MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL SPOTLIGHTS
Photos provided by Miami Film Festival
BOTERO
Colombia,
Canada, France, China, Italy, U.S., Monaco, 2018
Director: Don Millar
Festival Summary:
His style
is instantly recognizable, his art greatly sought after, and his vision admired
all over the world: Colombian legend Fernando Botero is, without a doubt, one
of the greatest living artists today. An intensely avid learner and private
person, he has never made much mention of his start in provincial Medellín and
how he educated himself traveling through Europe – a past that allowed him to
pave his way to eventually become El Maestro. In Botero, director Don
Millar offers a poetic chronicle of the painter’s life and art. Shot in 10
different cities all over the world, the film digs deep into Botero’s roots to
follow his ascent to the pinnacle of the art world, where he has secured
himself a permanent position.
BUY ME A GUN
Colombia,
Mexico, 2018
Director: Julio Hernández Cordón
Cast: Matilde Hernández Guinea, Rogelio Sosa,
Sostenes Rojas, Wallace Pereyda, Ángel Leonel Corral, Ángel Rafael Yanez,
Mariano Sosa, Jhoan Martínez
Festival Summary:
A retelling
of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that plays both with gender and
the notion of adventure tales, Buy Me a Gun is set in the near-future of
Mexico where women are disappearing and children are being abducted with
frightening impunity. A young girl named Huck wears a mask to hide her gender
as she helps her dad, a tormented addict, take care of an abandoned baseball
camp in service to a gang of narcos who use it for recreational purposes. With
the help of her friends, a group of lost boys who have the power of
camouflaging themselves in the windy desert, Huck has to fight to overcome her
reality and to defeat the local capo. All given a hallucinatory texture by
director Julio Hernández Cordón’s famously stunning visual inventiveness, Buy
Me a Gun creates a dark world where fear rules and violence is routine.
GIGANTES
Spain, 2018
Director: Enrique Urbizu
Cast: José Coronado, Isak Férriz, Daniel Grao,
Carlos Librado
Festival Summary:
Miami Film
Festival is proud to present the first two episodes of one of the biggest hits
of 2018’s TV fall lineup in Spain. With a total of six episodes, Gigantes
is a restless, bold, fast-paced tale of brotherhood and rivalry, where
alliances are broken as quickly as they are made, and blood loss and violence
reign supreme. In this world, the three brothers will have to learn to stand
united against their rivals and the police, or they will risk losing the empire
their ruthless father built, the only thing they have ever called home.
GOLDEN YOUTH
Belgium,
France, 2019
Director: Eva Ionesco
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Galatéa Bellugi, Melvil
Poupaud, Lukas Lonesco, Alain-Fabien Delon, Nassim Gguizani
Festival Summary:
Rose
(Bellugi), 16, was abandoned by her parents when she was a child, but
thankfully she has her fiancé Michel (Lonesco) by her side, who loves her as
much as she loves him. Through their rose-tinted glasses, they see the Paris
they move to as the most magical, exciting city on Earth: it’s the height of
the Palace years, and they find themselves living alongside eccentrics,
artists, and intellectuals. Rose and Michel can’t help but being swept up into
the exuberance of their new friends’ lifestyles, full of extravagant parties
and eternal nights. It’s at one of said parties that they meet Lucille and
Hubert, a couple of bourgeois bohemians who take a liking to the young couple.
Soon, an unusual relationship will develop between the four of them, blurring
the lines between friendship, love, and sex more than they could have ever
imagined.
HELMET HEADS
Chile,
Costa Rica, 2018
Director: Neto Villalobos
Cast: Arturo Pardo, Daniela Mora, Harvey
Monestel, Charly Mora, Gabriel Rojas, William Quiros, Janko Navarro
Festival Summary:
Motorcycle
messenger Mancha lives the good life, enjoying the camaraderie of his workmates
as they carouse around the streets of San José, Costa Rica, and hookups with
his girlfriend, Clara. That is, until a sudden and massive layoff at the
motorcycle company ends the party, and Clara announces she is moving to Isla
Caballo, where motorbikes are not permitted. Faced with the reality of losing
his job and his love, Mancha will have to reach deep within to lead his motley
group of misfits, dodging usual and unusual obstacles, to find a way to triumph
without even holding any cards.
