New flicks on horizon
Twelve world premieres in international film festival lineup.
One hundred and twentynine feature-length and short films will unspool at the 33rd Miami International Film Festival, to be held March 4-13 at various venues around the city.
Organizers of the festival, which is presented by Miami Dade College, unveiled this year’s lineup at a press conference Monday. The slate includes 12world premieres, 16 North American debuts and13 U.S. premieres. Among them: “The Olive Tree,” by twotime Goya-winning actress and director Icíar Bollaín, about a family’s decision to sell a 1,000-year-old olive tree fromtheir village in Eastern Spain to a land developer.
“Queen of Thursdays,” a documentary portrait of Rosario “Charin” Suárez, the former prima ballerina in the Cuban National Ballet, directed by Tower Theater programmer Orlando Rojas and co-written by Dennis Scholl, former vice president of art for the Knight Foundation.
“Hearts of Palm,” a love story told through science, literature, and music that invokes Miami’s mystical undercurrents, directed by Miami filmmaker Monica Peña.
“The Rebound,” director Shaina Koren’s look at the struggles by the Miami Heat Wheels wheelchair basketball team to reach their second national championship game.
“Un Caballo Llamado Elefante [Elephant: The Horse],” director Andrés Waissbluth’s fantasy-adventure inspired by autobiographical tales from the childhood of Chilean musician and composer Lalo Parra and his siblings. Other movies in the lineup: “The Lobster,” a bizarre comedy about a future society where single people are given 45 days to find a romantic partner, starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz and Léa Seydoux, directed by the always-provocative Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (“Dogtooth,” “Alps”).
“Weiner,” an exploration of themayoral campaign of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, which won the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
The festival’s opening-night selection is the Spanish comedy “My Big Night,” about the madcap backstage antics during theta ping of a television New Year’ s Eve special, directed by wildman Álex de la Iglesia (“The Last Circus,” “Witching and Bitching,” “Perdita Durango”). The pop singer Raphael, who appears in the film, will attend the screening.
The festival closes with “The Steps,” director Andrew Currie’s comedy about the chaos that ensues after a marriage brings two dysfunctional families together. It stars James Brolin, Christine Lahti, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Jason Ritter.
New this year is a “Marquee Series” featuring on-stage conversations by filmmakers as they present their latest work. Monica Bellucci will speak with director Guy Edoin about playing the mother of a gay son in his latest film, “Ville-Marie.” Director Gavin Hood (“Tsotsi,” “Ender’s Game”) will unveil “Eye in the Sky,” starring Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul and the late Alan Rickman about a military officer overseeing a drone operation who is caught in a moral dilemma. Writer-director Deepa Mehta (“Water”) will discuss her career before a screening of “Beeba Boys,” about gang warfare in Vancouver.
Returning for a fourth year is the Lee Brian Schrager’s Culinary Cinema program, which consists of four screenings of food-related movies (including “My Bakery in Brooklyn” and “Sweet Bean”) paired with meals and wines from area restaurants.
“This year’s lineup is like a prism that invites Miami to see theworld with an illumination that only the cinema and the artists that create the work can provide,” says Jaie Laplante, executive director of the festival. The Miami International Film Festival will take place at several venues around the city, including the Olympia Theater, Tower Theater, O Cinema Miami Beach, Coral Gables Art Cinema, Miami Beach Cinematheque, O Cinema Wynwood and the Coconut Grove Cinépolis. Tickets go on sale to the general public Feb. 12. For a complete festival schedule, call 305-237-3456 or go to MiamiFilmFestival.com.