Monica Bellucci, Iciar Bollaín, Gavin Hood and Deepa Mehtawill all receive tributes in a new Marquee Series to be presented at the 33rd edition of Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival scheduled for March 4-13. This year’s festival showcases 129 films, including 100 feature films and documentaries and 29 short films produced and directed by both renowned and emerging talent from 40 countries. Forty-six are directed or co-directed by women.
Additionally, Andrew Currie's comedy The Steps, starring James Brolin, will receive its US premiere at the festival as the closing night selection. The festival is the only major film festival worldwide produced by a college or university.
The new announcements join Alex de la Iglesia's My Big Night, previously announced as the opening night selection, as the Festival's major touchstones. The pop comedy My Big Night stars Spanish recording legend Raphael, who will open the festival with a personal appearance at the March 4th screening. The 10-day annual event takes place at the festival's traditional home, the historic Olympia Theater in downtown Miami, plus six additional cinemas scattered across the city; and includes a plethora of screenings, stylish parties, thoughtful panel discussions, spirited film competitions, awards ceremonies and immersive cultural exchange opportunities for filmmakers attending from across the globe.
“This year's lineup is like a prism that invites Miami to see the world with an illumination that only the cinema, and the artists that create the work, can provide,” says the festival’s executive director and director of programming, Jaie Laplante. “The programmers have populated the program with films and events that are essential to the complex, dynamic, ever-changing Miami of the now.“