TRICKS (Poland)

Saturday, March 8---------The new cinematic stars came out last night at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, as the 25th edition of the Miami International Film Festival held its Gala Awards Ceremony. After greeting the sold-out crowd, MIFF Director Patrick de Bokay warmly greeted the audience and the assembled filmmakers. “Tonight we are honoring a select few films, but the truth is that every film that has been able to completed under difficult conditions is an award unto itself,” he reflected.

Aside from the accolades, each of the Knight Grand Jury Prizes is accompanied by a $25,000 cash prize, one of the highest on the film festival circuit. The inclusion of this major cash award has greatly increased interest from filmmakers and the distribution sector in submitting their projects. The list of winners follows.

2008 MIFF COMPETITION AWARDS

Dramatic Features: World Cinema Competition

• Knight Grand Jury Prize: TRICKS (SZTUCZKI)
  Andrzej Jakimowski’s picaresque film is about a fatherless boy who tries to tempt fate in this charming and bittersweet film from Poland.
• Special Mention: IT'S HARD TO BE NICE (TESKO JE BITI FIN)
  Srdan Vuletic’s urban fairytale about post-war society from Bosnia follows a Sarajevo taxi driver whose attempts to change his life for the better are met with resistance at all turns.
• Special Mention: FOUL GESTURE (TNUAH MEGUNA)
  Itshak (Tzahi) Gradi’s film about vendetta and vigilantism centers on a middle-aged man who decides to take justice into his own hands after becoming the victim of a road rage incident.

Dramatic Features: Ibero-American Competition

• Knight Grand Jury Prize: COCHOCHI
  This Mexican road movie and fairytale by Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán is part of this year’s MIFF Abroad program.
• Knight Grand Jury Prize: EAT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY
  Michelange Quay’s debut feature explores the spiritual corrosion of Haiti’s colonialist legacy with surreal, often wordless imagery.
• Special Mention: (...)

THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN

Friday, March 7---------Films from France have traditionally been among the strongest and most loved at the Miami International Film Festival. Not only does Miami have within its borders a large French expatriate community, but immigrants from French-speaking Africa and the Americas round out the French language contingent in this multi-cultural town. Even for those not fluent in “la langue,” French cinema has been the most popular non-English film product for more than 70 years in the United States. Look in your newspaper, and there is sure to be at least one French film playing at the local art multiplex.

For the Miami International Film Festival, the French touch (referred to in French as “le gout”) has been the event’s commitment to cinema as one of the arts. In fact, in France, cinema is routinely referred to as “the seventh art,” on a par with painting, sculpture, architecture, writing, music and dance. This philosophy has certainly been a cornerstone of the Festival in its past quarter century, and it is no surprise that the last two Festival Directors, Nicole Guillemet and Patrick de Bokay, are French citizens who see film as a critical cultural and educational art form that demands attention and support.

For the public, there is the reveling in the French language, atmosphere and gastronomy that pervades the French films in this year’s program. In fact, the year’s most critically praised French film, and the winner of three Cesar Awards (the French Oscar) including the top prize for Best Film, will screen today as a U.S. Premiere. THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN (LE GRAINE ET LE MULET) was a surprise winner for Best Film (up against considerable competition from the animation memoir PERSEPOLIS and the critically lauded THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY). However, this drama mixes all the French elements…family drama, social issues and many scenes of characters sitting down to eat amidst lively conversation. The film, directed by Abdel Kechiche, centers on an interconnected group of first-and-second generation immigrants from northern Africa who live in a decaying port town in southern France. To watch the film is not only to appreciate the intriguing mix of French and Arabic communities, but also to participate in the current dialogue of how to define contemporary French culture.

Other French films in the program have also intrigued Miami audiences. In director Christine Carriere’s DARLING (which has its final screening tomorrow night) a woman, unloved and mistreated as a child, wants to escape from her boring existence, but her choice of partner turns out to be even more of a disaster. Marina Fois, who was nominated for a Best Actress Cesar Award, gives a wonderfully rich performance as a woman who (...)

