GEMS Film Festival Preview – Miami’s Cinematic Jewel

From October 22 – 25, the Miami International Film Festival (MiamiFF)  is whetting local and visiting film lovers appetite for main event festival coming up in March 2016, with a long weekend of world cinema, titled GEMS 2015. Miami Dade College’s Tower Theaters, on Little Havana’s Calle Ocho (8th Street), -a popular Miami neighborhood for Cuban fare and hand-rolled cigars, is hosting the mini film fest.

GEMS Film Festival’s Executive Director & Director of Programming Jaie Laplante states, “Film festivals are dazzling times, when the shiniest lights of the current cinema are collected in one place for a concentrated moment. So it is with this year’s GEMS film selection, and I invite film lovers of all types to experience las joyas de la corona of the season.”

The cinematic event kicks offs with an exclusive cocktail & canapes reception at Little Havana’s Cuba Ocho Art Center, before the curtain goes up on our opening night film, the historical period drama BROOKLYN, directed by John Crowley (Boy A).

Adapted by Nick Hornby (An Education) from the Colm Toibin bestselling novel, this 1950’s story follows the life of a young Irish woman caught between tradition and passion, between two countries and two futures. Starring Oscar nominee for Atonement, Saoirse Ronan, the cast also includes Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Emory Cohen, and Domhnall Gleason.

GEMS closes with the drama, THE 33, based on the real-life Chilean mine tragedy, directed by Patricia Riggen.

Watch THE 33 trailer:  https://youtu.be/jRQyMDPBVjU?list=PLC8PNeN3_1ODsvKjHKzmEecMTAPYzug8Z

An international rescue effort to save 33 Chilean miners trapped 2,300 foot underground for 69 days in the Copiapó mine riveted over a billion people in 2010, and now a superb international film adaptation recreates the details of that unprecedented event. The epic list of cast names includes Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche and Rodrigo Santoro.

On the eve of the premiere of The 33, GEMS closing night film, Miami-based feature film composer Carlos Rafael Rivera (A Walk Among The Tombstones, 2014) takes an in-depth look at late composer James Horner’s work and career. Horner created the musical score for Patricia Riggen’s The 33.

The closing night film is followed by a private gala party, with live entertainment, at Calle Ocho’s famous Ball & Chain jazz nightclub.

Feature film highlights from the GEMS 2015 lineup:

THE ASSASSIN, directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, and Taiwan’s official submission to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

Watch THE ASSASSIN trailer: https://youtu.be/lZ_FZI22afA?list=PLC8PNeN3_1ODsvKjHKzmEecMTAPYzug8Z

In 9th century China, 10-year-old Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who transforms her into an impressive warrior. One day, she is sent back to the land of her birth, with orders to kill the man whom she was promised, and Nie Yinniang must choose: assassinate the man she loves or break forever from the sacred honor of her training. Winner of Best Director at CANNES 2015.

HAVANA MOTOR CLUB, directed by Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt, from USA & Cuba.

Watch HAVANA MOTOR CLUB trailer: 

https://youtu.be/mz3tJEXUgGU?list=PLC8PNeN3_1ODsvKjHKzmEecMTAPYzug8Z

Punctuated by a lively Cuban soundtrack, filmmaker Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt’s docu-drama centers on Cuba’s top underground drag racers of classic American cars.

IT’S NOW OR NEVER (Ahora o nunca), directed by Maria Ripoll, from Spain.

Watch IT’S NOW OR NEVER trailer:

https://youtu.be/sLoR9Fo03ig?list=PLC8PNeN3_1ODsvKjHKzmEecMTAPYzug8Z

This summer’s biggest homegrown box office hit in Spain, It’s Now or Never pairs Spain’s newest film star, Dani Rovira, whose charms help propel Spanish Affair (Ocho apellidos vascos) to become Spain’s all-time box office champion, with the luminous Goya winner María Valverde, who gets a rare opportunity to demonstrate her comedic gifts.

The result is a frothy, frisky comedy of first-class creative power, expertly timed and filled with joyous performances, from the leads to the delightful character actors found in even the smallest roles. Clara Lago and Alicia Rubio co-star in this comedy that once again proves no one does inspired silliness quite like the Spanish.

MY GOLDEN DAYS, directed by Arnaud Desplechin (A Christmas Tale), from France.

After years working abroad, anthropologist Paul Dedalus (Mathieu Amalric) returns to France to find an explosive emotional time bomb awaits him.  This epic coming of age tale portrays first love as a candid, sensual and unique experience that his alter-ego discovers could leave a mark that will last as long as life itself. Winner of Directors’ Fortnight Award at CANNES 2015.

YONA , directed by Nir Bergman, from Israel.

Watch YONA trailer: https://youtu.be/4b-ow93d304?list=PLC8PNeN3_1ODsvKjHKzmEecMTAPYzug8Z

The bold and nonconformist Yona Wallach stormed through Tel-Aviv’s male-dominated political and poetry circles in the 1960s. Yona’s work eventually became recognized in the most prominent literary books and magazines of her time, and she was honored with the Israeli Prime Minister’s Literary Award in 1978. Director Nir Bergman’s biopic vividly captures Yona’s highs, lows and her brave rebellion against a chauvinistic society with her unique voice.

YOUTH, directed by Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty), from Italy.

The distance between the generations is the subject of Paolo Sorrentino’s newest Fellini-tinged masterpiece. Coming off his 2014 Oscar win for Best Foreign-Language Film for The Great Beauty, the Italian auteur is on a roll, orchestrating grand themes around life’s wisdom with a phenomenal cast of actors including Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, and Jane Fonda.

Tickets are on sale to the general public by phone: 1-844-565-6433(MIFF) or on the MiamiFF website: www.miamifilmfestival.com/GEMS.

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