KNIFE+HEART
France,
Mexico, Switzerland, 2018
Director: Yann Gonzalez
Cast: Vanessa Paradis, Kate Moran, Nicolas Maury,
Jonathan Genet, Romane Bohringer, Elina Löwensohn, Jacques Nolot
Festival Summary:
It’s the
summer of 1979 and in the streets of Paris, France, a serial killer is on the
loose. But Anne – played by radiant French pop superstar Vanessa Paradis –
isn’t aware of this yet. Instead, she is sulking over her breakup with Loïs,
her lover and the editor of the third-rate gay porn Anne produces. In an
attempt to win her back, she decides to shoot her most ambitious film yet, with
the full support of her flamboyant best friend Archibald. But Anne gets more
than she bargained for when one of her actors is brutally murdered and she gets
caught up in a bizarre investigation. Making her way through dimly lit streets,
busy sets, and sweaty clubs to do the job of the ineffectual investigators,
Anne is accompanied by a killer retro score composed by French electronic band
M83, only one of the many aesthetic details director Yann Gonzalez carefully chose
for his vibrant ode to ‘70s horror cult classics.
NOTTI MAGICHE
Italy, 2018
Director: Paolo Virzì
Cast: Mauro Lamantia, Giovanni Toscano, Irene
Vetere, Giancarlo Giannini, Ornella Muti
Festival Summary:
Three young
aspiring screenwriters – working-class Luciano, scholarly Antonino and
bourgeois Eugenia – are summoned to Rome as finalists in a national competition
sponsored by the Italian film industry’s old guard. The boozy evening carries
on and on, with the actual award seeming like an afterthought to the assembled
aging eccentrics hanging on to the dying lights of the Golden Age of the
Italian film industry. But when one of the venerable old movie producers turns
up murdered at the end of the evening, the police turn to the young upstart
screenwriters as their prime suspects. As they are questioned over the course
of the night, each writer elaborates on their own fantastical version of what
happened on that fateful night.
SHADOW
China, 2018
Director: Don Millar
Cast: Deng Chao, Sun Li, Zheng Kai, Wang
Qianyuan, Wang Jingchun, Hu Jun, Guan Xiaotong, Leo Wu
Festival Summary:
In Pei, a
kingdom ruled by a young and unpredictable king (Zheng Kai), everyone has their
own scheme. Most of all the military commander (Deng Chao), who is a brave and
accomplished warrior on the battlefield, but has to face peril inside the
palace walls too. He has a secret weapon, however: his “shadow,” a
look-alike who can deceive both Pei’s enemies and the King himself. As he
prepares to triumph over a rival kingdom for control of the city of Jing, the
commander hatches an intricate plan unlike any seen before, leading up to a
combat of indescribable consequences.
THE ACCUSED
Argentina,
Mexico, 2018
Director: Gonzalo Tobal
Cast: Lali Espósito, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Daniel
Fanego, Gael García Bernal\
Festival Summary:
Dolores
Dreier (Lali Espósito) is a typical fun-loving high school student – but when
her best friend is brutally murdered and Dolores is accused of the crime, her
carefree and privileged existence comes to a hard stop. As Dolores awaits
trial, the sensationalistic, tabloid-type media coverage (with global star Gael
García Bernal playing a TV talk show host with a particular interest in the
case) seems to result in a predetermined judgment by the court of public opinion.
THE BEST SUMMER OF MY LIFE
Spain, 2018
Director: Dani de la Orden
Cast: Leo Harlem, Toni Acosta, Maggie Civantos,
Jordi Sánchez
Festival Summary:
Curro is a
kitchen robot salesman who dreams of making it big in the financial world.
After a marital crisis, and despite being burdened by debt, he makes a promise
he cannot possibly keep: if his 9-year-old son, Nico, gets straight A’s in
school, then Curro says he will take Nico on an unforgettable summer holiday.
When Nico fulfills his part of the deal, father and son set out on a journey
that will change their lives. The Best Summer of My Life is an
enchanting comedy about our flights of fancy in showering our loved ones with
untold joys. Curro’s greatest gift to Nico is to dream with abandon and yet not
forget who he is, bringing a message of resilience and love.
