The Miami Film Festival is set to go ahead with a hybrid 2021 edition in March with physical theater and online screenings amid the pandemic.
The Festival’s March 5-14 run this year will open with an in-theater world premiere of Edson Jean’s Ludi — about a hardworking and exhausted nurse chasing the American Dream in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood — and close with the debut of Jayme Gershen’s Birthright.
In March 2020, the Miami Film Festival shut down screenings in physical theaters mid-run as the pandemic swept across the U.S.
“In this year like no other, we all long for stability and a sense of continuity. By redefining the Miami Film Festival for the new era of film, we seek to continue our mission of shining a light on the most outstanding creative talents and new works of the season,” festival executive director Jaie Laplante said in a statement.
Miami will also present tribute awards this year to Spanish director Pedro Almodovar; Rita Moreno, before a screening of Mariem Pérez Riera’s documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It; and actors Riz Ahmed, Javier Camara, Aldis Hodge and Andra Day.
And cinematographer Joshua James Richards will be feted in Miami for his work on Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland. The Miami festival will screen in all around 100 feature dramas, documentaries and short films from 40 countries.
The 2021 selections include Maria Corina Ramirez’ Bridges; Cuban Dancer, by director Roberto Salinas; and a world premiere for Sergio Ramirez’s Guatemala.
