Festivals: Miami

Miami 2022 Review: PARSLEY, Intimate Portrayal of a Massacre

History, sadly, is filled with massacres, and other disastrous events in which one group of humans inflicts terrible violence upon another group, for reasons that - well, it doesn't matter why. They are called massacres for a reason. And a...

Miami Film Festival: FREYA, PARSLEY Win Jury and Audience Awards

The Miami Film Festival wrapped up this past weekend, with awards given to deserving winners. It's always a treat to watch films from tge festival, with its focus on the best in Latin American cinema, and a lot of films...

Miami 2022 Review: IMMERSION, On the Surface, Nothing is Calm

There are many things that thriller films have taught me, and one thing is, you do not want to be stuck on a boat with strangers. Even if you have land on site, it is itself an isolated location, and...

Miami 2022 Review: THE ART OF MAKING IT, The Code of the Art World

Like I suspect a lot of people, I have a few original art pieces, but not too many; sadly the price tag of much art work vastly outnumbers my income. But then, a piece of art is (usually) unique, and...

Miami 2022 Review: THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE, A Chorus of Anger and Longing

Cows might be one of the few animals whose 'wild' version no longer exists; now bred solely in domestication, they represent how humans have forcibly adapted the natural world for our wants, without regard to the consequences. But now the...

Miami Film Festival 2022: THE GOOD BOSS, PETITE MAMAN, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and More at the 39th Edition

If hybrid festivals are the way of the future, sign me up. There are many festivals around the world that I'd love to attend and cannot for many reasons. Case in point: Miami. With a wide variety of films from...

QUO VADIS, AIDA?, CUBAN DANCER and More Win at Miami 2021

While attending film festivals is the top five of things I've desperately missed for the past year, I'm glad that we at least can have som experience of festivals online. I've enjoyed not only covering the Miami Film Festival this...

Miami 2021 Review: CUBAN DANCER, The Journey of Passion and Growth

A hat-tip to my friend Mattie, who has taught me a lot about the art and science of ballet over the past several years. While every art form has its own rules, quirks, individuality in how the work is done,...

Miami 2021 Review: CITY OF WILD BEASTS, Last Dangerous Gasp of Youth

It's no secret that the youth of this world are angry and cynical, and it's hard to blame them. We're not leaving them with a lot of options to make their lives better, or even liveable in the most basic...

Miami 2021 Review: HOTEL COPPELIA, At the Edge of Revolution

The roads of revolution and the fight for democracy is drenched in blood. And often it's the blood of those who end up forgotten. While those on the front lines are necessary, often acts of heroism, whether intentional or not,...

Miami 2021 Review: SIN LA HABANA, The Journey to the Self's Realization

We have all (especially in recent years) witnessed the physical lengths that people will go to, to reach another country and hopefully a better life. But there are emotional ones as well: emotional norders and boundaries, lines we cross that...

Miami 2021 Review: LUDI, A Day in the Life of the Invisible

Likely no one believes more in the mythologized dream of better living in certain western country than immigrants. Whether those dreams be based on the truth or not. And in these pademic times, our thoughts have turned often to front-line...

Miami Film Festival Announces Hybrid Festival, with Honours to Pedro Almodóvar, Rita Moreno, and Over 100 Films Screening

The last film festival I attended in person was Miami, 11 months ago; the day after I left, the festival was forced to shut down in the first wave of pandemic lockdown. And while I might not be able to...

LOS LOBOS, WHEN LIBERTY BURNS, EMA, WHITE LIE Winners at Miami 2020

I was fortunate to attend the first half of Miami Film Festival this month, before it was sadly forced to cancel due to the pandemic. It was my first time attending, and I was blown away not only by the...

Miami 2020 Review: FABULOUS, Likes, Dislikes, and Rivalry

I'm amazed at all the social media apps there are to engage with friends and strangers (and I gave up trying to keep up after Instagram). And apps like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok,YouTube,  and I'm sure more that I don't know...

Miami 2020 Review: AND THE BIRDS RAINED DOWN, Life and Love in Isolation

Maybe it's the current state of the world, but I often find myself thinking about running away from civilization, or at least, moving to the outermost fringes off it. Finding some activity to generate a small income, living in peace...

Miami 2020 Review: THEY CALL ME DR. MIAMI, The Man and the Outrageous Image

I read a quote once that was attributed to Cher, in regards to her plastic surgeries: "If I want to put my tits on my back, that's nobody's business but my own." Whether she actually said it or not, I...

Miami 2020 Review: THE SLEEPWALKERS, Family Constraints and Subtle Patriarchy

There's an old stereotype that girls are harder to raise than boys. While this may be true, I think it's not because girls are more difficult, but that our world and society makes life harder for girls. They learn far...

Miami 2020 Review: WHITE LIE, The Finer Details of the Con

Everyone wants to be loved. Many people also want attention and love from strangers. In our social media age that gives us access to strangers around the world, the allure of the like, the retweet, the reply, can be irresistable....

Miami 2020 Review: PACIFIED, Hope and Resignation in the Favelas

American director Paxton Winters spent seven years with the community of Morro dos Prazeres, one of the many favelas that encapsulate Rio de Jainero. Anyone familiar with Brazilian cinema will know these as the home of the working class and...