Jaie Laplante MIFF Director

Miami International Film Festival (MIFF), produced and presented by Miami Dade College (MDC), celebrated the closing of the Festival (with one additional day of film screenings still to go) by reflecting on 138 films from 41 countries that culminated in its annual Awards Night Ceremony at the Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.
 
The screening of the revealing documentary, Venus and Serena, directed by Maiken Baird & Michelle Major, followed the awards ceremony. The film gave the audience an unprecedented, intimate look inside the lives of the tennis superstar siblings, Venus and Serena Williams.
 
Juried awards were presented in the following competition categories: Knight Ibero-American Competition, Jordan Alexander Ressler Screenwriting Award, Knight Documentary Competition, Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition, University of Miami Shorts Competition, and a new prize, Miami Future Cinema Critics Award.
 
”What a great way to usher in the next 30 years of film magic. We are just getting started as we celebrate the milestone of the festival’s first three decades” said Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, president of Miami Dade College. “This gem of a festival will continue soaring to new heights and take its rightful place alongside the very best film festivals in the world, as we train the next generation of filmmakers at MDC. I commend Jaie, his team and all the college volunteers for making this the best year ever.”
 
"MIFF’s 30^th Anniversary edition was even more successful than we could have ever dreamed,” exclaimed MIFF Executive Director Jaie Laplante. “As we close this 2013 edition, we can’t help but look forward to 2014.”
 
“The Miami International Film Festival brings the best of world cinema to Miami, inspiring not only South Florida audiences but our growing community of filmmakers who are helping to tell Miami stories,” said Dennis Scholl, VP of arts for Knight Foundation.
 
"Lexus is proud to be a part of another successful competition, recognizing all nine talented filmmakers from Latin America that were nominated for the Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Award this year,” stated Brian Smith, Lexus Vice President of Marketing. "Lexus congratulates Guillermo and Carlos and their positive contributions to the film industry.”
 
2013 MIAMI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS ARE:
 
KNIGHT IBERO-AMERICAN COMPETITION:

• Knight Grand Jury Prize: So Much Water (Tanta agua), produced by CTRL Z FILMS, Uruguay, by Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge (Uruguay/Mexico/Netherlands), will receive $15,000.   If the film's sales agent, Alpha Violet of France sells the film to a US distributor within 30 days, that US distributor will also receive $15,000.   If not, the additional $15,000 will be added to CTRL Z FILMS' prize.
• Grand Jury Best Performance: The cast of A Gun in Each Hand (Una pistola en cada mano), by Cèsc Gay (Spain), will receive $5,000.
• Grand Jury Best Director: Ana Piterbarg of Everybody Has a Plan (Todos tenemos un plan) (Spain/Argentina /Germany), will receive $5,000.

 
JORDAN ALEXANDER RESSLER SCREENWRITING AWARD:

• Winner: Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge for So Much Water (Tanta agua) by Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge (Uruguay/Mexico/Netherlands) will receive $5,000.

 
KNIGHT DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION:

• Knight Grand Jury Prize: Gideon’s Army, by Dawn Porter (USA) will receive $10,000.

 
LEXUS IBERO-AMERICAN OPERA PRIMA COMPETITION:

• The jury selected two films to tie as winners in this category:
• Solo, by Guillermo Rocamora (Uruguay/Argentina/Netherlands/France), will receive $2,500.

• The Swimming Pool (La piscina), by Carlos Machado Quintela (Cuba/Venezuela) will receive $2,500.

• Honorable Mention: The jury would also like to give special recognition to Villegas, by Gonzalo Tobal (Argentina/Netherlands/France)

 
 
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SHORTS COMPETITION:

• University of Miami Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film: “Anna and Jerome”, by Mélanie Delloye (France) will receive $2,500.

 
MIAMI FUTURE CINEMA CRITICS AWARD:

• Miami Future Cinema Critics Award: Beijing Flickers (You-Zhong) by Zhang Yuan, (China)

 
The above award winning films joined completion winners in other categories, announced earlier in the week at the Festival.   On Sunday, March 3^rd, All About the Feathers (Por las plumas) by Neto Villalobos was awarded the $10,000 Miami Encuentros prize, sponsored by EGEDA, and it was also awarded the 6 Sales representation contract. On Thursday, February 28^th, at a pre-event kick off to the Festival, "CANT" by Sam Shaib won the Cinemaslam Grand Prize, which included $500 from FilmFlorida, an artisan award from Miami-based Artist Robert McKnight, custom one-year download membership to VideoBlocks, one complete set of footage video (57 DVDs) courtesy of Footage Firm and all-access pass to the Festival.
 

ABOUT THE COMPETITIONS, JURORS AND AWARDS:
 
KNIGHT IBERO-AMERICAN COMPETITION featured 10 dramatic works from Latin America and Spain. The films competed for $40,000 in prizes courtesy of James L. & John S. Knight Foundation, and a $5,000 Screenwriting Award from the Jordan A. Ressler Foundation.
 
Knight Foundation Ibero-American films in competition were:

·Everybody Has A Plan (Todos tenemos un plan) by Ana Piterbarg (Spain/Argentina /Germany)

·Cinco De Mayo: The Battle, by Rafa Lara (Mexico)

·Dust (Polvo), by Julio Hernández Cordón, (Guatemala)

·Gone Fishing (Días de pesca), by Carlos Sorín (Argentina)

·A Gun in Each Hand (Una pistola en cada mano), by Cèsc Gay (Spain)

·Marriage (Matrimonio), by Carlos Jaureguialzo (Argentina)

·The Moving Creatures (O Que Se Move), by Caetano Gotardo (Brazil)

·So Much Water (Tanta agua) by Ana Guevara & Leticia Jorge (Uruguay/Mexico/Netherlands)

·Thesis On A Homicide (Tesis sobre un homicidio) by Hernán A. Golfrid (Spain/Argentina)

·Vinyl Days (Días de vinilo), by Gabriel Nesci ((Argentina/Colombia)

 
Knight Ibero-American Competition Jury:

• Juan Gordon - Morena Films co-founder
• Cristián Jimenez - Filmmaker of Bonsái , winner of last year’s Knight Foundatrion Grand Jury Prize
• Whit Stillman - Filmmaker

 
KNIGHT DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION featured 10 engaging and thought-provoking feature-length documentaries created by international filmmakers that examine social issues, diverse cultures, icons and inspiring people. The films competed for $10,000 courtesy of the Knight Foundation.
 
