MIFF Rolls Into Town

The 27th edition of the Miami International Film Festival offers a buffet of movies for cinematic buffs to enjoy.

The 10-day festival, which takes place March 5-14, is produced and hosted by Miami Dade College.

This year’s MIFF will showcase 115 films from 45 countries, including five world premieres, 22 North American premieres and 14 U.S. premieres.

“Once again we are very pleased to bring the region a dynamic and provocative Festival program. I am especially pleased with the many educational opportunities the Festival will afford with its many seminars, workshops and timely conversations,” Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, President of Miami-Dade College, said.

The biggest draws include Ibero-American, World, DOX, Cutting the Edge and Shorts. Special sections unique to MIFF include Cinema 360˚, Encuentros, REEL Education Seminar Series, Florida Focus and the inaugural Diesel Online Shorts Competition.

“Attending a film festival is not like going to the regular cinema,” said Artistic Director Tiziana Finzi. “It is important to create an experience where you take your time, have a journey around the world and see films that, often times, have little chance to be distributed in mainstream U.S. theaters.”

Finzi is a 21-year film festival-programming veteran previously with Locarno, Cannes and Venice.

Must sees

Among the films screening at MIFF this year are the dramas City Island, starring Andy Garcia, his daughter Dominik García-Lorido and Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe winner for Best Female Actor in a TV Drama Series, Julianna Margulies.

Please Give, starring Amanda Peet, Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt.

Documentary films, including the international film festival circuit premiere of The Beatles on Record by Bob Smeaton and the U.S. premiere of Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Brigitte Berman.

The Festival will also feature the critically acclaimed premiere of Sweden’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Niels Arden Oplev and several Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar contenders, including: Argentina’s The Secret in their Eyes by Juan José Campanella, Australia’s Samson & Delilah by Warwick Thornton and Peru’s The Milk of Sorrow by Claudia Llosa.

The Accordion Kings is a documentary showcasing the Colombian vallenato or “valley music” is a musical style similar to American country music which conveys everyday stories of love and loss. In Colombia's northern Magdalena Valley, small children learn to play the accordion at their father's knee while hundreds of professional practitioners, sometimes several generations of accordeoneros in the same family, perform dazzling feats of musical prowess at social events and duel for bragging rights at annual festivals. This film documents the legendary six-day music festival that takes place once every 10 years in the Caribbean coastal market town of Valledupar and focuses on the fierce competition among Colombia’s top accordion virtuosos for the undisputed “Accordion King” title and crown.

Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric, starring world-famous Manchester United football player Eric Cantona, will raise the curtain on Friday, March 5 as the official Opening Night Film.

The Secret in their Eyes will bring the festival’s activities to an end on Saturday, March 13 as the official Awards Night film.

Awards & Competitions

The festival’s Cinema 360º is a showcase for emerging, global independent filmmakers, will feature the international premiere of Children of God by Kareem Mortimer, a rare offering from Bahamas that explores the ever-present homophobia and discrimination in Caribbean societies.

Also debuting at the MIFF is what may be the last cinematic contribution from earthquake-devastated Haiti for years to come: Moloch Tropical, a satirical look at a despot in the making by former minister of culture Raoul Peck.

The Cutting the Edge competition, a showcase of provocative films designed to expose viewers to the extreme, will feature kidnapping caper Kinatay from Philippine director Brillante Mendoza, who earned Best Director at Cannes last May for this film.

The psychedelic fantasy Pepperminta from Swiss video-art wunderkind Pipilotti Rist, whose retrospective, Pour Your Body Out, appeared at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2009.