The prestigious Miami Film Festival returns for its 39th run March 4-13, in a hybrid format with both virtual and in-person film screenings. The event brings the work of some of the world’s best filmmakers to our shores.
This year’s in-person festival screenings will take place at MDC’s Tower Theater Miami, Silverspot Cinema and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Online screenings will be available for viewing on computers, mobile devices, Apple TV, Roku and Android TV via The Eventive App.
“Every Miami Film Festival is spectacular and this year will be no exception,” said Jaie Laplante, executive director and co-director of programming. “And as part of our ongoing mission to support local filmmakers, we’re making great strides to further invest in our filmmaker community.”
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(Courtesy of Miami Film Festival)
Miami Film Festival
Lauren Cohen and Jaie Laplante (L-R), co-directors of programming for Miami Film Festival, revealed the official 2022 program during a cocktail reception held at MDC’s Tower Theater Miami Feb. 1.
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(Courtesy of Miami Film Festival)
Miami Film Festival
Miami Dade College’s Tower Theater in Little Havana is one of three Miami Film Festival locations this year.
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(Courtesy of Miami Film Festival)
Miami Film Festival
Jaie Laplante (L), Miami Film Festival executive director, with guest programmer and BIPOC representative Rachelle Salnave.
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Miami Film Festival
This year’s Miami Film Festival includes a screening of “South Beach Shark Club: Legends and Lore of the South Florida Shark Hunters,” which was directed by Robert Ramos.
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Miami Film Festival
A scene from “Borrowed,” directed by Oscar Ernesto Ortega and Carlos Betancourt.
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Miami Film Festival
“Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way” was directed by Stacey Woelfel and William T. Horner.
The festival has grown significantly in recent years and has continued to diversify its selection of films and participating filmmakers to reflect Miami’s diversity, and respond to the national conversation around race.
The 2022 festival showcases more than 120 features, documentaries and short films from 35 countries, with themes ranging from racism and other social issues to sexuality, history, romance, the environment and more.
The representative group of films represents “the brilliance of cinema today,” said Rachelle Salnave, guest programmer and BIPOC representative for the festival.
Salnave was selected to choose a wide range of films that possess historical significance in Black cinema. She says this festival – and the industry as a whole – has opened up minds and compelled those in power positions in the business to “put their money where their mouth is” by giving opportunities to filmmakers of all races, ethnicities and levels of experience.
She says viewers will be able to mentally travel to different countries and be fully immersed in that experience because of the wide range of films available. Salnave hopes that the inclusivity and diversity of the films being screened at the festival will motivate the community to realize that they can do the same.
The festival presents films from a wide variety of genres. Many of the people behind their creation are based in Miami and contending for the Knight Made in MIA Award.
“South Beach Shark Club: Legends and Lore of the South Florida Shark Hunters,” directed by Robert Ramos, is one of 14 documentaries competing for the audience-voted Documentary Achievement Award. It was originally a short film for PBS’ filmmaker program, but its success demanded that it be further developed into a documentary feature film, which is making its world premiere at the festival.
The film dives into the legacy of the South Beach Shark Club and Rene de Dios, who was considered the “greatest shark fisherman in the world.” It also shows what Miami Beach was like in the early 1970s and how much it has changed over time.
Ramos was born and raised in Miami Beach while the club was in its prime. The story is very personal for him, as he was working as a boat captain himself when he first met de Dios. The film is a means of telling a story about what Ramos grew up around and what he calls a “love letter to Miami Beach” that shows there was life in the city before the Cocaine Cowboys arrived.
Ramos shared that it means a lot to him to have his film showcased in the festival – he grew up with a Miami Film Festival poster in his room.
“It’s a dream come true to participate in this festival,” he said. “In our hometown, showing a movie about our hometown.”
“Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way,” directed by Stacey Woelfel and William T. Horner, is another documentary being presented that’s in competition for the award.
The film follows the life of Cuban American AIDS activist Pedro Zamora after his own AIDS diagnosis. Faced with a life-threatening disease, he chose to turn his reality into something educational and used it to create awareness and destigmatize what living with HIV meant. Zamora influenced many lives and gave people hope during his time on MTV’s “The Real World: San Francisco” and through speaking engagements around the nation. He insisted on having MTV “keep the cameras rolling” throughout his battle and hospitalizations.
Zamora eventually succumbed to the disease in 1994 at the age of 22, just hours after the finale of his season of “The Real World” aired.
“The film is about the power of love,” said Woelfel, “and that love can change things in the short term, and love can endure.”
She and Horner say they’re honored to have the film screen at the festival.
“It’s special to us because it’s where it all started. It’s where Pedro’s family made the move from Cuba into the United States. It’s where Pedro grew up,” said Woelfel.
They believe that Zamora’s dream still lives on. They want the youth of today to hear his story in the hope that it will inspire others, but also illustrate how much has changed around the stigma of HIV/AIDS and gay marriage since 1994.
The Miami Film Festival will be the documentary’s Florida premiere; it will be available for screening after its debut there.
There are also numerous narrative feature films available to festivalgoers.
Set to have its world premiere as a red-carpet special presentation is “Borrowed,” directed by Oscar Ernesto Ortega and Carlos Betancourt.
A dramatic psychological thriller that explores themes of love, sorrow and forgiveness, the film tells the story of David, a lonely middle-aged painter and retired Navy officer who finds young and openly gay Justin online. They meet at David’s home in the Florida Keys, but when Justin realizes they have different plans for the evening, he decides not to proceed – and the date takes a dark, unexpected turn.
Jonathan del Arco and Héctor Medina feature in this Latin-themed Miami-based adaptation of Jim Kierstead’s play. It’s a “really human story,” said co-director Ortega, who hopes that viewers can relate to the characters and understand how and why things unfold the way they do in the film.
“You Resemble Me” is another story presented from a profoundly human perspective. Acted, written, directed and produced by Dina Amer, the film is one of eight narratives competing for the $10,000 Jordan Ressler First Feature Award.
The film tells the story of Moroccan French Hasna Aït Boulahcen, who was identified as Europe’s first female bomber during the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. It is a story that transcends facts and goes into a deeper understanding of who Boulahcen is and why.
The film deconstructs terrorism beyond race, religion and gender, and examines it through a more nuanced and relatable lens, says Amer. Through Boulahcen’s story, she hopes the audience can find harmony between the different parts of themselves.
Amer, who grew up in Miami, says she is “really pumped” to have the film screened at the festival.
“It feels like a homecoming,” she said. “It’s a huge honor now to come back with this feature film.”
The 10-day Miami Film Festival, featuring local and international films and filmmakers, is sure to thrill audiences whether enjoyed from home or at one of the three in-person screening locations in the heart of Miami.
“Our team has worked hard to put together an incredible lineup of feature narrative, documentary and short films this year. This is in addition to our fabulous parties, master classes, post-screening Q&As with the film directors and happy hour events. We can’t wait for the festivities to begin!” said Laplante.
Visit MiamiFilmFestival2022Eventive.com to browse the complete festival schedule and purchase tickets.