Miami International Film Festival, Produced & Presented by Miami Dade College, Announces its 30th Edition Film Lineup

Miami International Film Festival, Produced & Presented by Miami Dade College, Announces its 30th Edition Film Lineup

Festival opens with feel-good hit RADiUS-TWC’s Twenty Feet from Stardom directed by Morgan Neville

Festival will feature 12 World Premieres, 7 International Premieres, 13 North American Premieres, and 15 U.S. Premieres
Miami, FL — Miami International Film Festival (MIFF), produced and presented by Miami Dade College, announced today the films selected to screen during its 30th edition of the annual 10-day event, which runs March 1 -10, 2013. Premiering at this year’s Festival will be 117 feature films and 12 short films from 41 countries, participating in competition and non-competition categories.

“If you’re not at the movies every day in the first 10 days of March, you’re in the wrong place,” declared MIFF’s Executive Director Jaie Laplante.

This is the first year in MIFF’s history that the Festival will open and close with documentary features. The Opening and Closing night films are:

Opening Night Film and Ultimat Opening Night Party on Friday, March 1, 2013

• The Festival will open at the Olympia Theater at Gusman Center for the Performing Arts with RADiUS-TWC’s Twenty Feet from Stardom directed by Morgan Neville.  A spectacular Gala party will follow across the street after the screening at The Historic Alfred I. Dupont Building, sponsored by Ultimat Vodka.

Awards Night Film with Pyrat Awards Night Party on Saturday, March 9, 2013

• The Festival‘s annual awards night gala will culminate with Venus and Serena directed by Maiken Baird & Michelle Major. The Festival’s festivities will wrap up in a grand fashion at the National Historic Landmark Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College, with a Gala party sponsored by Pyrat Rum.

Opening Night Films for three of MIFF’s notable competition categories will screen on Saturday, March 2, 2013

• Knight Ibero-American Competition: Everybody Has a Plan, featuring Oscar-nominated actor Viggo Mortensen.
• Knight Documentary Competition: world premiere of Viva Cuba Libre: Rap Is War.
• Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition: world premiere of The Boy Who Smells Like Fish.

As previously announced, the Festival will honor two remarkable directors with Career Achievement Tributes: renowned Swedish writer-director Lasse Hallström (My Life as a Dog, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) and Spanish producer, writer, and Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba (Belle Epoque, Chico & Rita). The Festival will screen the directors’ latest works including The Hypnotist (Hyponotisören) by Hallström and The Artist and the Model (El Artista y La Modelo) by Trueba. The Artist and the Model received 13 Goya nominations this year, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Other films to be featured in the Festival’s signature CINEDWNTWN Gala series at the Olympia Theater include highly anticipated screenings of Pablo Larrain’s Oscar-nominated NO, the Cannes-winning The Hunt, starring Mads Mikkelsen in the performance of his career thus far, and the world premiere of Eenie Meenie Miney Moe, a Miami-based feature from Jokes Yanes, the editor of MIFF 2011’s hit film Magic City Memoirs.

Miami International Film Festival’s 30th edition is also thrilled to present six competition categories, 15 non-competition categories, as well as an array of special events and screenings. From up-and-coming filmmakers to industry veterans, each category will showcase the filmmakers’ incredible talent.

Festival Competition Categories:

Knight Ibero-American Competition consists of dramatic works from Latin America, Spain and Portugal, as well as Latino-themed works produced in the United States. The films are competing for $40,000 in prizes courtesy of James L. & John S. Knight Foundation, and a $5,000 Screenwriting Award from the Jordan A. Ressler Foundation. The 10 films competing in this category include:

• Everybody Has A Plan (Todos tenemos un plan) (Spain/Argentina /Germany, directed by Ana Piterbarg)
• Cinco De Mayo: The Battle (Mexico, directed by Rafa Lara)
• Dust (Polvo) (Guatemala, directed by Julio Hernández Cordón)
•  Gone Fishing (Días de pesca) (Argentina, directed by Carlos Sorín)
• A Gun in Each Hand (Una pistola en cada mano) (Spain, directed by Cesc Gay)
• Marriage (Matrimonio) (Argentina, directed by Carlos Jaureguialzo)
• The Moving Creatures (O Que Se Move) (Brazil, directed by Caetano Gotardo)
• So Much Water (Tanta agua) (Uruguay/Mexico/Netherlands, directed by Ana Guevara & Leticia Jorge)
• Thesis On A Homicide (Tesis sobre un homicidio) (Spain/Argentina, directed by Hernán A. Golfrid)
• Vinyl Days (Días de vinilo) (Argentina/Colombia, directed by Gabriel Nesci)

