FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, November 11, 2021

KING RICHARD WINS AUDIENCE AWARD AT 2021 MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL GEMS

Runner-ups include Julia and Flee

Miami, FL – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Miami Film Festival (MFF) announced that King Richard is the winner of the MIAMI GEMS 2021 Audience Award. The film starring and produced by Will Smith and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, served as the Centerpiece screening for the festival. MFF’s annual fall event took place from November 4-10 at MDC’s Tower Theater Miami.

Festival audiences chose a pair of documentaries as runners-up. Julia, directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, was first runner-up, and the second runner-up was Denmark’s animated Oscar submission candidate Flee, directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen.  All three films are major award contenders.

Past winners of the MIAMI GEMS Audience Award have received award recognition including last year’s winners Sound of Metal, which received two Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and Best Sound, and The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, which received an Emmy award. In 2019, winner The Two Popes went on to receive three Academy Award nominations while first runner-up Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Highlights of the MIAMI GEMS 2021 Festival included the US premiere of Leyla Bouzid’s Semaine de la Critique breakout hit A Tale of Love and Desire; opening night selection Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers; and the acclaimed Belfast, written and directed by Kenneth Branagh.

The 39^th edition of Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival will be held March 4-13, 2022. The festival will partner again with Variety’s Streaming Room on an International Feature Film Nominees Roundtable scheduled for next year before final voting begins on March 17, 2022. The five directors that receive Oscar nominations for the International Feature Films category will be invited to participate in a panel moderated by Variety’s Film Awards editor Clayton Davis.

About Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival                           

Celebrating cinema in two annual events, Miami Film Festival GEMS (November 4-10, 2021) and Miami Film Festival (39th annual edition March 4-13, 2022), Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival is considered the preeminent film festival for showcasing Ibero-American cinema in the U.S., and a major launch pad for all international and documentary cinema. The annual Festival welcomes more than 45,000 audience members and more than 400 filmmakers, producers, talent and industry professionals. It is the only major festival housed within a college or university. In the last five years, the Festival has screened films from more than 60 countries, including 300 World, International, North American, U.S. and East Coast Premieres. Major sponsors of Miami Film Festival GEMS include Knight Foundation, American Airlines, Telemundo, NBC, Estrella Damm, and Miami-Dade County. The Festival also offers unparalleled educational opportunities to film students and the community at large. For more information, visit miamifilmfestival.com or call 305-237-FILM (3456).

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org.

About American Airlines

American Airlines is proud to sponsor and serve as the Official Airline for the Miami Film Festival. American’s purpose is to care for people on life’s journey. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL and the company’s stock is included in the S&P 500. American’s award-winning website, AA.com®, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld® alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. AA.comand AAdvantage are trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. Learn more about what’s happening at American by visiting news.aa.com and connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines

#  #  #

Miami Film Festival Media Relations Contacts:

Steven Wilson, Scenario PR | 310-497-4951 | steven.wilson@scenariopr.com

MDC Media Relations Contacts:
Juan C. Mendieta, MDC Director of Communications | 305-237-7611 | jmendiet@mdc.edu
Sue Arrowsmith, Director of Media Relations | 305-237-3710 | sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu