The Siamese Bond by Paula Hernández
The Miami Film Festival has announced the lineup for its hybrid 38th edition, taking place March 5-14, 2021, which will include several Latin American titles, from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, and Mexico, in their different competitions and sections.
Participating in the main international competition for the $25,000 Knight Marimbas Award are four Latin American films: 1991 by Sergio Ramirez from Guatemala, in its world premiere; The Best Families / Las mejores familias by Javier Fuentes-León from Peru in its North American Premiere; The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet / El perro que no calla by Ana Katz from Argentina; and Hotel Coppelia by José María Cabral from the Dominican Republic in its North American premiere.
Two Latin American films will be competing for the $10,000 Jordan Ressler First Feature Award: the Brazilian film The Pink Cloud by Iuli Gerbase and the Cuban-Canadian film Sin La Habana by Kaveh Nabatian in its international premiere.
In addition to 1991, The Best Families, and Hotel Coppelia, three other Latin American films will also be competing for the $10,000 WarnerMedia Ibero-American Feature Film Award: the Colombian film The City of Wild Beasts / La ciudad de las fieras by Henry Rincón, in its world premiere; the Mexican film Nudo Mixteco by Ángeles Cruz in its world Premiere; and the Argentine film The Siamese Bond / Las siamesas by Paula Hernandez in its international premiere.
Latin Noir by Andreas Apostolidis
The documentary competition will host eight Latin American and Latin American-themed films: A la calle by Nelson G. Navarrete, Maxx Caicedo; Birthright by Jayme Gershen; The Boy From Medellin by Matthew Heineman; Cuban Dancer by Roberto Salinas; Latin Noir by Andreas Apostolidis; Los hermanos / The Brothers by Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider; Rebel Hearts by Pedro Kos; and Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It by Mariem Pérez Riera.
Both Birthright, and Cuban Dancer are also competing for the $40,000 Knight Made in MIA Feature Film Award, along with Bridges by Maria Corina Ramirez. As it was previously announced, the Miami Film Festival will also showcase some Latin American Oscar contenders including the Colombian film El olvido que seremos (Memories of My Father by Spanish director Fernando Trueba, and the Dominican film A State of Madness / Mis 500 locos by Leticia Tonos.
Special presentations of the festival include three films of exceptional significance to Miami’s large Cuban diaspora community. Plantados by Lilo Vilaplana, that tells the true story of political prisoners tortured in Cuban prisons in the 1960s before their eventual exile to Miami; A New Dawn by Manny Soto, is a documentary where Miami Cubans share their fraught stories of leaving their former homeland; and Revolution Rent by Victor Patrick Alvarez and Andy Señor Jr., is a documentary by first-generation Miami Cuban Andy Señor who became a Broadway star and his complicated journey to bring a production of the musical Rent to life in Cuba. Other special presentations include the Argentine-Chilean film Pigeon Drop / El cuento del tío by Ignacio Guggiari.
The festival also announced renowned Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno as this year’s recipient of the Precious Gem Icon Award. Moreno is one of only two actors in history who have won a Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award and the Triple Crown of Acting, in competitive categories. She has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award and numerous additional distinctions.