THE EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY OF CELESTE GARCÍA
Cuba,
Germany, 2018
Director: Arturo Infante
Cast: Maria Isabel Díaz, Omar Franco, Néstor
Jiménez, Yerlin Pérez
Festival Summary:
Celeste is
a widow living a tranquil, unadventurous existence in Havana, fulfilling her
daily shifts as a tour guide at the local planetarium. One day when several
“Cubans” mysteriously vanish into thin air, the government announces
that aliens have been living in Cuban society disguised as humans, and that
these foreign guests are now returning the favor by inviting humans to visit
their far-away world. It all makes perfect sense to Celeste – she had always
thought that her “Russian” neighbor Pauline was eccentric, but now
learns she was truly from another planet! Celeste discovers that Pauline has
left her a personal invitation to join her and joins the government preparation
program to journey to the far unknown.
THE HARVESTERS
France,
Greece, Switzerland, South Africa, Poland, 2019
Director: Etienne Kallos
Cast: Brent Vermeulen, Alex van Dyk, Juliana
Venter, Morne Visser
Festival Summary:
With a
powerful new voice, a first-time Greek-African filmmaker explores sexuality,
religion and masculinity in the deep South African countryside. Two teenage
boys start a dangerous fight for power, heritage and parental love that will
change both of their lives forever. Religion and field work are the guiding
principles of their conservative farming community, where strength and masculinity
are valued above all else. In this repressive environment, Janno keeps his
feelings to himself. One day his mother brings home Pieter, a hardened street
orphan she wants to save, and asks Janno to treat this stranger as his new
brother. But Pieter does not want to be saved…
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
U.S., 2018
Director: Tom Donahue
Cast: Geena Davis, Meryl Streep, Rashida Jones,
Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Oh, Jessica Chastain, Tiffany Haddish
Festival Summary:
This Changes Everything seeks to explore
the causes and consequences of ingrained discrimination that women in Hollywood
have continued to face. Tracing back a decade of Hollywood history to get to
the root of the persisting gender disparity in the industry, this powerful
documentary features interviews with engaged members working for meaningful
change, among them Geena Davis, Meryl Streep, Sandra Oh, Rosario Dawson, Taraji
P. Henson, Cate Blanchett and young, up-and-coming talent such as Chloë Grace
Moretz and Yara Shahidi.
THIS IS NOT BERLIN
Mexico,
2019
Director: Hari Sama
Cast: Xabiani Ponce de León, José Antonio
Toledano, Ximena Romo, Mauro Sánchez Navarro, Klaudia García, Marina de Tavira,
Hari Sama, Juan Carlos Remoina, Lumi Cavazos, Américo Hollander, Fernando
Álvarez Rebeil
Festival Summary:
17-year-old
Carlos doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere: not with his friends, who won’t stop
talking about the upcoming 1986 World Cup, and not at home, where no-one
understands his biggest passion, his record collection. He spends his days
listening to his favorite music and daydreaming about Rita, his best friend’s
older sister, fully settled into the monotony of his day to day life. But then,
Rita invites him and Gera along to a place Carlos had only dreamed of before:
the mythical nightclub Azteca, where neither rules nor limits seem to exist. As
Carlos is roped further and further into the punk nightlife scene, he is
confronted with drugs, sexual fluidity, and consequences he never saw coming.
TREMORS
France,
Guatemala, 2019
Director: Jayro Bustamante
Cast: Juan Pablo Olyslager, Diana Bathen Evans,
María Telón
Festival Summary:
In
Guatemala City, the very ground the city is built on is fragile and unreliable
for its people. It shakes and destroys at will, often with catastrophic
results. Under these circumstances, Guatemalans hold strongly onto their faith,
the only stable thing they have ever known. Pablo is no different, a good
Catholic man who has visited church all his life and is faithful to his wife
Isa and their two beautiful children. But when he meets Francisco, immediately
falls for him, a sin in the eyes of his church and his family. As Pablo battles
his own internalized homophobia, he has to deal with his surroundings’ disgust
at this discovery, too: he loses his job, the right to see his children, the
support of his community. Encouraged by Isa and their Pastor, he starts
attending conversion therapy, and soon enough, everything seems to be going
back to normal – that is, until the ground starts trembling again.
This was originally published in Wire Magazine Issue 4.2019