Friday, March 7--------One of the best features of the Miami International Film Festival is its embrace of the diverse communities that make up this uniquely international city. While most associate Miami with the Latin American communities that have taken root here during the past half century, the fact is that Miami is home to one of the largest gay and lesbian communities in the world. Gay life is part of the texture of the city and this year’s Miami International Film Festival is presenting several films of special interest to this unique community. The gay and lesbian community is, by and large, a community of film buffs with an avid interest in all kinds of cinema. But films that have gay content or that less definable “gay sensibility” are of particular interest and reach out to this community’s individual sense of style and perspective. The Festival is presenting several films from around the world that appeal to the unique sensibilities and sensitivities of Miami’s gay and lesbian crowd.

At the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts this evening, the film XXY by Argentine director Lucia Puenzo will be presented as a Gusman Gala, in collaboration with the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (which is celebrating its 10th anniversary from April 25 to May 4, 2008). In this poignant debut feature, a teenage hermaphrodite struggles to decide whether to be a boy or a girl. The film was nominated for eight Argentine Oscars and has won major prizes at the Cannes, Athens, Bangkok and Sao Paulo film festivals.

LOKAS, by Chilean director Gonzalo Justiniano, is that rare film genre…a gay family comedy. In this beautifully acted film, a nine-year-old boy leaves Mexico with his father to live with his grandfather and his, surprise, grandfather’s male lover in Chile. Funny yet humanistic, the film conveys the homophobic son’s struggle to exist with a father he barely knows and the grandson’s efforts to bring father and son together. The film has its World Premiere screening this evening at the Colony Theater.

In the Ibero-American Drama Competition, one film has special resonance with the gay and lesbian community. ENCARNACION, by Argentine director Anahi Berneri, is the story of an aging starlet who triumphs over her family's conservative opinions. The film flirts with camp as it also tackles issues of self and family acceptance. It also features an outstanding performance by diva Silvia Perez as a Marilyn Monroe-like figure. (...)

Gloria Estefan In Concert 

Friday, March 7--------It was an evening that could only take place in Miami…the Festival welcomed Grammy-winning producer Emilio Estefan, singing superstar Gloria Estefan and an assembly of rich Latin musical talents for the North American Premiere of 90 MILES THE DOCUMENTARY at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.

The film, a “labor of love,” chronicles the contributions of legendary and contemporary Latino musicians in the creation of Gloria Estefan’s landmark album 90 MILES. The film is a tribute to the contributions of Cuban and Latino musicians who have kept the Cuban “el son” music alive and vital. With the Estefans’ strong link to Miami, it was no wonder that it was standing-room-only at the Gusman, as the legends of Latin music (including Cachao, Arturo Sandoval, Carlos Santana, Jose Feliciano, Chocolate Armenteros and Gloria Estefan) recounted their personal and musical stories. The film, which received a standing ovation from the enthusiastic crowd, was followed by a sumptuous party at the Estefan’s Cuban club Bongos…where salsa and “el son” got the crowd moving and dancing to its intoxicating rhythms.

The film had its World Premiere at the Dubai Film Festival, with Miami serving as its North American premiere. Considering that the Estefans are Miami royalty, the Gusman Center was filled to the rafters with adoring fans.

Sandy Mandelberger, Miami FF Dailies Editor

Thursday, March 6--------When visitors from other states or countries think of Miami, they reflect on its gorgeous weather, pristine beaches, outstanding architecture and Latin-influenced culture. The banging of the drum, the beating of the marimba, the strumming of the guitar, the blaring of a trumpet, the music of Miami is as intoxicating as its other natural beauties.

To acknowledge this essential aspect of Miami culture, the Miami International Film Festival has inaugurated a new program this year. The Reel Music Scene is a special sidebar of documentaries, music videos and information panels that celebrate the love affair between music and the moving image. The program kicked off on Tuesday night with the North American Premiere of AFRICA UNITE, an inspiring music documentary that celebrates the music and life of reggae icon Bob Marley. The film chronicles the Marley family’s trip to Ethiopia in 2005 to participate in a pan-African conference and musical concert, celebrating the 60th birthday of Bob Marley. The film’s inspiring message was enhanced by the presence at the Gusman of Danny Glover, director Stephanie Black, executive producer Joslyn Barnes and members of the Marley Family, including Mama Booker, the family matriarch.

