Cinema Shines At 42nd Annual Miami Film Festival
As Harpoon Ellis casually strolled onto the red carpet at the Miami Film Festival, the actor did what he does best—he acted.
Decked out in a lavender vest, a black T-shirt, cat-eye sunglasses, a gold bangle bracelet and a gatsby cap, Ellis gave off a bohemian moviestar vibe akin to Johnny Depp.
“I’m playing the part of [an] upper echelon actor, which I’m not, but I just wanted to play because there’s a red carpet here,” said Ellis, who recently starred in his first professional film, A Weird Kind of Beautiful. “I don’t know when I’m ever going to be back in a place like this or a part of something like this.”
The loquacious actor appeared in the dark comedy, which was featured at the MFF’s 42nd rendition that ran from April 3-13.
More than 115 feature films and 100 shorts from over 45 countries were showcased.
The 10-day event screened movies at 27 venues, including the Adrienne Arsht Center, Silverspot Cinema, the Koubek Theater, Bill Cosford Cinema, the Little Haiti Cultural Center, Regal South Beach, Coral Gables Art Cinema and the Miami Beach Bandshell.
This year’s festival also marked the return of Olympia Theater in Downtown Miami. The historic theater, which was closed for seven years, underwent extensive renovations, including the restoration of the lobby and auditorium of the 99-year-old playhouse.
“We’re really thrilled that the timing worked out, and now we can bring people back into that incredible space,” said James Woolley, executive director of the MFF.
The festival kicked off at the refurbished theater with a screening of Meet the Barbarians, a French comedy-drama directed by filmmaker and actress Julie Delpy.
It follows the community of Paimpont, a little known village in Northwest France, as they prepare for the arrival of a family of Ukrainian refugees. When the family arrives, the town is surprised to discover that they are Syrian refugees.
Humberto Ochoa, a filmmaker who watched the movie, was receptive to the film’s themes of discrimination and acceptance.
“They start discovering they’re not strangers, they’re just humans,” Ochoa said. “People that are coming from a different side, different story, different perspective, but they are still humans.”
On April 10, actor Jason Isaacs, best known for his portrayal of Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, was given the Precious Gem Award. He participated in a live recording of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast at the Chapman Center at Wolfson Campus.
That same day, moviegoers at the Miami Beach Bandshell watched El Sonido de Miami, a documentary honoring Cuban-American musicians that influenced the sonic culture of the 305. After the screening, the audience enjoyed a live performance by Carlos Oliva y Los Sobrinos del Juez.
This year’s festival featured a bevy of local films.
Among them was The Python Hunt. The documentary is about the Florida Python Challenge, a bizarre competition held by the state government to remove invasive species from the Everglades.
It was recognized with the Made in MIA Feature Film Award, which included $60,000 in Panavision camera equipment.
Another film, Little Haiti, Miami, USA, follows a mom searching for the man her son depicted in one of his paintings. The movie won the $5,000 Made in MIA Short Film Award.
Other awards were handed out in various categories.
Omaha, a movie chronicling the cross-country adventure of a father and his children after his wife tragically passed away was awarded the $10,000 Jordan Ressler First Feature Award.
The Last Meal (Le Dernier Repas), a movie about a man with stomach cancer sharing his final meals with his daughter, won, the $15,000 Marimbas Award.
Festivities wrapped up at the Olympia Theater with the closing film On Swift Horses, a romantic drama directed by Daniel Minahan. One of the lead actors, Diego Calva, spoke to the audience after the showing.
“The festival bringing the types of films that it does to the community is really important,” said local filmmaker Mark Pulaski. “A film festival really promotes films that your average person wouldn’t get to see or wouldn’t know about because there is so much content out there.”
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