Tuesday, March 17------Chilean director Sebastian Silva has been awarded the International Film Guide Inspiration Award at the Miami International Film Festival (6-15 March 2009) for his debut film THE MAID (La Nana). The Award, sponsored by UK book publisher Wallflower Press (www.wallflowerpress.co.uk) and American dvd distributor The Criterion Collection (www.criterion.com), honors emerging filmmakers at international film festivals and events worldwide. The Miami International Film ...
i Miam FF 2009 Award Winners
Monday, March 17-----The 26th edition of the Miami International Film Festival, and the first under former Locarno FF veteran Tiziana Finzi, came to a stimulating and warm-spirited climax on Saturday evening, with the Festival’s hommage to festival winners, held in the rococo-meets-arts deco palace known as the Gusman Theater for the Performing Arts, the jewel of downtown Miami.
The Italian drama THE PAST IS A FOREIGN LAND (Il Passagto E Una Te...
Saturday, March 14-----Aside from its role as a key cultural event for the city of Miami, the Miami International Film Festival is also ground zero for the awareness of new films from Spain and Latin America to the international marketplace. Through the MIFF Reel Education Seminar Series, local indies and visiting filmmakers from around the world have been able to hear from industry experts on topics ranging from film financing, Equally as potent is the networking between filmmakers that h...
Friday, March 13-----In many ways, the heart and soul of the Miami International Film Festival is its Ibero-American competition, which focuses on dramatic features by first or second time directors from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Not only is the competition prize a huge lure ($25,000 from the Knight Foundation plus a host of other services) but films coming from the region have a natural audience here in Miami, where expats from Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and the...
Thursday, March 12-----It is not as unusual as it may at first sound…..a filmmaker with over 40 years of experience and over 25 films in the can is lionized in Europe but underappreciated in his home country. That has been the fate of many of the original American indies of the 1970s, including such celebrated auteurs as Jim Jarmusch, Hal Hartley, Amos Poe and Susan Seidelman, and a more recent crop that includes Harmony Korine and Todd Solondz. Most prominently on this list is the idi...
Frida Torresblanco
Wednesday, March 11-----For the dozens of independent filmmakers who have descended on Miami for the Miami International Film Festival, the sunny climate and welcome atmosphere is a rare oasis of warmth in a world that has become decidely chilly.
At a seminar held earlier today as part of the MIFF Reel Education Seminar series, representatives presented a rather downbeat picture of the cold realities of the international marketplace. "Pre-s...
Tuesday, March 10------The World Competition section of the Miami International Film Festival, one of the three important competitions of the event, showcases the latest works from up-and-coming film auteurs from around the world. This year, the program has a strong European focus, with many of the films making their U.S. premieres at the event.
France has the biggest presence, with two films representing the best of new Gallic cinema. I WANT TO SEE (Je Veux Voir) is a Frenc...
Monday, March 9------Occupying the post with less than three months to prepare, the Miami International Film Festival’s new director has ambitious plans for the future. Tiziana Finzi is a seasoned film professional with more than 20 years of experience in film festival programming and coordination. She began her new charge only in December, and needed to move quickly to secure films and special events in what has been a record time.
Finzi has been able to draw on her extensive network of i...
Sunday, March 8-----On the weekend of March 13, filmmaking teams from around the world will gather for the 8th Annual Filmapalooza, which will take place at the Miami International Film Festival. The guest filmmakers are winners of the 48 Hour Film Project (48FHP), timed filmmaking competitions in their cities and are in competition to be named the Best Film of the 2008 48 Hour Film Project. The honor comes with a $5,000 cash prize.
The winning films, selected from more than 2,50...
Saturday, March 7--------Miami is, among other things, a city of music. And two of the biggest musical giants who have left an indelible mark on the city’s musical legacy will be feted in separate documentaries premiering at the Miami International Film Festival. The films, intimate portraits of singer Celia Cruz and bassist and composer Israel "Cachao" Lopez, bring a new and welcome dimension to the two Cuban musical icons who have put the Miami sound on the world music map.
In ...
Friday, March 6---------The celebrated documentary VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR will kick off festivities at the 26th Miami International Film Festival, with a special screening this evening at the historic Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, the Spanish-style art deco movie palace in downtown Miami.
The film chronicles the life and career of Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani as he wraps up his celebrated 50 year career as the guru of international fashion. The last...
Thursday, March 5------The Miami International Film Festival has a unique place in the whirlwind of film festivals in North America. Now in its 26th year and under the auspices of Miami-Dade College, one of the largest universities in the United States, the Festival’s mission is to bridge cultural understanding, endorse tolerance and encourage artistic development and excellence within a vigorous academic setting by provoking thought through film. By bringing the best of world cinema...