Films in Knight Documentary Competition were:

·Viva Cuba Libre: Rap is War, by Jesse Acevedo (USA)

·Blackfish, by Gabriela Cowperthwaite (USA)

·The Crash Reel, by Lucy Walker (USA)

·Cubamerican, by Jose Enrique Pardo (USA)

·Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story, by Brad Bernstein (USA)

·Gideon’s Army, by Dawn Porter (USA)

·Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation (Sagrada: El misteri de la creació) (Switzerland, directed by Stefan Haupt)

·Valentine Road, by Marta Cunningham (USA)

·Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington, by Sebastian Junger (USA)

·Who Is Dayani Cristal? by Marc Silver (United Kingdom/Mexico)

 
Knight Documentary Jury:

• Anne Chaisson - Hamptons International Film Festival executive director
• Dan Guando – The Weinstein Company senior vice president of acquisitions
• Michael Lumpkin - International Documentary Association executive director

 
LEXUS IBERO-AMERICAN OPERA PRIMA COMPETITION featured nine first-time feature filmmakers from Latin America that competed for a $5,000 cash prize presented by Lexus.
 
Films in Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition were:

·The Boy Who Smells Like Fish, by Analeine Cal y Mayor (Mexico/Canada)

·Edificio Royal, by Iván Wild (Colombia/Venezuela/Germany)

·Good Luck, Sweetheart (Boa Sorte, Meu Amor) by Daniel Aragão (Brazil)

·Miguel San Miguel, by Matías Cruz (Chile)

·Molasses (Melaza), by Carlos Días Lechuga (Cuba/France/Panama)

·No Autumn, No Spring (Sin otoño, sin primavera), by Iván Mora (Ecuador/Colombia/France)

·Solo by Guillermo Rocamora (Uruguay/Argentina/Netherlands/France)

·The Swimming Pool (La piscina), by Carlos Machado Quintela (Cuba/Venezuela)

·Villegas, by Gonzalo Tobal (Argentina/Netherlands/France)

 
Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Jury:

• Alejandro Landes - Filmmaker
• Tivi Magnusson - M&M Productions president & founder
• Elba McAllister - CinePlex executive president

 
 
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SHORTS COMPETITION featured 10 short films from around the globe. The jury selected winner receives a $2,500 cash prize.
 
Films in the University of Miami Shorts Competition were:

·“9 Meter”, by Anders Walter Denmark)

·“Anna and Jerome” (Anna et Jérôme), by Mélanie Delloye (France)

·“Ebb & Flow” (A Onda Traz, O Vento Leva), by Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil/Spain)

·“Edmond Was a Donkey” (Edmond Était un âne) by Franck Dion (Canada/France)

·“Eleven: Twelve”, by JC Barros (USA/Portugal)

·“Lost Country”, by Heather Burky (USA)

·“Of Other Carnivals” (De Outros Carnavais), by Paulo Miranda (Brazil)

·“Palmipedarium”, by Jérémy Clapin (France)

·“Skunk” (Rotkop), by Jan Roosens & Raf Roosens (Belgium)

 
 
MIAMI FUTURE CINEMA CRITICS (MFCC) is a new program that aimed to provide Miami-based film aficionados with a fascinating opportunity to discover new cinema - outside of the roughly 600 films that are commercially released in the U.S. annually, and learn new ways to develop their voice and attract new audiences for their own critical work. Three Miami writers between the ages 21 to 30 were selected to blog about films from a playlist curated by MIFF’s 2013 programming team. The MFCC 2013 writers were Juan Barquin, Justin James and Grace Paulus. In addition to blogging, the MFCC designated one film in their playlist as an overall “best film,” based on the Critics’ own criterion of artistic merit.
 
MIAMI ENCUENTROS featured five Latin American and U.S. Hispanic feature film projects in post-production competing for a post-production prize of USD$10,000 designed to and propel them towards their upcoming debuts on the international stage.   The films were screened for VeoMiami industry guests only on the first weekend of the Festival in private screenings.
 
Films in Miami Encuentros were:

• All About the Feathers (Por las plumas), by Neto Villalobos
• Produced by La Sucia Centroamericana Producciones, Costa Rica.
• Darwin’s Corner (Rincón de Darwin), by Diego Fernández Pujol
• Co-produced by Transparente Films, Uruguay and O som e a furia, Portugal.
• En la caliente -The Cuban Music Revolution, by Fabien Pisani
• Produced by Mokongo Films, France
• Gypsy River (Rio Cigano), by Julia Zakia
• Co-produced by Cinematográfica Superfilmes Ltda and Gato do Parque, Brazil.
• Liz in September (Liz en Septiembre), by Fina Torres
• Produced by Ararare Films C.A., Venezuela.

 
Miami Encuentros Jury:

• Mar Abadin- 6 Sales head of sales
• Leslie Cohen- HBO vice president of film programming
• Rebeca Conget- Film Movement vice president of acquisitions
• Eric Schnedecker- Urban Distribution International head of sales and acquisitions