Miami Film Festival To Feature Films In Hybrid Format From March 4-13

Miami Film Festival is back for its 39th rendition with in-person and remote events.

The 10-day festival will run from March 4 through March 13. It’ll take place in two venues, Silverspot Cinema, 300 S.E. 3rd St., in downtown Miami and Tower Theater Miami, 1508 S.W. 8th St., in Little Havana.

This year’s hybrid format will feature more than 120 narrative films, documentaries and short projects  from 35 different countries.

“Every Miami Film Festival is spectacular and this year will be no exception,” said Jaie Laplante, the festival’s executive director. “Our team has worked hard to put together an incredible lineup of feature narrative, documentary and short films this year.”

The festival will kick off on March 4 with Fernando León de Aranoa’s The Good Boss starring Javier Bardem. The Spanish comedy tells the story of a manipulative owner of a family-run factory as he meddles in the lives of his employees in an attempt to win an award for business excellence.

The Good Boss has received a record-breaking 20 nominations from the 2022 Goya Awards, Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars.

Another showcase will be the Quinteto Dominicano, a celebration of five feature films that will premiere from the Dominican Republic.

Candela, directed by Andrés Farías, follows the lives of a high society girl, a lonely lieutenant and a drag Queen cabaret performer as they intertwine on the eve of a hurricane following the mysterious death of a young poet and drug dealer.

Carajita, directed by Ulises Porra and Silvina Schnicer, is about a teenage girl and her nanny who share a mother-daughter type relationship, but when an accident occurs their loyalty to each other is put to the test.

A Film About Couples, directed by Natalia Cabral and Oriol Estrada, follows a couple of filmmakers who decide to shoot a documentary about couples in love, their problems and tensions. The friction forces them to question their relationship and the meaning of cinema.

The Lost Children of Jarabacoa, directed by Rolando Díaz, is about a journalist who searches for a woman who was given up for adoption when she was two years old and whose family has known nothing about her since.

Parsley, directed by José María Cabral, takes place in 1937. It follows a young Haitian woman who is expecting her first child with her Dominican husband near the Dominican Republic-Haiti border. 

“It’s unusual to have such a high number of films from a small country such as the Dominican Republic that doesn’t have a strong history of international presence on the world cinema stage,” Laplante said. “Miami Film Festival continues to be an important international force in recognizing the development of and providing a launchpad for new trends in Ibero-American cinema.”

Films scheduled to have their world premiere at the festival as Red Carpet special presentations include Borrowed, Croqueta Nation and Jezabel.

Borrowed tells the story of a recluse artist who lives in the Florida Keys. It was directed by Oscar Ernesto Ortega and Carlos Betancourt.

Croqueta Nation, directed by Guillermo Alfonso, follows Carlos Gazitua, the owner of Sergio’s Cuban Restaurants, as he sets out to make croqueta history. 

Jezabel, directed by Hernán Jabes, set in Venezuela is about Lolo, Cacá, Eli and Alain. They are upper-class adolescents, who live carefree lives of drugs, games and love until Eli is brutally killed. 

Rob Requejo Ramos, a 2018 Miami Dade College graduate, will premier his feature film South Beach Shark Club: Legends and Lore of The South Florida Shark Hunters on March 6. The film dives into the history of Miami Beach in the 1970s through the eyes of local shark fishermen.

“I grew up with a poster of the Miami Film Festival in my room, so it’s a dream of mine to show a movie at the festival,” Ramos said. “I’m a Miami Beach local, I was born and raised there so this film is a compilation of stories that I was told as a kid and I felt like if no one else told this story, it might get lost.”

The festival will end its festivities on March 13 with Avnet Benaim’s Plaza Cathedral at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. The Panamanian drama tells the story of a grieving widow who withdraws from society after the death of her infant and has her solitary existence challenged by a troubled 14-year-old kid.

People that choose to participate in the festival from home can partake in the festival’s virtual component by simply choosing a film they’d like to see and paying online. Pre-ordering is also available. 

Ticket prices range from $13 to $30. Opening Night and Closing Night party tickets cost $100.

“My hope is that our attendees discover something new in the world of cinema that they wouldn’t necessarily discover on their own,” Laplante said. “That they are positively and profoundly impacted by the films that they watch, which is what going to the movies is all about.”

To see the festival’s full lineup or to purchase tickets, click here. For more information, contact Noelia Rabino, at nrabino@mdc.edu or 305-237-7790.