The Miami International Film Festival, at Miami Dade College (MDC), has appointed Tiziana Finzi, a seasoned film professional with more than 20 years of experience in film festival programming and coordination, as its new director. She began her new charge on December 1, 2008.
Tiziana Finzi, the new director of the Miami International Film Festival
Finzi served as head of programming for the acclaimed Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland for the past...
Mission
The mission of the Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) is to bridge cultural understanding, endorse tolerance and encourage artistic development and excellence within a vigorous academic setting by provoking thought through film. By bringing the best of world cinema to Miami, MIFF presents the city and the film industry with a singular platform that fosters creative and technical talent.
Vision
With its singular geographic and cultural position, the Miami Internation...
Saturday, March 8---------The new cinematic stars came out last night at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, as the 25th edition of the Miami International Film Festival held its Gala Awards Ceremony. After greeting the sold-out crowd, MIFF Director Patrick de Bokay warmly greeted the audience and the assembled filmmakers. “Tonight we are honoring a select few films, but the truth is that every film that has been able to completed under difficult conditions is an award unto itself,” ...
Friday, March 7---------Films from France have traditionally been among the strongest and most loved at the Miami International Film Festival. Not only does Miami have within its borders a large French expatriate community, but immigrants from French-speaking Africa and the Americas round out the French language contingent in this multi-cultural town. Even for those not fluent in “la langue,” French cinema has been the most popular non-English film product for more than 70 years in the Unit...
Friday, March 7--------One of the best features of the Miami International Film Festival is its embrace of the diverse communities that make up this uniquely international city. While most associate Miami with the Latin American communities that have taken root here during the past half century, the fact is that Miami is home to one of the largest gay and lesbian communities in the world. Gay life is part of the texture of the city and this year’s Miami International Film Festival is presen...
Friday, March 7--------It was an evening that could only take place in Miami…the Festival welcomed Grammy-winning producer Emilio Estefan, singing superstar Gloria Estefan and an assembly of rich Latin musical talents for the North American Premiere of 90 MILES THE DOCUMENTARY at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.The film, a “labor of love,” chronicles the contributions of legendary and contemporary Latino musicians in the creation of Gloria Estefan’s landmark album 90 MILES. T...
Thursday, March 6--------When visitors from other states or countries think of Miami, they reflect on its gorgeous weather, pristine beaches, outstanding architecture and Latin-influenced culture. The banging of the drum, the beating of the marimba, the strumming of the guitar, the blaring of a trumpet, the music of Miami is as intoxicating as its other natural beauties.To acknowledge this essential aspect of Miami culture, the Miami International Film Festival has inaugurated a new program this...
Thursday, March 6---------Reaching a 25th anniversary is a milestone for any organization. For a film festival, it is a major accomplishment and a vantage point from which to appreciate past triumphs and survey new opportunities. As the Miami International Film Festival celebrated its silver anniversary at the glorious Gusman Center for the Performing Arts last evening, the mood was one of reverence for the past and anticipation for the future. “A Festival is nothing without the involvement ...
Wednesday, March 5---------In the past number of years, major film festivals around the world has seen it as their mission to not only exhibit the best films available, but also to serve as a breeding ground for new projects to get launched, financed and distributed. To this end, the Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) has joined the ranks of such major film festival events as Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, Pusan, Dubai and several others, in organizing parallel industry events designed to st...
Wednesday, March 5------“Music is Miami, and Miami is music”, declared Patrick de Bokay, MIFF Director, from the stage of the Gusman Center last evening, announcing a new program strand in the Festival called The Reel Music Scene. This special sidebar of documentaries, music videos and information panels will celebrate the love affair between music and the moving image. To kick off the program, the Festival presented the North American Premiere of AFRICA UNITE, an inspiring music documentary...
Tuesday, March 4-------This year, the Miami International Film Festival is putting a special spotlight on new Mexican films. Not only is this industry’s cinema among the most influential in the world right now, but this year’s MIFF ABROAD program, sponsored by American Airlines, will bring a group of US film industry professionals to network with their Mexican colleagues in August of this year. MIFF ABROAD is an industry exchange program linking film professionals from around the world w...
Monday, March 3----------When you have one of the most famous and recognizable faces in both Hollywood and the tabloids, it is a challenge to be recognized for your talent and not your fame. The plain, unvarnished truth is that Demi Moore is a damned good actress. She makes that abundantly clear in her role as the buttoned-down executive who becomes involved in a major diamond heist from the vaults of her employer in last night’s Gusman Gala. FLAWLESS (which describes the jewels, but certain...