Knight Documentary Competition consists of engaging and thought-provoking feature-length documentaries created by international filmmakers that examine social issues, diverse cultures, icons and inspiring people. The films are competing for $10,000 courtesy of the Knight Foundation. The 10 films competing in this category include:

•  Viva Cuba Libre: Rap Is War (USA, directed by Jesse Acevedo)
•  Blackfish (USA, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite)
• The Crash Reel (USA, directed by Lucy Walker)
•  Cubamerican (USA, directed by Jose Enrique Pardo
•  Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (USA, directed by Brad Bernstein)
• Gideon’s Army (USA, directed by Dawn Porter)
• Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation (Sagrada: El misteri de la creació) (Switzerland, directed by Stefan Haupt)
• Valentine Road (USA, directed by Marta Cummingham)
• Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (USA, directed by Sebastian Junger)
• Who Is Dayani Cristal? (United Kingdom/Mexico, directed by Marc Silver)

Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition consists of first-time feature filmmakers from Spain, Portugal and Latin America that are competing for a $5,000 cash prize presented by Lexus. Films competing in this category include:

• The Boy Who Smells Like Fish (Mexico/Canada, directed by Analeine Cal y Mayor)
•  Edificio Royal (Colombia/Venezuela/Germany, directed by Iván Wild)
• Good Luck, Sweetheart (Boa Sorte, Meu Amor) (Brazil, directed by Daniel Aragão)
•  Miguel, San Miguel (Chile, directed by Matías Cruz)
•  Molasses (Melaza) (Cuba/France/Panama, directed by Carlos Días Lechuga)
• No Autumn, No Spring (Sin otoño, sin primavera) (Ecuador/Colombia/France, directed by Iván Mora)
•  Solo (Uruguay/Argentina/Netherlands/France, directed by Guillermo Rocamora)
• The Swimming Pool (La piscina) (Cuba/Venezuela directed by Carlos Machado Quintela)
• Villegas (Argentina/Netherlands/France, directed by Gonzalo Tobal)

University of Miami Shorts Competition will present the latest in short films from around the globe. The jury selected winner will a receive $2,500 cash prize. Films competing in this category include:

•  9 Meter (Denmark, directed by Anders Walter)
•  Anna and Jerome (Anna et Jérôme) (France, directed by Mélanie Delloye)
• Ebb & Flow (A Onda Traz, O Vento Leva) (Brazil/Spain, directed by Gabriel Mascaro)
• Edmond Was A Donkey (Edmond Était Un Âne) (Canada/France, directed by Franck Dion)
• Eleven: Twelve (USA/Portugal, directed by JC Barros)
• Lost Country (USA, directed by Heather Burky)
• Of Other Carnivals (De Outros Carnavais) (Brazil, directed by Paulo Miranda)
• Palmipedarium (France, directed by Jérémy Clapin)
• Skunk (Rotkop) (Belgium, directed by Jan Roosens & Raf Roosens)

Festival Non-Competition Categories:

CINEDWNTWN GALAS

• Amor Cronico (USA/Cuba, directed by Jorge Perrugorría)
• The Artist and the Model (Spain, directed by Fernando Trueba)
• The Boy Who Smells Like Fish (Canada/ Mexico, directed by Analeine Cal y Mayor)
• Dark Blood (Netherlands, directed by George Sluizer)
• Eenie Meenie Miney Moe (USA, directed by Jokes Yanes)
• The Hunt (Jagten) (Denmark, directed by Thomas Vinterberg)
• The Hypnotist (Sweden, directed by Lasse Hallström)
•  NO (Chile/USA, directed by Pablo Larraín) *2013 Oscar Nominated for Best Foreign Film
• RADiUS-TWC’s Twenty Feet from Stardom (USA, directed by Morgan Neville)
• Venus and Serena (USA, directed by Maiken Baird and Michelle Major)

Cinema 360° presented by VIENDOMOVIES is one of the Festival’s most extensive categories this year with an array of films from around the world.

