Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival 2015 Announces Opening Night Film Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes) Directed by Damián Szifron

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For Immediate Release

Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Now That’s Wild!

Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival 2015 Announces Opening Night Film Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes) Directed by Damián Szifron  

Wild Tales is Among Nine Films Currently Shortlisted in Best Foreign Language Category for the Upcoming 87th Academy Award Nominations

Featuring an Unprecedented All-Star Cast of Argentina’s Brightest Comedic Talents Including Ricardo Darín

Co-Produced by Pedro & Augustin Almodóvar’s El Deseo Production Company

Miami, FL  Miami Dade College proudly announces that Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes), an Argentina-Spain feature film directed by Damián Szifron, will star as the Opening Night Film of its Miami International Film Festival’s 32nd edition’s CINEDWNTWN Galas presented by Miami Downtown Development Authority, taking place March 6 – 15, 2015.

The black comedy, featuring an all-star cast made up of the who’s who of Argentina cinema (including perennial Miami International Film Festival audience favorite Ricardo Darín), makes its Florida premiere and marks the third directorial achievement for Miami International Film Festival alumnus Szifron, a deftly talented filmmaker hailing from Buenos Aires. Wild Tales is currently shortlisted for the 2015 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award nominations, one of just nine titles whittled down from a record 83 films submitted worldwide. The final list of nominees will be revealed tomorrow, January 15th, from Los Angeles, home of the Oscars.

Says Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival executive director Jaie Laplante, “A Ricardo Darín-starring, Damián Szifron-directed, Pedro Almodóvar-produced, Cannes Official Competition, Oscar-shortlisted film? Yes, please. The Festival is absolutely delighted to choose Wild Tales as our CINEDWNTWN Galas’ Opening Night Film, because it combines the talents of so many of our audience’s favorite artists, all of whom are working at the absolute top of their game.”

Szifron’s debut feature film, The Bottom of the Sea (2003) played at 21st Miami International Film Festival in 2004, while his equally celebrated second film, On Probation, was released in 2005. Wild Tales marks Szifron’s first collaboration with legendary Spanish filmmaker and producer Pedro Almodóvar, who along with his brother Augustin, helm El Deseo, the film’s co-producers with Kramer & Sigman Films of Argentina.

Wild Tales is a wickedly funny roundabout of six standalone but related shorts featuring dozens of characters, reaching operatic heights of subversive humor in tales of conflicts between the classes under common themes of violence and vengeance. Simon (Darín) is pushed to the breaking point by Buenos Aires civic bureaucrats who have towed his car on the day of his daughter’s birthday; whereas white-collar businessman Diego (Leonardo Sbaraglia) is enraged by blue-collar righteousness on a dusty, deserted highway. By chance, a roadside diner waitress (Julieta Zylberberg) meets the pompous jerk who destroyed her family; and wealthy patriarch Mauricio (Oscar Martinez) is determined to be the pompous jerk who won’t let anyone destroy his family.
Actor Ricardo Darín is no stranger to Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival, having starred in numerous Official Selection films for many years, and attending the Festival in 2012 with Chinese Take-Away at the 29th Miami International Film Festival at that year’s Closing Awards Night Gala. Erica Rivas, Diego Gentile, Dario Grandinetti, Oscar Martinez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg, German de Silva and many more complete the outstanding ensemble.

“As the new Executive Director for MDCulture, I’m excited to be a part of a film festival with a long standing history of providing our community with the best that the film industry has to offer,” states María Muñoz-Blanco, Miami Dade College’s MDCulture Executive Director. “Wild Tales is the perfect fit as our Opening Night film.”

The full program of the 32nd edition Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival will be announced on January 27th. Advance ticket packages are currently on sale until January 16th; for membership opportunities or more information about Miami International Film Festival, please visit www.miff2020.wpengine.com or call 305-237-FILM(3456). The Festival is the only major film festival event housed within a college or university.
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About Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival
Celebrating its 32nd annual edition March 6 – 15, 2015, Miami Dade College’s Miami International 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 more than 60,000 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. Miami International Film Festival’s special focus on Ibero-American cinema has made the Festival a natural gateway for the discovery of new talent from this diverse territory. The Festival also offers unparalleled educational opportunities to film students and the community at large. Major sponsors of the 2015 Festival include Knight Foundation, Lexus and Miami-Dade County. For more information, visit www.miff2020.wpengine.com or call 305-237-FILM(3456).

About MDCulture
MDCulture is the Cultural Affairs Department of Miami Dade College (MDC). Comprising the Miami Book Fair International, Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival, Tower Theater, the Center for Literature and Theatre, Koubek Center, Freedom Tower, MDC Live Arts and MDC Galleries and Museum of Art + Design. MDCulture is committed to providing its community with the opportunity to come in contact with innovative thinkers, creators and tradition bearers from around the world. With each presentation, MDCulture offers a bridge between cultures and ideas, creating new opportunities for the increasingly diverse population of Miami to come together through shared live arts experiences. For more information, visit www.mdculture.org.

About Miami Downtown Development Authority
The Mission of the Miami Downtown Development Authority is to grow, strengthen and promote the economic health and vitality of Downtown Miami. As an autonomous agency of the City, the Miami DDA advocates, facilitates plans and executes business development, planning and capital improvements, and marketing and communication strategies. We commit to fulfill our mission collaboratively, ethically and professionally, consistent with the Authority’s public purpose.

About The Academy Awards Shortlist
Nine features have advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 87th Academy Awards®.  Eighty-three films had originally been considered in the category. The shortlist was winnowed down to the category’s nine finalists by specially invited committees in New York, Los Angeles and, for the first time, London.  They spent Friday, January 9, through Sunday, January 11, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots. The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival Contacts:
Jessica Wade Pfeffer, Jessica Wade Inc., +1 305-804-8424, jessica@jessicawadeinc.com
Margie Sernik, Jessica Wade Inc., +1 305-456-0483, margie@jessicawadeinc.com
Juan C. Mendieta, +1 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu
Tere Estorino, +1 305-237-3949, testorin@mdc.edu
Sue Arrowsmith, +1 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu
Alejandro Rios, +1 305-237-7482, arios1@mdc.edu

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