Miami Film Festival announces the NEON Screening Series for the second half of 2019! Ever since its first release just about 2 ½ years ago, the new US Distributor NEON has made a distinct name for itself as a hip, edgy, quality brand that supports exceptional new arthouse and independent cinema for theatrical release.
From the Oscar-winning I, Tonya (their highest grossing release to date), to diverse Miami Film Festival selections like Three Identical Strangers, Apollo 11, Amazing Grace, Biggest Little Farm and Border, and even handling the Miami-shot comedy The Beach Bum, the comforting blaze of the NEON logo at the beginning of a film signals that we are about to watch a feature with style, ideas and illumination.
In a special partnership with NEON, Miami Film Festival will advance preview the distributor’s incredible slate, beginning in July and continuing every month through the fall/winter awards season.
Kicking off the series on July 23rd will be the most-awarded film from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year – the stunning Macedonian documentary Honeyland, which won the top prize in the World Documentary Competition, as well as awards for its social impact and its jaw-dropping cinematography. Set in a remote area of the Balkan mountains, traditional beekeepers come into conflict with young farmers when their farming techniques threaten to upset the delicate balance of nature in the idyllic valley. The film is stirring and poetic, and features some of the best mountain documentary footage since Free Solo.
Still from Honeyland
August’s entry is another Sundance hit film, Julius Onah’s film version of J.C. Lee’s off-Broadway play, Luce. Featuring a powerhouse cast that includes Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, Naomi Watts, Tim Roth and rising-up-fast young actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. (known for It Comes at Night), this potent drama tackles issues of privacy vs. whistleblowing, a taut tightrope of moral highwire balancing where choosing sides is nearly impossible. The film previews on August 1st.
Still from Luce
Miami Film Festival’s NEON Screening Series is also set to include the Florida premiere of NEON’s other major Sundance pickups, the US Dramatic Competition winner Clemency starring Alfre Woodard, and Alejandro Landes’ special jury prize-winning Colombian thriller Monos. Not to mention the brilliant films the distributor went to Cannes Film Festival with this past spring – stay tuned!
The screenings of Honeyland and Luce are free for Miami Film Society members – join today and save! Individual tickets for non-members available online or at the door (if available).
