MIFF).

“It’s a great honor for my film to have been chosen by the audience and that I was able to share this amazing moment with my family and friends,” said Brugués. “I love Miami and would like to thank the Festival for all its support.”

Juan Of The Dead follows Juan (Alexis Díaz de Villegas) and some of his friends as they realize something is amiss in Havana, which is gradually being taken over by zombies. As the social order begins to crumble, the two launch a thriving business, hiring themselves out to people who need to put their beloved ones out of their zombie misery.

Juan of the Dead will make its U.S. theatrical debut starting today, Tuesday, March 13th, opening in Miami and subsequently expanding to other markets.

{youtube}uaUIvY3BVQc{/youtube}

 

 

Read more

[caption id="attachment_2270" align="alignnone"]Mariachi Gringo[/caption]

The Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) announced its official lineup of red carpet Olympia Theater galas, parties, education seminars and international film premieres that will make up the Festival’s showcase of more than 100 films from 35 countries during the 10-day event, which runs March 2-11, 2012.

On Friday, March 2nd, the Festival commences with its Opening Night Film, the World Premiere of Tom Gustafson’s musical tour-de-force Mariachi Gringo. The drama stars Shawn Ashmore (“Iceman” in X-Men) as a young man from Kansas who falls in love with the mariachi lifestyle, and travels to Guadalajara to prove that anything is possible. Ashmore and co-stars Academy Award nominee (Babel) Adriana Barraza and Mexican starlet Martha Higareda are expected to attend the premiere. 

The Festival’s Awards Night takes place on Saturday, March 10th before the screening of the U.S. Premiere of Chinese Take-Away. Winner of three Argentinean Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, director Sebastián Borensztein’s touching fish out of water comedy stars Argentine superstar Ricardo Darín as a shopkeeper who takes in an illegal immigrant desperate to find his extended family. Darín, who starred in the 2010 Academy Award-winning film The Secret in Their Eyes, and Borensztein are expected to attend the premiere.

7 WORLD PREMIERE FEATURES

Born & Raised (USA); La Casa Del Ritmo, A Film About Los Amigos Invisibles (USA/Ecuador); The Diary of Preston Plummer (USA); Hombre y Tierra (USA); Mariachi Gringo (Mexico/USA); The Porcelain Horse (Mejor no hablar (de ciertas cosas)) (Ecuador); Underground Hip-Hop in China (China/USA)

4 WORLD PREMIERE SHORTS

The Beach Chronicles AGX (USA); Beyond Assignment (USA); Cell Phone Zombies (Cel zombies) (Ecuador); Shift (USA)

5 INTERNATIONAL PREMIERES

180 Seconds (180 segundos)(Colombia); Baracoa: Where Cuba Began (Baracoa: 500 Años Despues) (Spain); Ben Lee: Catch My Disease (Australia);  Speechless (Sin palabras) (Colombia); Zoo (Zoológico) (Chile)

10 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERES

Annalisa (Il Paese Delle Spose Infelici) (Italy);Choked (South Korea); Code Blue (The Netherlands); A Cube of Sugar (Ye Habeh Gand) (Iran);  I’d Receive the Worst News From Your Beautiful Lips (Eu Receberia As Piores Notícias De Seus Lindos Lábios) (Brazil); In The Name of The Girl (En el nombre de la hija) (Ecuador); Motherland or Death (Patria o Muerte) (Russia); Pescador (Ecuador/ Colombia); Promising The Moon (Das Blaue Vom Himmel) (Germany); Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You (Un Giorno Questo Dolore Ti  Sará Utile)  (Italy/USA)

10 U.S. PREMIERES

Chinese Take-Away (Un cuento chino) (Argentina/Spain); The Cat Vanishes (El gato desaparece) (Argentina); Distance (Distancia) (Guatemala); The Fifth Commandment (El quinto mandamiento) (Mexico); Heleno (Brazil); The Sleeping Voice (La voz dorminda) (Spain); Porfirio (Colombia/Spain/Uruguay/Argentina/France); The Strawberry Tree (El arbol de las fresas) (Canada); UFO In Her Eyes (Germany/China); Vaquero (Argentina)

 

This year’s Festival will include films directed by:

Sean Ackerman, Dominic Allan, Javier Andrade, Urzula Antoniak, Andrea Arnold, Anthony Baxter, Joe Berlinger, Sebastián Borensztein, Beto Brant,   Laura Brownson, Alejandro Brugués, João Canijo, Simone Rapisarda Casanova, Renato Ciasca,  Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Terence Davies, Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Roberto Faenza, Tim Fehlbaum, Joel Fendelman, José Henrique Fonseca, Pablo Giorgelli, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Xiaolu Guo, Tom Gustafson, Cristián Jiménez, Bess Kargman, Lawrence Kasdan, Yorgos Lanthimos, Bart Layton, Beth Levison,  Rodrigo Marín, Albert Maysles, Matias Meyer,  Riza Mirkarimi, Ben Murray, Alysa Nahimas, Pawel Pawlikowski, Anne  Renton, Carlos Sorín, Ken Scott, Santiago Segura, Susan Seidelman, Hans Steinbichler, Joachim Trier, David Trueba, Vicente Villanueva, Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Andrés Wood, and Benito Zambrano, among many others.

This year’s Festival will include films featuring:

María Abadi, Shawn Ashmore, Adriana Barraza, Harry Belafonte, Marisa Berenson,  Blanca Rosa Blanco, The Beastie Boys, Ellen Burstyn, David Byrne, Jean-Marc Calvet, Angie Cepeda, Richard Chamberlin, Rae Dawn Chong, Andrés Crespo, Claire Danes, Ricardo Darín, Germán de Silva, Emily Deschanel, Hebe Duarte, Jerry Hall, Peter Gallagher, Francisca Gavilán, Marcia Gay Harden, Whoopi Goldberg, Ethan Hawke, Hannah Herzsprung, Tom Hiddleston,  Patrick Huard, Richard Jenkins, Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline, Stephen Lang, Lucy Liu, Ben Lee, John Leguizamo, Paul McCartney, Robert Loggia, Trevor Morgan, Elizabeth Peña, Paulina Porizkova, Jason Ritter, Isabella Rossellini, Simon Russell Beale, Winona Ryder, José Sacristán, Muriel Santa Ana, Rodrigo Santoro, Susan Sarandon, Jason Schwartzman, Jason Segel, Santiago Segura, Sam Shepard, Paul Simon, Kristin Scott Thomas,  Donald Trump, Christy Turlington, Kathleen Turner, María Valverde, Diana Vreeland, Rachel Weisz, Dianne Wiest, Michelle Williams, Rumer Willis and Oprah Winfrey, among many others.

OLYMPIA THEATER GALAS

In addition to the Opening and Awards Night presentations, the Gala series includes:

Darling Companion (USA, directed by Lawrence Kasdan)
The Deep Blue Sea (UK, directed by Terence Davies)
The Diary of Preston Plummer (USA, directed by Sean Ackerman) – stars Robert Loggia and Rumer Willis are expected to attend
Heleno (Brazil, directed by José Henrique Fonseca) – star Rodrigo Santoro is expected to attend
Juan of The Dead (Juan de los muertos) (Cuba/Spain, directed by Alejandro Brugués) – star Alexis Diaz de Villegas is expected to attend
Musical Chairs (USA, directed by Susan Seidelman)
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You (Un Giorno Questo Dolore Ti Sará Utile) (Italy/USA, directed by Roberto Faenza) – star Marcia Gay Harden is expected to attend                                                   

All directors of the Olympia Theater Galas are expected to be in attendance.

TRIBUTE TO ROBERT LOGGIA

On Monday, March 5th, the Festival will celebrate the dynamic career of award-winning American actor Robert Loggia, prior to the World Premiere of Sean Ackerman’s made-in-Florida romance, The Diary of Preston Plummer.  Loggia, a veteran Hollywood character actor and 1985 Academy Award nominee for Jagged Edge, is well-loved by Miami audiences for his role as Frank Lopez in Brian de Palma’s classic Scarface, and has made many more memorable appearances in films such as Big, Independence Day, Prizzi’s Honor, Lost Highway, An Officer and a Gentleman and HBO’s “The Sopranos”.