This evening, Miami plays host to the U.S. Premiere screening of 90 MILES THE DOCUMENTARY, the directorial debut of record producer (and Miami legend) Emilio Estefan. In this rousing music documentary, several legendary Latin musicians express the bitter and sweet aspects of life as exiles from Cuba through their music. The film features performances by such dynamic Latin musicians as Arturo Sandoval, Chocolate Armenteros and Gloria Estefan.

Later this week, the Festival presents several other music films to round the new program strand. IZALINE CALISTER---LADY SINGS THE TAMBU is a spirited portrait of the renowned performer of Curacao’s tambu music. In performances set on the streets of Curacao and the jazz clubs of Amsterdam, this remarkable artist reveals a sound that is distinctive and haunting. The hour-long documentary is directed by Dutch director Miluska Rosalina.

Public Enemy is one of rap’s most acclaimed innovators. In PUBLIC ENEMY: WELCOME TO THE TERRORDOME, the rappers’ enduring legacy and influence on the music’s evolution is explored as the group tours the United Kingdom. The film examines the complicated dynamics that lay at the group’s core and their commitment to use rap music as a medium for social commentary. The film, directed by Robert Patton-Spruill, features dynamic concert footage, intercut with interviews by admirers, including Henry Rollins and Ice Cube.

(...)

Film Directors of CHACUN SON CINEMA At Cannes FF 

Thursday, March 6---------Reaching a 25th anniversary is a milestone for any organization. For a film festival, it is a major accomplishment and a vantage point from which to appreciate past triumphs and survey new opportunities. As the Miami International Film Festival celebrated its silver anniversary at the glorious Gusman Center for the Performing Arts last evening, the mood was one of reverence for the past and anticipation for the future.

“A Festival is nothing without the involvement of its filmmakers," MIFF Director Patrick de Bokay declared to the packed audience. So, rather than focus on the Festival organization, the evening was a tribute to film directors. A planned compilation video of clips from films that premiered at the Festival over the past quarter century had to be delayed due to technical reasons, but the assembled throngs were treated to a rare cinematic experience.

To celebrate the art of filmmaking, the Festival screened the International Premiere of CHACUN SON CINEMA, an anthology film of 33 shorts directed by some of world cinema’s most outstanding auteurs. The film was created to celebrate last year’s 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, and was introduced by Dana Keith, director of the Miami Beach Cinematheque. The film was an intoxicating mix of drama, comedy and personal memoir about the enduring influence of the cinematic experience on some of the world’s greatest filmmakers. Participating directors included Theo Angelopoulos, Olivier Assayas, Bille August, Jane Campion, Youssef Chahine, Chen Kaige, Michael Cimino, David Cronenberg, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Manoel De Oliveira, Raymond Depardon, Atom Egoyan, Amos Gitai, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Aki Kaurismaki, Abbas Kiarostami, Takeshi Kitano, Andrei Konchalovsky, Claude Lelouch, Ken Loach, David Lynch, Nanni Moretti, Roman Polanski, Raoul Ruiz, Walter Salles, Elia Suleiman, Tsai Ming-Liang, Gus Van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Wim Wenders, Wong Kar Wai and Zhang Yimou. This unmissable evening was truly one of the highlights of this year’s film festival.

Sandy Mandelberger, Miami FF Dailies Editor

SO MUCH WATER (Uruguay) 

Wednesday, March 5---------In the past number of years, major film festivals around the world has seen it as their mission to not only exhibit the best films available, but also to serve as a breeding ground for new projects to get launched, financed and distributed. To this end, the Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) has joined the ranks of such major film festival events as Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, Pusan, Dubai and several others, in organizing parallel industry events designed to stimulate awareness and interest in projects that are still in the development stage.

With its strong accent on films from Spain, Portugal and Latin America, the mandate was clear that MIFF could be a launching pad for new Spanish and Portuguese-language films by allowing producers and directors to network with distributors, financiers, programmers, television executives and other professionals. MIFF is celebrating its sixth year of Miami Encuentros, a breakthrough program that gives emerging producers from Spain and Latin America the opportunity to present new projects to U.S. and International industry professionals. This intensive three-day event, which begins today, fosters dialogue, builds lasting connections and offers opportunities for networking and the nurturing of the next generation of filmmakers.

