MIFF Knight Ibero Grand Prize Winner Bonsai Starts May 18 at MDC’s Tower Theater and Miami Beach Cinematheque
MIAMI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Produced & Presented by Miami Dade College
Festival/Tower Theater Contact:
Tatyana Chiocchetti
Tel: +1 305-237-7879
miffpress@mdc.edu
MDC Contact:
Juan Mendieta
Tel: +1 305-237-7611
jmendiet@mdc.edu
MIFF Knight Ibero Grand Prize Winner Bonsai Starts May 18 at MDC’s Tower Theater and Miami Beach Cinematheque
Miami, FL – The acclaimed Chilean slacker-romance Bonsai, which recently won the Miami International
Film Festival’s Knight Ibero-American Grand Jury Prize, will start its South Florida first-run engagement on
Friday, May 18 at Miami Dade College’s Tower Theater and Miami Beach Cinematheque.
The second feature film directed by Cristián Jiménez, Bonsai was the big winner at the 2012 Festival, winning the $30,000 Grand Prize sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Jiménez also took home MIFF’s $5,000 Jordan A. Ressler Screenwriting Award. Bonsai has also screened in prestigious slots at the Cannes Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.
Based on a widely praised 2006 Chilean novel by Alejandro Zambra, Bonsai focuses on young twentysomething Julio (Diego Noguera), at two different intervals in his life. In the first, Julio is an ambivalent young literature student involved with Emilia during his college years; flashing forward 8 years, Julio is now a struggling novelist who begins sleeping with his neighbor, Blanca. Through both periods, a richly comic and poetic metaphor of the fragility of love – and its need to be nurtured with the care and sensitivity as may be necessary to grow a bonsai – unfolds.
For complete showtime information for the week of May 18-24th, visit www.towertheatermiami.com for MDC’s Tower Theater and www.mbcinema.com for Miami Beach Cinematheque.
To see the trailer for Bonsai, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=seYq7BRFoqY
Hi-resolution photos and a press kit for Bonsai are available from the distributor, Strand Releasing, http://extranet.strandreleasing.com/secure/pages/projectdetail.aspx?projectId=97c08392-b396-4900-7d84- ed409825ce08 . For passcode access and/or screeners for review purposes, please contact Jenna Martin, jenna@strandreleasing.com, 310-836-7500.
NEWS RELEASE
Festival/Tower Theater Contact: Tatyana Chiocchetti Tel: +1 305-237-7879 miffpress@mdc.edu
MDC Contact: Juan Mendieta Tel: +1 305-237-7611 jmendiet@mdc.edu’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8th, 2012
Miami International Film Festival (MIFF), celebrating its 30th anniversary March 1 – 10, 2013, is
considered the preeminent Ibero-American film festival in the U.S. 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 have made the Festival a natural gateway for the discovery of Ibero-American talent.
Additionally, the Festival offers unparalleled educational opportunities to filmmakers and the community
at large. 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 Florida
Center for the Literary Arts, the MDC Live! Performing Arts Series, The MDC Tower Theater Cinema Series,
nine visual arts galleries including The Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College and the School of
Entertainment and Design Technology, in addition to the renowned Miami International Film Festival. MDC
is the largest institution of higher education in the country and is nationally recognized for many of its
academic and cultural programs. With an enrollment of more than 174,000 students, MDC is the nation’s top
producer of degrees. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer nearly 300 distinct degree
programs including several baccalaureate degrees. It has admitted nearly 2 million students since it opened
its doors in 1960. More at mdc.edu.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. 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.