NEW FILM CATEGORIES

4 World Directors to Watch: a showcase of films by up-and-coming filmmakers hailing from the four corners of the globe. The category introduces Miami audiences to significant young talents working in Asia, South America, Europe and the Middle East. The lineup includes:

Choked (Ga-si) (South Korea, directed by Kim Joong-hyun)
Porfirio (Colombia/Spain/Uruguay/Argentina/France, directed by Alejandro Landes)
Annalisa (Il Paese Delle Spose Infelici) (Italy, directed by Pippo Mezzapesa)
Habibi (Palestine/USA/The Netherlands/United Arab Emirates, directed by Susan Youssef)

Spotlight on Québec Cinema: On the heels of MIFF’s 2011 hit screening of Incendies, the Festival is proud to debut four new masterpieces from the Canadian region.

Café de Flore (Canada, directed by Jean-Marc Vallé)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada, directed by Philippe Farlardeau)
The Salesman (Le Vendeur) (Canada, directed by Sebastién Pilote)
Starbuck (Canada, directed by Ken Scott)

America, The Beautiful: Celebrating the American independent voice, the Festival has programmed three must-watch films.

Jeff Who Lives At Home (USA, directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass)
Sawdust City (USA, directed by David Nordstrom)
Without (USA, directed by Mark Jackson)

Films for Youth: Created to broaden the horizons of young moviegoers and families, the Festival confirms two international films.

First Position (USA, directed by Bess Kargman)
In The Name of The Girl (En el nombre de la hija) (Ecuador, directed by Tania Hermida)

Cuba ³:  Three dynamic visions of contemporary Cuban life are depicted in this category about the controversial island regime.

Baracoa: Where Cuba Began (Baracoa: 500 Años Despues)(Spain, directed by Mauricio Vincent Mulet)
Motherland or Death (Patria o Muerte) (Russia, directed by Vitaliy Manski)
The Strawberry Tree (El arbol de las fresas) (Canada, directed by Simone Rapisarda Casanova)

Mayhem: Suspenseful genre thrillers intended to keep you on the edge of your seat. The three titles in this category include:

The Fifth Commandment (El quinto mandamiento) (Mexico, directed by Rafa Lara)
Hell (Germany/ Switzerland, directed by Tim Fehlbaum and executive produced by Roland Emmerich)
Hombre y Tierra (USA, directed by Christian Cisneros)

Miami Mavericks: Prolific in-depth conversations with filmmakers about their bourgeoning careers, film and industry.  This section will Feature an extended in-person session with Timothy Greenfield-Sanders about his film About Face.

About Face (USA, directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders)

KNIGHT DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

 

Ten titles will compete for a $10,000 John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Award in the Knight Documentary Competition:

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (USA, directed by Alison Klayman)
Ben Lee: Catch My Disease (Australia, directed by Amiel Courtin-Wilson)
Calvet (UK/Spain, directed by Dominic Allan):
First Position (USA, directed by Bess Kargman)
The Imposter (UK, directed by Bart Layton)
Lemon (USA, directed by Beth Levison and Laura Brownson)
The Strawberry Tree (El arbol de las fresas) (Canada, directed by Simone Rapisarda Casanova)
Under African Skies (USA, directed by Joe Berlinger)
Unfinished Spaces (USA, directed by Alysa Nahimas and Benjamin Murray)
You’ve Been Trumped (UK, directed by Anthony Baxter)

CINEMA 360 & DOC-YOU-UP

Baracoa: Where Cuba Began (Baracoa: 500 Años Despues) (Spain, directed by Mauricio Vincent Mulet)
Beyond Assignment (USA, directed by Jim Virga) and Poetry of Resilience (USA, directed by Katja Esson)
Corpo Celeste (Italy, directed by Alice Rohrwacher)
A Cube of Sugar (Ye Habeh Gand) (Iran, directed by Reza Mirkarimi)
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (USA, directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland)
Free Men (Les Hommes Libres) (France, directed by Ismael Ferroukhi)
The Kid with a Bike (Le Gamin au Velo) (Belgium/France/Italy, directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne)
The Last Christeros (Los Ultimos Cristeros) (Mexico, directed by Matias Meyer)
The Opposite of Love (Lo Contrario Al Amor) (Spain, directed by Vicente Villaneuva)
Oslo, August 31st (Norway, directed by Joachim Trier)
Pelotero (USA, directed by Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin and Jonathan Paley)
Promising The Moon (Das Blaue Vom Himmel) (Germany, directed by Hans Steinbichler)
Superclasico (Denmark, directed by Ole Christian Madsen)
Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis (in 3D) (Spain, directed by Santiago Segura)
UFO in Her Eyes (Germany/China, directed by Xiaolu Guo)
The Woman in The Fifth (UK/France/Poland, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski)
Wuthering Heights (UK, directed by Andrea Arnold)

Read more

[caption id="attachment_2268" align="alignnone"]Las Acacias directed by Pablo Giorgelli[/caption]

Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) announced a new category for its upcoming 29th edition, March 2 -11, 2012 –  the  Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition.