The Festival has assembled an impressive roster of visiting professionals, giving the Miami Encuentros producers and directors unprecedented access to some of the most important companies in the industry. The list includes: lan Arboleda, Dynamo Capital and Cinapse; Laurent Baudens, Borsalino Films; Arianna Bocco, IFC Films; Pape Boye, COACH 14; Matt Brodlie, Paramount Vantage; Andres Calderon, Dynamo Capital; Monica Chuo, Paramount International; Eduardo Constantini, Costa Films; Pablo Cruz, Canana Films; Leo de Barros, Conspiração Films; Guillerminadi Marcos, Travesia Producciones; Eva Diederix, Elle Driver; Paul Federbush, Warner Independent Pictures; Sandro Fiorin, FiGA Films; Alex Garcia, FiGA Films; Jason Gurvitz, Maya Releasing; Samantha Horley, Lumina Films Ltd.; Sarah Lash, Cinetic Media; Arne Ludwig, 2 Pilots Filmproduction GmbH; Millie Luna, Venevision Internacional; Stuart Manashil, CAA; Eric Mathis, Ondamax Group // Clou Production Services; Gael Nouaille, Wild Bunch; Alberto Perez de La Mesa, Albrije Home Entertainment; Jason Resnick, Focus Features / Universal Pictures; Laura Rister, Untitled Entertainment; Eileen Rodriguez, The Weinstein Company; Eric Rovner, William Morris Agency; Francesco Ruilli, Film Annex; Luillo Ruiz, Buena Ondita; Ilda Santiago, Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival and Estacao Cinemas; Belly Torres, Buena Ondita; and Mirjam Wertheim, Orange Entertainment.

25TH ANNIVERSARY MIFF ENCUENTROS PROJECTS

WATER AND SALT (AQ (...)

Wednesday, March 5------“Music is Miami, and Miami is music”, declared Patrick de Bokay, MIFF Director, from the stage of the Gusman Center last evening, announcing a new program strand in the Festival called The Reel Music Scene. This special sidebar of documentaries, music videos and information panels will celebrate the love affair between music and the moving image.

To kick off the program, the Festival presented the North American Premiere of AFRICA UNITE, an inspiring music documentary that celebrates the music of reggae icon Bob Marley. Oscar-winning director Stephanie Black has collaborated with executive producers Danny Glover, Joslyn Barnes, Rita Marley and Cedella Marley, to focus on the Marley family’s trip to Ethiopia in 2005 to participate in a pan-African conference and musical concert, celebrating the 60th birthday of Bob Marley.

The film’s inspiring message of unity as reflected in the life and music of Bob Marley was enhanced by the presence at the Gusman of Danny Glover, director Stephanie Black, executive producer Joslyn Barnes and members of the Marley Family, including Mama Booker, the family matriarch. Prior to the film, Danny Glover was interviewed on-stage by film critic/educator Elvis Mitchell. Members of Miami’s Caribbean community, many in colorful native dress, were present at what was a truly inspiring tribute to a visionary artist and the continuing influence of his message.

Sandy Mandelberger, Miami FF Dailies Editor

DEFICIT 

Tuesday, March 4-------This year, the Miami International Film Festival is putting a special spotlight on new Mexican films. Not only is this industry’s cinema among the most influential in the world right now, but this year’s MIFF ABROAD program, sponsored by American Airlines, will bring a group of US film industry professionals to network with their Mexican colleagues in August of this year.  MIFF ABROAD is an industry exchange program linking film professionals from around the world with Latin America, hosting panels, discussions and events designed to facilitate film business and industry connections. This year’s program with Mexico is co-presented with FICCO (Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo de la Ciudad de México) in collaboration with IMCINE. 

