Nicole Guillemet, the respected Director of the Miami International Film Festival for the past five years, will bid adieu after this year's session, after having overseen an explosive growth of the Festival's scope and reputation under her stewardship. She has left an indelible mark, having upgraded the programming and the organization of the event, and making it one of North America's most exciting and well-run film festivals. The expanded focus on films from Latin America and Spain has made the Festival one of the most important showcases for Spanish and Portugese-language films in the world. Guillemet has also expanded the competition sections, creating three impressive competition categories, including World Cinema, Ibero-American Dramatic Features and World and Ibero-American Documentaries. Having secured a multi-year endowment from the Knight Foundation, the Festival is able to offer a cash award of $25,000 to the winners in the three competition categories, along with service packages from the Festival's industry sponsors.

Prior to coming to Miami, Guillemet worked for over a decade at the Sundance Film Festival, introducing innovative programs that have made the event one of the most prominent showcases for American independent and international cinema on the festival circuit. At the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, Guillemet launched the Documentary Film Program and the "House of Docs", which offered pragmatic support to documentary filmmakers. Her commitment to non-fiction has been echoed in the dramatic increase of documentary films presented at the Miami International Film Festival.

Guillemet used her professional know-how and considerable personal charm to enhance the professional and international aspects of the Miami International Film Festival, using her extensive network of international contacts to add a professional dimension to the event, while introducing innovative approaches to involve Miami's diverse ethnic and religious community to consider the Festival "their own". The diversity represented by this year's program is a testament to her commitment to international cinema, her encouragement of new talents and her personal taste and style.

Sandy Mandelberger, Miami Online Dailies Editor