In this newly created category, six films from first-time feature filmmakers from Spain, Portugal and/or Latin America will compete for a $5,000 USD cash prize.

The finalists for the competition were selected by MIFF programmers from films already submitted to the 2012 Festival.

2012 MIFF Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition films:

Las Acacias (Argentina/Spain, directed by Pablo Giorgelli): Already a winner of major prizes at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (Camera d’Or for Best First Film) and the Latin Horizons prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Giorgelli’s road movie unfolds along the highway linking Asunción to Buenos Aires, which trucker Rubén is accustomed to traveling solo. This time, however, he’s got a passenger, Jacinta, and a road full of revelations on the horizon.  East Coast Premiere

Expiration Date (Fecha de caducidad) (Mexico, directed by Kenya Márquez): After the tragic loss of her son, Ramona (Ana Ofelia Murguía) becomes convinced local handyman Genaro (Damián Alcázar) is responsible for the death. Becoming increasingly obsessed and paranoid, she enlists the help of neighbor to avenge his death. East Coast Premiere

Vaquero (Argentina, directed by Juan Minujín): Actor-turned-filmmaker Minujín’s profoundly revealing film follows mid-level Buenos Aires actor Julian Lamaz on a darkly comic quest for a leading role in a Hollywood movie. Through an amusing voice-over, the actor endures endless patronizing advice from fellow actors, casting agents and even his family. Minujín’s experience in the Buenos Aires film and theatre community gives the narrative multiple layers of self-referential resonance. U.S. Premiere

The Student (El estudiante) (Argentina, directed by Santiago Mitre): College student Roque (Esteban Lamothe) navigates the murky world of university politics, while seducing assistant professor and activist (Romina Paula), in Santiago Mitre’s briskly paced debut. A microcosm for the world at large, the film brilliantly exposes the backroom dealings and negotiations of student politics. Florida Premiere

Speechless (Sin palabras) (Colombia, directed by Ana Sofía Osorio Ruiz and Diego Bustamante): After helping a disoriented Chinese immigrant find her way, Raul (Javier Ortíz) can’t help but fall slowly in love with the exotic beauty. Osorio Ruiz and Bustamante prove the language of the heart is the most universal of all in this touching romance.  International Premiere

Distancia (Guatemala, directed by Sergio Ramírez): Tomás Choc travels 150 kilometers to be reunited with his only daughter, kidnapped 20 years ago during the Guatemalan civil war. In order to keep his memories of her alive, Tomas has kept a journal of his daily struggles, which he plans to give her when they meet in Ramirez’s heart wrenching drama. U.S. Premiere

Additionally, the Festival confirms the return of the University of Miami Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film. The established category showcases short films from developing international directors competing for a $2,500 cash prize. The 2011 winner in this category was Chilean short film Blokes (Blockes) by Marialy Rivas.

Some of the short films already confirmed to compete in MIFF 2012 include:


The Beach Chronicles (USA, directed by Kevin Sharpley) – World premiere
Catharis (France, directed by Cédric Prévost) – US premiere
Cell Phone Zombies (Cel Zombies) (Ecuador, directed by Jorge Luis Miranda) – World premiere
The Dancer (USA, directed by Seth Stark) – Florida premiere
Grandmothers (Abuelas) (United Kingdom, directed by Afarin Eghbal) – Florida premiere
Immune (USA, directed by Andrew Lathorp) – Florida premiere
Shift (USA, directed by Juan Carlos Zaldívar) – World premiere
The Trip (A Viagem) (Portugal/USA, directed by Simao Cayatte) – Florida premiere

The above titles are in addition to the 10 film titles previously announced by MIFF  for the Knight Ibero-American Competition.   Approximately 100 films from 40 countries are anticipated for the annual 10-day event.

Read more

[caption id="attachment_1992" align="alignnone"]Blood of My Blood[/caption]

The Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) announced the line-up of ten Ibero-American premieres  that will compete for $45,000  in jury prizes at its 29th annual event, March 2 – 11, 2012.

