Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival opens March 6 and runs through March 15.
Slated for the event will be 125 features, documentaries and shorts from 40 countries. The worldwide tribute to film will return to the Olympia Theater at Gusman Center in Downtown Miami again this year in addition to several other outlining venues. This year’s event has two of the foreign films up for an Oscar, Wild Tales from Argentina and Salt of the Earth a Brazil/Italy/French entry.
Friday, March 6, 2015 The Festival opens at 7:00 p.m. with the Florida premiere of Director Damián Szifron’s much anticipated black comedy “Wild Tales” (Relatos salvajes) from Argentina, screening at the Olympia Theater at Gusman Center. The film which was shown in competition at the Cannes Film Festival last year is a comedy in several parts about revenge. The film was produced by Pedro Almodovar and nominated for Best Foreign Language Film for the 87th Academy Awards.
The opening night party will be held at Patron located in the Freedom Tower of Miami Dade College following the film.
The closing night film selected for this year’s festival called “Sidetracked” (Las Ovejas No Pierden El Tren) from Spain and will be shown at the Olympia Theater at Gusman Center on March 14th. Starring in the comedy by director Alvaro Fernandez Armero will be Inma Cuesta and Raul Arevalo. The movie features a dysfunctional family during the parent’s mid-thirties life crisis.
The closing night party will also be held at Patron located in the Freedom Tower of Miami Dade College following the film.
FESTIVAL COMPETITION CATEGORIES:
Knight Competition Presented by The James L. & John S. Knight Foundation: Generously presented by the Knight Foundation, Grand Jury Achievement Awards totaling $40,000 in cash will be distributed to an outstanding feature length film, director and actor, as selected by a distinguished jury. The 11 films selected for the competition are:
Aurora (Chile, directed by Rodrigo Sepúlveda) *North American Premiere
Blue Blood (Sangue azul) (Brazil, directed by Lírio Ferreira) *North American Premiere
Butterfly (Mariposas) (Argentina, directed by Marco Berger) *North American Premiere
Invasion (Invasión)(Panama, directed by Abner Benahim) *North American Premiere
Life is Sacred (Denmark / Ireland / Norway / Colombia, directed by Andreas Dalsgaard, Viviana Gómez & Nicolás Servide) *North American Premiere
Los Hongos (Colombia / France, directed by Oscar Ruiz Navia) *US Premiere
The Obscure Spring (Las oscuras primaveras) (Mexico, directed by Ernesto Contreras) *US Premiere
The Project of the Century (La obra del siglo) (Cuba, Argentina, Germany directed by Carlos Machado Quintela) *North American Premiere
The Strongest Man (USA, directed by Kenny Riches)
Sunstrokes (Las insoladas) (Argentina, directed by Gustavo Taretto) *North American Premiere
Voice Over (La voz en off) (Chile, directed by Cristián Jiménez) *US Premiere Co-Presented with Film Comment Selects 2015 at the NYC’s Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Jordan Alexander Ressler Foundation Screenwriting Prize: Determined by a jury, this $5,000 cash award generously provided by the Jordan Alexander Ressler Foundation is open to any first time feature-length screenwriters, regardless of country of origin, including Florida-based talent.
3 Beauties (3 Bellezas) (Venezuela, screenplay by Carlos Caridad Montero) *North American Premiere
Ben’s at Home (Canada, screenplay by Dan Abramovici and Mars Horodyski)
Cut Snake (Australia, screenplay by Blake Ayshford)
East Side Sushi (USA, screenplay by Anthony Lucero)
A Girl at my Door (Dohee-ya) (Korea, screenplay by Jung July)
Innocent Killers (Asesinos inocentes) (Spain, screenplay by J.M. Asensio and Gonzalo Bendala) *World Premiere
Love at First Fight (Les combattants) (France, screenplay by Thomas Cailley and Claude Le Pape)
On the Road, Somewhere (Algún lugar) (Dominican Republic, screenplay by Wendy Muñiz and Guillermo Zouain) *World Premiere
Posthumous (USA, screenplay by Lulu Wang) *North American Premiere
Preggoland (Canada, screenplay by Sonja Bennett)
Set Fire to the Stars (UK, screenplay by Andy Goddard and Celyn Jones)*International Premiere
Someone Else (USA, screenplay by Nelson Kim) *World Premiere
Tango Glories (Fermin glorias del tango) (Argentina, screenplay by Oliver Kolker)
Theeb (Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, UK, screenplay by Naji Abu Nawar)
They are All Dead (Todos están muertos) (Spain, Germany, Mexico, screenplay by Beatriz Sanchís) *US Premiere
Tour de Force (Hin und weg) (Germany, screenplay by Ariane Schröder) *US Premiere
Knight Documentary Achievement Award Presented by The James L. & John S. Knight Foundation: This $10,000 cash award is presented to the most engaging feature-length documentary created by a filmmaker, as selected by the Festival audience. Open to 24 documentaries in the Festival, regardless of Festival section, that are 50 minutes or longer and are either world premiering at the Festival, or have had their world premiere in March 2014 or afterwards. Films eligible for this Award are:
13 Million Voices (USA, directed by Janelle Gueits) *World Premiere
Being Evel (USA, directed by Daniel Junge)
Before We are Forgotten (Antes de que nos olviden) (Mexico, directed by Matías Gueilburt) *US Premiere
Best of Enemies (USA, directed by Robert Gordon & Morgan Neville)
City of Gold (USA, directed by Laura Gabbert)
Dawg Fight (USA, directed by Billy Corben) *World Premiere
Finding Gastón (Buscando a Gastón) (Peru, directed by Patricia Pérez)
The Holders (USA, directed by Carla Forte) *World Premiere
Hot Girls Wanted (USA, directed by Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus)
Invasion (Invasión) (Panama, Argentina, directed by Abner Benahim) *North American Premiere
Iris (USA, directed by Albert Maysles)
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (USA, directed by Brett Morgan)
The Land of Many Palaces (China, UK, directed by Ting Song, Adam James Smith)
Life is Sacred (Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Colombia, directed by Andreas Dalsgaard, Viviana Gómez, Nicolas Servide) *North American Premiere
The Lost Aviator (Australia, directed by Andrew Lancaster) *North American Premiere
The Muses of Bashevis Singer (Israel, directed by Shaul Betser, Asaf Galay)
Paco de Lucía: A Journey (Paco de Lucía: la búsqueda) (Spain, directed by Curro Sánchez Varela) *North American Premiere
Playing Lecuona (Spain, Colombia, directed by Pavel Giroud, Juan Manuel Villar)*North American Premiere
The Record Man (USA, directed by Mark Moorman) *World Premiere
The Salt of the Earth (Le sel de la terre) (Brazil / Italy / France, directed by Juliano Ribeiro Salgado & Wim Wenders) 2015 Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature.
Sweet Micky for President (USA, Haiti, Canada, directed by Ben Patterson)
Tea Time (La once) (Chile, USA, directed by Maite Alberdi) *North American Premiere
This Is My Land (France, Israel, Palestine, Poland, directed by Tamara Erde)
This Is What It Is (Esto es lo que hay) (France, directed by Léa Rinaldi) *World Premiere
Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition: A distinguished jury will select from the following five first-time feature filmmakers from Latin America, Spain and/or Portugal for a $10,000 cash award presented by Lexus:
3 Beauties (3 Bellezas) (Venezuela, directed by Carlos Caridad Montero) *North American Premiere
Easy S ex, Sad Movies (Sexo fácil, películas tristes) (Argentina / Spain, directed by Alejo Flah) *International Premiere
In the Grayscale (En las gamas de gris) (Chile, directed by Claudio Marcone)*World Premiere
On the Road, Somewhere (Algún lugar) (Dominican Republic, directed by Guillermo Zouain) *World Premiere
They are All Dead (Todos están muertos) (Spain, Germany, Mexico, directed by Beatriz Sanchís) *US Premiere
Park Grove Shorts Competition: Luxury developers Terra Group and The Related Groupgenerously sponsor the Park Grove Shorts Competition in the name of their upcoming Park Grove condominium partnership, presenting the winning short filmmaker with a $2,500 cash prize.
“60 Candles” (Uruguay, directed by Ana Guevara and Letícia Jorge) *World Premiere (Screened with Voice Over program)
“The Bigger Picture” (United Kingdom, directed by Daisy Jacobs) *2015 Oscar-nominee. (Screened with A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Contemplating Existenceprogram)
“Distance” (USA, directed by Ismael Gomez III) (Screened as part of From A Distance Shorts program)
“Freddie of Wynwood” (USA, directed by Fabian Cardenas) *World Premiere. (Screened with The Holders program)
“Maalu” (Australia, Sri Lanka, directed by Sanjay De Silva) *World Premiere.(Screened with The Land of Many Palaces program)
“Miami” (Portugal, directed by Simão Cayatte) *North American Premiere.(Screened with From A Distance Shorts program)
“Old Bay” (USA, directed by Lena Rudnick) (Screened with Ghost Stories Shortsprogram)
“She Bought it in Zarautz” (“Zarautzen erosi zuen”) (Spain, directed by Aitor Arregui)*North American Premiere. (Screened with Flowers program)
“Thread” (Malaysia, directed by Virginia Kennedy) *North American Premiere.(Screened with From A Distance Shorts program)
“A Tree in the Sea” (United Arab Emirates, directed by Shahir Zag) *World Premiere. (Screened with From A Distance Shorts program)
“Young Lions of Gypsy” (“A ciambra”) (Italy, directed by Jonas Carpignano) (Screened with Ghost Stories Shorts program)
A Schedule for the showing of the films go to http://www.miamiff-tickets.com/events/
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
