What to Stream While Quarantined: Miami Film Festival Edition
As we all try to navigate the quickly-changing film landscape in the time of coronavirus, we’re committed to continuing our mission of connecting art with audiences, and bringing you world-class cinema to watch on a daily basis. With 37 wonderful editions of Miami Film Festival behind us, we’ve assembled a list of some of our favorite Miami Film Festival/GEMS titles that are currently streaming online, in our new blog series we’re calling “What to Stream While Quarantined”.
MY FRIEND DAHMER
There’s something different about Ohio high school student Jeff Dahmer. To get through the days, Jeff plays the class clown, feigning spastic fits to attract attention. After school, he retreats to his makeshift lab, where he dissolves roadkill in jars of acid. Yet no one could foresee what he would become…
Based on the graphic novel by John Backderf—one of Dahmer’s former classmates—My Friend Dahmer is a grim origin story. Anchored by former Disney star Ross Lynch’s chilling lead performance, this is a terrifying, surprisingly empathetic look into one troubled teen’s descent into madness. Jeffrey Dahmer would later become one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. But here, he’s simply known as “Dahmer” – a not-so-regular high school student.
Available to stream on Amazon Prime.
20 FEET FROM STARDOM
Winner of the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary, 20 Feet From Stardom focuses on the immensely talented backup singers who for years have been shut out of the spotlight…until now.
Darlene Love and Merry Clayton are some of the most talented vocalists in the game. They’ve been crucial parts of hits such as “Gimme Shelter”, yet no one knows their names. Recounting the highs and lows of their careers in the background and packed with interviews with the likes of Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Wonder, 20 Feet From Stardom is a joyous celebration of music that you won’t soon forget.
Available to stream on Netflix.
THE HUNT
After a kindergarten student wrongfully implies he touched her inappropriately, a lonely teacher finds the wrath of his small Danish village descend upon him in this stunning drama about mob mentality.
Starring Mads Mikkelsen in a heartbreaking performance, 2012’s The Hunt — which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival — is a stark reminder on the malleability of human behavior, and how mistruths could spread like a virus that gets out of control.
Available to stream for free on Tubi.
DOLEMITE IS MY NAME
In Dolemite Is My Name, Eddie Murphy steps into the shoes of Rudy Ray Moore, a struggling comedian who eventually hits it big when he conceives of the wild character of Dolemite — an obscene, kung-fu fighting pimp who is like a physical manifestation of 1970s excess in Los Angeles. Embracing an image that feeds off the outrageous, his alter-ego turns him into a filmmaker, rap pioneer, and bona fide Blaxploitation film icon.
With spectacularly flashy period costumes from Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther) and a supporting cast made up of Craig Robinson, Keegan-Michael Key, Wesley Snipes, Mike Epps, and Snoop Dogg, Dolemite Is My Name is a hilarious and exuberant return to form from one of comedy’s all-time greats.
Available to stream on Netflix.
HOT GIRLS WANTED
Hot Girls Wanted follows five young women as they navigate Miami’s amateur porn scene. Eye-opening and intensely personal, this documentary is more than just an expose on the world of adult entertainment – it digs deep into the collective mind of a group of girls that jump headfirst into a murky, competitive, and sometimes dangerous industry that they’re perhaps ill-prepared to handle.
Produced by Rashida Jones and directed by Sexy Baby team Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus, Hot Girls Wanted is a provocative look inside the ultra-saturated market of amateur porn, and gives a face and a voice to the girls who take it on.
Available to stream on Netflix.
RESISTANCE
Marcel Marceau’s influence as a mime artist is legendary. But as an underground French Resistance fighter during WW2, the untold story of his youth is as extraordinary as his artistic legacy. With the war closing in, Marcel — an aspiring Jewish actor — put aside his dreams of a life in the spotlight to join the French Resistance. Putting himself directly in harm’s way, he played a vital role in saving the lives of thousands of children orphaned at the hands of the Nazis.
Anchored by a moving performance from Jesse Eisenberg, Resistance is an emotional ode to Marceau and the unsung heroes whose spirit and determination touched the lives of thousands.
Available to rent on iTunes and Prime Video.