• 7 Boxes (7 Cajas) (Paraguay, directed by Juan Carlos Maneglia & Tana Schémbori)
• A Perfect Plan (Un Plan Parfait) (France, directed by Pascal Chaumeil)
• After Lucia (Después de Lucia) (Mexico, directed by Michel Franco)
• Capadocia 3 (Mexico/USA, directed by Pedro Pablo Ibarra, Javier Patrón, Moises Urquidi & Carlos Carrera)
• Calloused Hands (USA, directed by Jesse Quiñones)
• Comrade Kim Goes Flying (Belgium/United Kingdom/D.P.R of Korea, directed by Anja Daelemans, Nicholas Bonner, & Kim Gwang-hun)
• Day of The Flowers (United Kingdom, directed by John Roberts)
• Dead Europe (Australia/United Kingdom, directed by Tony Krawitz)
• The Deep (Djúpid) (Iceland/Norway, directed by Baltasar Kormákur)
• Dormant Beauty (Bella Addormentata) (Italy/France directed by Marco Bellocchio)
• The End (Fin) (Spain, directed by Jorge Torregrossa )
• Everyday (United Kingdom, directed by Michael Winterbottom)
• Fill The Void (Lemale Et Ha’Halal) (Israel, directed by Rama Burshtein)
• The German Friend (El amigo alemán) (Germany/ Argentina, directed by Jeanine Meerapfel)
• Ghost Graduation (Promoción fantasm) (Spain, directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera)
• Hand in Hand (France, directed by Valérie Donzelli)
• Hannah Arendt (Germany/Luxembourg/France, directed by Margareta von Trotta)
• It Was the Son (E’Stato Mio Figlio) (Italy, directed by Daniele Cipri)
•  Measuring the World (Die Vermessung Der Welt) (Germany, directed by Detlev Buck)
• Mental (USA/Australia, directed by P.J. Hogan)
• Nairobi Half Life (Kenya/Germany, directed by Tosh Gitonga)
• Oh Boy (Germany, directed by Jan Ole Gerster)
• Paradise: Love (Paradies: Liebe) (Austria/Germany/France, directed by Ulrich Seidl)
• Red Wine (Vino Tinto) (USA, directed by Carlos Gutierrez)
• Patience Stone (Syngu’e Sabour) (Afghanistan, directed by Atiq Rahimi)
• Reality (Italy/France, directed by Matteo Garrone)
• Still Mine (Canada, directed by Michael McGowan)
• The Trip 2 (El paseo 2) (Colombia, directed by Harold Trompetero)
• White Elephant (Elefante blanco) (Argentina/Spain, directed by Pablo Trapero)

Spotlight on China

• Beijing Flickers (You-Zhong)  (China, directed by Zhang Yuan)
• Full Circle (Fei Yue Lao Ren Yan) (China, directed by Zhang Yang)
• Romancing in Thin Air (Gao Hai Bazhi Lian II) (China/Hong Kong, directed by Johnnie To)

See Voir Veo CANADA

• Camion (Canada, directed by Rafaël Ouellet)
• L’Affaire Dumont (Canada, directed by Daniel Grou)
• Laurence Anyways (Canada/France, directed by Xavier Dolan)

4 Directors to Watch

• A World Not Ours (United Kingdom/Lebanon/Denmark, directed by Mahdi Fleifel)
• Blondie (Sweden, directed by Jesper Ganslandt)
• The Future (Il Futuro) (Chile/Italy/Germany/ Spain, directed by Alicia Scherson)
• Three Kids (Twa Timoun) (Belgium/Haiti, directed by Jonas D’Adesky)

Doc-You-Up

• Amazon Gold (USA, directed by Reuben Aaronson)
• Bay of all Saints (Da Maré) (USA/Brazil, directed by Annie Eastman)
• Casting By (USA, directed by Tom Donahue)
• Liv & Ingmar (Czech Republic/India/Norway, directed by Dheeraj Akolkar)
• No Place on Earth (USA, United Kingdom, Germany, directed by Janet Tobias)
• Ping Pong (United Kingdom, directed by Hugh Hartford)

Florida Focus presented by FPL

• Calloused Hands (USA, directed by Jesse Quiñones)
• Pincus (USA, directed by David Fenster)
• Red Wine (Vino Tinto) (USA, directed by Carlos Gutierrez)
• Tony Tango (USA, directed by Manola Celí)

Lee Brian Schrager’s Culinary Cinema

• Meat Hooked (USA, directed by Suzanne Wasserman)
• Oma & Bella (Germany/USA, directed by Alexa Karolinski)
• Why Did You Leave? (Por Que Vocȇ Partiu?) (Brazil, directed by Eric Belhassem)

Family Day

•  Magic Camp (USA, directed by Judd Ehrlich)
• The Croods (USA, directed by Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders)

REEL Music

• Someone Else’s Bed (USA, directed by Maggy Torres-Rodriguez)
• Turning (Denmark/USA, directed by Charles Atlas)

America the Beautiful

• At Any Price (USA, directed by Ramin Bahrani)
• The Discoverers (USA, directed by Justin Schwarz)
• The Go Doc Project (USA, directed by Cory James Krueckeberg)
• The Hot Flashes (USA, directed by Susan Seidelman)

