Miami Film Festival To Celebrate Its 41st Rendition In April
Grab your popcorn and Junior Mints—Miami Film Festival is here for its 41st installment.
The festival will run from April 5 through April 14 and showcase more than 180 cinematic pieces from more than 30 countries.
Films will be screened at 10 venues, such as the Knight Concert Hall at Adrienne Arsht Center, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Silverspot Cinema, the Koubek Center Theater and the Coral Gables Art Cinema.
Notable actors and filmmakers attending, who will participate in Q&A sessions, include Heather Graham, Alison Brie, Jeremy Piven, Lady Camden, Hector Medina and Danny Pino.
“One of the incredible things about this job is being able to dig through all these movies and find hidden gems and give them a platform to be seen by audiences in Miami,” said Lauren Cohen, director of programming who has worked for the MFF for more than a decade.
Opening night will kick off with Thelma, an action comedy directed by Josh Margolin, a Los Angeles-based writer, editor and actor. After being scammed out of $10,000, Thelma, a 93-year-old widow, ventures out to get her money back and prove that age is just a number.
Several films with a Miami Dade College connection will be highlighted at the festival.
The Asylum, directed by Jaime Gutierrez, a Sports Emmy Award-winning producer who graduated from the School of Entertainment & Design Technology, takes us back to Miami Senior High School to witness the dominance of a basketball program that won eight state championships from 1987-1998.
Those teams were led by legendary coaches Marcos “Shakey” Rodriguez and Frank Martin and future National Basketball Association players Udonis Haslem, Steve Blake and Doug Edwards. The film will be showcased at the Knight Concert Hall, 1300 Biscayne Blvd, on April 7 at 3 p.m.
Ramiro Almeida’s Miami Now is a documentary series that explores Miamians’ perspectives on the consequences of the city’s urbanization. It features interviews with MDC President Madeline Pumariega and former College President Eduardo J. Padrón. The screening will take place on April 6 at 12 p.m .at the Silverspot Cinema 16 located at 300 S.E. 3rd. St.
The Miami Bull Project spotlights Wolfson Campus’ Bull sculpture. It’s directed by S.E. King—a Los-Angeles based director, writer and producer—and will be featured on April 6 at 7:45 p.m. at the SilverSpot Cinema 11.
Eleven cash awards totaling $100,000 will be presented at the festival.
Jury-selected awards include: Made in MIA Feature and Short Film Awards, Marimbas Award, Jordan Ressler First Feature Award, Documentary Achievement and Short Film Awards, Miami International Short Film Award and Florida CinemaSlam award, which is only endowed to one Florida college student.
Viewers will select winners for the Documentary Audience Award, Narrative Feature Film Audience and the Short Film Awards.
“This [festival] just really feels like the community,” said James Woolley, MFF director. “It’s by the community for the community. It has a real love of great cinema and seeing things that are unique and different.”
Another highlight will be actress Molly Ringwald, best-known for her work in Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, receiving the Variety Creative Vanguard Award on April 6 at 8 p.m. at the Chapman Conference Center at Wolfson Campus, 254 NE 4th St.
Tom Hiddleston, an English actor known for his work as Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will be presented with the Variety Virtuoso Award on April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Knight Concert Hall.
The festival will conclude on April 14 at 3:30 p.m. with a screening of Rosalie at the Coral Gables Art Cinema located at 260 Aragon Ave.The film is directed by Stéphanie Di Giusto.
Set in 1870s France, Rosalie, who was born with an abnormal amount of facial and body hair, doesn’t want to hide who she truly is from her new husband Abel, who married Rosalie for money.
To purchase tickets and see the full schedule of films, visit https://bit.ly/43s0kwK.
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