Mexican cinema has been an active resource since the silent film era. Specializing in everything from rural melodramas to gothic horror films to political diatribes, the cinema from our closest border has always maintained a high profile in the cinema world. However, in the past decade, there has literally been an explosion of new talents, which has been dubbed El Nuevo Cine Mexicano (New Mexican Cinema). With such leading lights as directors Arturo Ripstein, Alfonso Arau, Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro and María Novaro, and such famous films as LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE (1992), CRONOS (1993), AMORES PERROS (2001), Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (2002) and last year’s PAN’S LABYRINTH, Mexican cinema has become an international powerhouse. A few Mexican actors have even become full-fledged international movie stars, including Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna and Salma Hayek. 

The Festival is showcasing twelve individual Mexican projects this year….9 features, 2 short films and one project in development in the MIAMI ENCUENTROS program. In fact, the Festival led off with a Mexican film, LA MISMA LUNA, which is destined to join the list of films that captured the imagination of a worldwide audience.

In the Ibero-American Cinema Competition, four Mexican films are competing for the $25,000 Knight Foundation award. COCHOCHI (Israel Cárdenas, Laura Amelia Guzmán), PÁRPADOS AZULES (Ernesto Contreras), PARTES USADAS (Aarón Fernández) and LA ZONA (Rodrigo Plá) are all examples of the sophisticated and compelling new talents emerging from the “second generation” of Mexican film auteurs.

LOS LADRONES VIEJOS (Everardo González Reyes)a fascinating look at the crime underworld of Mexico City in the 1960s, is competing in the Festival’s Documentary Competition. The film won Best Documentary honors at the Guadalajara Film Festival, Mexico’s most prestigious film event. In the International Panorama section, two films that have been making waves on the international film circuit are being presented. DÉFICIT is the directorial debut of actor Gael García Bernal (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES), which had its international premiere at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. STELLET LICHT (Si (...)

Demi Moore At Miami Film Festival 

Monday, March 3----------When you have one of the most famous and recognizable faces in both Hollywood and the tabloids, it is a challenge to be recognized for your talent and not your fame. The plain, unvarnished truth is that Demi Moore is a damned good actress. She makes that abundantly clear in her role as the buttoned-down executive who becomes involved in a major diamond heist from the vaults of her employer in last night’s Gusman Gala. FLAWLESS (which describes the jewels, but certainly can be applied to Ms. Moore as well) is directed by Michael Radford (IL POSTINO) and Moore playing opposite two-time Oscar winner and Hollywood perennial Michael Caine.

Caine is only the latest of a string of leading men that Ms. Moore has acted with in her three decades as a film star. How do the names Robert Redford (INDECENT PROPOSAL), Rob Lowe (ST. ELMO’S FIRE), Patrick Swayze (GHOST), Tom Cruise (A FEW GOOD MEN), Alec Baldwin (THE JUROR) and Kevin Costner (MR. BROOKS) grab you for sheer star power and masculine charisma? Moore has kept her own in this company, while recently branching into production duties on the AUSTIN POWERS series and her own starring project, G.I. JANE (1997). This prolific actress has starred in over 40 films in a career that began with her film debut in BLAME IT ON RIO (1984), a film which also co-starred Michael Caine. As her career moves full circle with her re-teaming with Caine, it is interesting to chart her life and film career.

Born Demetria Gene Guynes in Roswell, New Mexico in 1962, she spent much of her childhood years in a small town south of Pittsburgh. Her family eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1976. When she was sixteen, her friend, actress Nastassja Kinski, persuaded her to drop out of Hollywood's Fairfax High School, to become an actress. Like many before her, she started out as fashion model, but eventually found work on television soap operas, most memorably a co-starring role on GENERAL HOSPITAL. Her big break came in 1985, when she was part of the ensemble cast of the youth dramedy ST. ELMO’S FIRE. She and co-stars Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Jude Nelson, Andrew McCarthy and Ally Sheedy became dubbed “the brat pack”. Her other youth comedies of the period included ABOUT LAST NIGHT (also opposite Rob Lowe), ONE CRAZY SUMMER (with John Cusack) and WISDOM (again opposite Emilio Estevez). 

In the 1990s, Moore was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, with a string of box-office successes, including GHOST, A FEW GOOD MEN, INDECENT PROPOSAL and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. She became the first actress to reach the $10 million salary mark. Her star power even shone in films that were only modest box office pacers, including THE SCARLET LETTER, THE JUROR (...)