Visions

• Bob Wilson’s Life and Death of Marina Abramovic (United Kingdom/Spain, directed by Giada Colagrande)
• The Fifth Season (La Cinquieme Saison) (Belgium/Netherlands/France, directed by Peter Brosens & Jessica Woodworth)
• Leviathan (France/United Kingdom/USA, directed by Lucien Castain-Taylor & Vérena Paravel)
• Multiple Visions, The Crazy Machine (Miradas múltiples, la máquina loca) (Mexico/France/Spain, directed by Emilio Maille)
• Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany, directed by Carlos Reygadas)
• Rio 2096:A Story of Love and Fury (Uma História de Amor E Fúria) (Brazil, directed by Luiz Bolognesi)
• Sadourni’s Butterflies (Las mariposas ee Sadourni) (Argentina, directed by Darío Nardi)

From The Vault

• Au Hasard Balthazar (France/Sweden, directed by Robert Bresson)
• The Super (El Super) (USA, directed by Leon Ichaso & Orlando Jiménez-Leal)
• The Yellow Ticket (USA, directed by Victor Janson & Eugen Illés)
• Zoo (USA, directed by Frederick Wiseman)

Mayhem

• Animals (Spain, directed by Marçal Forés)
• Errors of the Human Body (Germany/USA, directed by Eron Sheean)
• Halley (Mexico, directed by Sebastian Houfmann)
• Pietá (D.P.R of Korea, directed by Kim Ki-duk)
• The Midnight Game (USA, directed by Alejandro Calvo)
• Sanitarium (USA, directed by Bryan Ramirez, Bryan Ortiz & Kerry Valderrama)
• Would You Rather (USA, directed by David Guy Levy)

Spotlight on FilmMovement: The Festival will be celebrating FilmMovement’s 10th anniversary and honoring their commitment to cinema outside of commercial commitments with three films.

• Broken (United Kingdom, directed by Rufus Norris)
• The Deflowering of Eva Van End (De Ontmaagding Van Eva Van End) (Netherlands, directed by Michiel ten Horn)
• La Sirga (Colombia, directed by William Vega)

Other Notables Highlights During the Festival week:

• The Festival will host a series of Masterclass Seminars at the Miami Beach Cinematheque, The Standard Spa, and Miami Light Project. The classes include:

o    Analyze This: A Critics Power in Today’s Film Culture (March 2, at 3 p.m.)
o    You’re Invited? Now What? (March 3, at 2:30 p.m.)
o    International Symposium on the Chinese Film Industry & Chinese Films for Mandarin Education (March 7 – March 9, 2013)
o    Do A Shot Miami! #1 Presented by Kodak & Pro8mm (March 9, at 10 a.m.)
o    Conversation with Cristián Jiménez, Director of Bonsái (March 9, at 11 a.m.)
o    Producing in Florida and Beyond (March 9, at 12:30PM)
o    Cocaine Cowboys: The Series (March 9, at 3 p.m.)
o    Do A Shot Miami! #2 Presented by Kodak & Pro8mm (March 10, at 10 a.m.)

• Brady Corbet will host an evening at Nikki Beach, and present a screening of Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar on Friday, March 8 at 7:15 p.m. Corbet will discuss this acclaimed 1966 masterpiece from one of cinemas most revered filmmakers and discuss its significance.

• The coveted Lexus Audience Award is presented to the film receiving the most votes from audience members. Prior to viewing eligible films, ballads are dispersed to audience members in order to cast their vote for their favorite film.  Last year’s winner of the Lexus Audience Award was Juan of the Dead directed by Alejandro Brugués.

• CinemaSlam is a component of the Festival’s Florida Focus program. The competition, aims to discover, showcase, and celebrate the work of undergraduate and graduate students in Miami’s film schools. College age film students from Florida International University, Miami-Dade College, Miami International University, New World School of the Arts (University of Florida), St. Thomas University, and the University of Miami compete for the right to be named CinemaSlam Champion 2013. The public is invited to judge and vote for their favorite online short between the dates January 4 – 24, 2013. The remaining 50% of the vote is determined by a select group of faculty judges from each participating school. The winning 2-3 films from each school will be judged by MIFF’s esteemed CinemaSlam Jury to determine the overall grand prize winning short CinemaSlam Champion 2013 and Category Awards for (1) Best Comedy (2) Best Drama (3) Best Experimental, Documentary or Animation (4) Best Technical Achievement, (5) Best Actor (6) Best Actress and (7) Best Director.