The lineup includes four International/North American premieres and two U.S. premieres, including new films from acclaimed veteran directors Carlos Sorin, David Trueba and Andrés Wood.

“As of today, only one of the films in the competition has U.S. distribution secured – Strand Releasing will be releasing Bonsai later in 2012,” noted MIFF’s executive director Jaie Laplante.  “It is our hope that U.S. buyers attending the Festival will discover many more riches– and see through our MIFF audiences how U.S. audiences respond to these amazing films.”

2012 MIFF Knight Ibero-American Competition films:

The Porcelain Horse (Mejor no hablar de ciertas cosas) (Ecuador, directed by Javier Andrade): In Javier Andrade’s startling debut, two brothers steal a porcelain horse from their parent’s home in order to buy drugs, leading to a fight that will haunt the family for the rest of their lives.  North American Premiere

I’d Receive the Worst News From Your Beautiful Lips (Eu Receberia As Piores Notícias De Seus Lindos Lábios) (Brazil, directed by Beto Brant and Renato Ciasca): Set against a steamy Amazonian backdrop, a sensual melodrama of a beautiful woman caught in an unstable situation between two men. North American Premiere

Blood of My Blood (Sangue do Meu Sangue) (Portugal, directed by João Canijo): Two  adult sisters struggle fiercely to hold their family together in the harsh world of a Lisbon slum, but the ticking time bomb of the situation is in grave danger of exploding. East Coast Premiere

Pescador (Ecuador/Colombia, directed by Sebastián Cordero): After a drug shipment miraculously washes up on a beach, Blanquito (Andrés Crespo) has the opportunity to finally leave his small fishing village and go to the big city, in this major tonal new direction for acclaimed director Cordero. North American Premiere

Bonsái (Chile/Argentina/Portugal/France, directed by Cristián Jiménez):  Based on the seminal novel by Chilean author Alejandro Zambra. Julio, a struggling writer, pens a book about his first experience with love, in order to keep up a lie he’s told his lover.  Bonsai marks director’s Cristián Jiménez second appearance in MIFF’s Iberoamerican competition. Florida Premiere

Zoo (Zoológico) (Chile, directed by Rodrigo Marín): Set in an affluent Santiago suburb, a social commentary on today’s youth follows three teens (Alicia Rodríguez, Luis Balmaceda and Santiago de Aguirre) consumed in Americanized customs: malls, the Internet, pornography, skateboarding and angst. North American Premiere

The Cat Vanishes (El gato desaparece) (Argentina, directed by Carlos Sorin): When Beatriz (Beatriz Spelzini) picks up her husband Luis (Luis Luque) from the sanatorium, she doesn’t quite believe the psychiatrist’s pronouncement that he is cured. But after the family cat vanishes, she questions her sanity as well as her husband’s in Sorin’s unsettling psychological mystery. U.S. Premiere

Madrid, 1987 (Spain, directed by David Trueba): The balance of power and desire shift during the meeting of an older journalist (José Sacristán) and a young student (María Valverde) in a beautifully-written, dusk-to-dawn meditation on youth, age and the music of the spheres. East Coast Premiere

Violeta Went to Heaven (Violeta se fue a los cielos) (Chile, directed by Andrés Wood): portrait of famed Chilean singer, folklorist and multifaceted artist Violeta Parra (Francisca Gavilán) filled with her musical work, her memories, her loves and her hopes. East Coast Premiere

The Sleeping Voice (La voz dormida) (Spain, directed by Benito Zambrano): In Benito Zambrano’s portrayal of the dark days following the Spanish Civil War, two sisters (Maria Leon and Inma Cuesta) find themselves caught up in the frightening politics of the divided country. U.S. Premiere

All 10 directors in MIFF’s Knight Ibero-American Competition are expected to attend the Festival and present their works to Miami audiences in person.

 

Read more

Launching a new chapter with a new executive director, the official lineup of the Miami International Film Festival (MIFF), produced and presented by Miami Dade College (MDC), was announced today replete with Red Carpet Gusman Galas, Premieres, Competition Categories and Awards, REEL Education Seminars and other special presentations that make up the Festival,s showcase of more than 100 films from 40 countries during the 10-day event, which runs March 4-13, 2011.

Read more

Twenty-nine films will vie for three Knight Grand Jury prizes in March at the 2011 Miami International Film Festival.

Read more