• Osklen’s Best Dressed at MIFF 2013 Contest: MIFF attendees will have a chance to enter this opening night contest with a chance to win a gift certificate from the upscale boutique, Osklen. To enter, guests just simply need to attend MIFF’s Opening Night Gala Party in their most stylish threads. Three of Miami’s fashion gurus will be scouting the scene for the best male and female outfits. Participants are encouraged to share their look with Instagram and Twitter using #miamiFF.

Notable Programs and Countdown Retrospective Film Prior to the Festival week:

• Bruce Weber’s Let’s Get Lost screening and Q&A: This Oscar-nominated documentary about jazz trumpeter-singer Chet Baker intercuts footage from the 1950s, when he was part of West Coast Cool, and from his later years. The film takes viewers on a journey through Baker’s life from his young beautiful faced years to his old and detached life with his face a ruin. A series of interviews with his children, ex-wife, friends, associates and lovers add to the rich texture of this fascinating film. Renowned photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber is scheduled to attend for intro and Q&A on Friday, February 1, 2013, at 7:00 p.m.
• Miami Future Cinema Critics (MFCC) is a new program in celebration of MIFF’s 30th anniversary. The aim of the program is to provide Miami-based film aficionados with a fascinating opportunity to discover new cinema – outside of the roughly 600 films that are commercially released in the U.S. annually, and learn new ways to develop their voice and attract new audiences for their own critical work. Through an application process, a group of 7 Miami writers (between the ages 21 to 30 ) will blog (written, audio or video) about films from a select playlist of 8-10 titles, curated by MIFF’s 2013 programming team. In addition to blogging, the MFCC will designate one film in their playlist as an overall “best film,” based on the Critics’ own criterion of artistic merit. Miami Future Cinema Critics Best Film of 2013 Award will be announced and presented as part of MIFF’s official Awards Night program on Saturday, March 9, 2013, at 7:00 p.m., at the Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center of the Performing Arts.

• Miami Encuentros will for the first time in the program’s history award a cash prize of $10,000 to one winning project as selected by a jury of industry professionals. The prize is sponsored by EGEDA, the Audiovisual Producers’ Rights Management Association from Spain. In addition, Madrid/Barcelona-based International Sales Agency 6 Sales will offer a 2-year representation contract to a winning project, with the ultimate goal of securing worldwide distribution. The objective of the competition category is to help facilitate and support the completion of Latin American and U.S. Hispanic feature film projects in post-production, and propelling them towards their debuts on the international stage.

MIFF’s screening venues are as unique as the films themselves, reflecting the communities MIFF serves through film.  Two theaters are historic landmarks, including the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, a grand movie palace evoking the golden age of Hollywood, tailor-made for major red carpet events, and MDC’s Tower Theater in Miami’s culturally vibrant Little Havana neighborhood, tabbed by USA Today as one of the “10 great places to see a movie in splendor”.  The Festival will also screen films at the Coral Gables Art Cinema, O Cinema, Regal South Beach, and Miami Beach Cinematheque.

The 30th edition of Miami International Film Festival runs March 1-10, 2013. For tickets and more information, please visit miff2020.wpengine.com or call 305-405-MIFF (6433). The Festival is the only major film festival event housed within a college or university.

Miami International Film Festival (MIFF), celebrating its 30th anniversary March 1 – 10, 2013, 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, produced and presented by Miami Dade College, attracts more than 70,000 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. MIFF’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 2013 Festival include Knight Foundation, Lexus and Miami-Dade County. For more, visit miff2020.wpengine.com or call 305-237-MIFF (3456).

Miami Dade College has a long and rich history of involvement in the cultural arts, providing South Florida with a vast array of artistic and literary offerings including the Miami Book Fair International, the Center @ MDC, the Miami International Film Festival, the MDC Live Arts Performing Arts Series, the Cuban Cinema Series, the Miami Leadership Roundtable speakers’ series, numerous renowned campus art galleries and theaters, and the nationally recognized School of Entertainment and Design Technology. With an enrollment of more than 174,000 students, MDC is the largest institution of higher education in the country and is a national model for many of its programs. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer more than 300 distinct degree programs including baccalaureate, associate in arts and science degrees and numerous career training certificates leading to in-demand jobs. MDC has served nearly 2,000,000 students since it opened its doors in 1960.

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org

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MIFF Contacts:
Jessica Wade Pfeffer, Jessica Wade Inc., +1 305-804-8424, jessica@jessicawadeinc.com

Janice Roland, Falco Ink,  +1 212-445-7100,  janiceroland@falcoink.com
Shannon Treusch, Falco Ink, +1 212-445-7100,  shannontreusch@falcoink.com

MDC Contacts:

Juan Mendieta, +1 305-237-7611,  jmendiet@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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