For 41 years, films of all shapes and sizes have found a place at the Miami Film Festival.
This year, South Florida film lovers can feast their eyes on more than 180 productions from over 30 countries. Hosted by Miami Dade College, the festival serves as a launch pad for amateur and professional filmmakers to showcase their work.
Screenings kick off this weekend in theaters across Miami-Dade and there's something for everyone. But if you're looking for a story that hits close to home, WLRN has sorted through the lineup to highlight films about our region — and spoken to their directors about how they brought their subjects to life.
These films present a humble cross section of South Florida, touching on animal rights, Cuban machismo, the Haitian diaspora and basketball culture. From documentaries about a blind man leading a Miami theater program to a short film about a young Haitian-American learning konpa, stories for and and by us get a chance to shine.
Resident Orca
The arduous mission to free the Orca whale Lolita, or Tokitae, from captivity gets cinematic treatment in Resident Orca. Viewers follow the Lummi nation's efforts to take Lolita out of the Miami Seaquarium.
The Native American tribe based in Washington state shares a spiritual connection with orcas, and consider them as their relatives. For years, they have been leading a campaign to bring her to her home waters in the Pacific Northwest.
Over the course of three years, filmmakers Sarah Sharkey Pearce and Simon Schneider untangle the constellation of unlikely people involved in the fight — not only to free her but keep her alive.
"There was a time when putting whales and dolphins in captivity, we thought, might be a way to educate people, to bring them closer to nature," Schneider told WLRN. "What we've realized is that Lolita's story and her life reflects so much about who we are as people and very little about what it means to be a whale. "
The film leans on juxtaposition, as the narrative toggles between the gloomy vistas of Seattle to the piercing blue waters of Miami.
"What's happening with Lolita herself, and also in terms of our treatment with [humans and nature] we need to behave in a way where we understand that our fates are tied," Pearce said. "What happens here affects what happens over there."
When Pearce and Schneider couldn't gain access to Lolita, they found creative ways around it. Their camera brings us to places where most people can't go. There are shots from the whale's point of view as it bobs in and out of the water. Other times, Pearce and Schneider bring us above the clouds, using drone footage to check in on Lolita from a bird's eye view.
The film effectively connects us to Lolita, even if it's from a distance.
"The film does, in large part, give people a real window, real intimacy with those who knew her and know her," Pearce said.
Resident Orca will premiere at the Miami Film Festival where Lolita's story will take center stage once again, as told through the people who tried to save her.
Sat. April 6, 3:30 p.m. at Silverspot Cinema 13. Tues. April 9 7:30 p.m. at Regal South Beach 17. Find more info here.
A Communist Brainwashed My Daughter
The lives of an environmental science teacher, a middle school student and her overworked Cuban father are strung together by vignettes in A Communist Brainwashed my Daughter.
Daniel Lago, who starred in, wrote and directed the film, set out to create a satire about Cuban machismo, middle-school drama and environmentalism.
"The movie puts pressure on these characters," Lago said. "The various motivations and these pressures lead into kind of an inevitable conflict that is hopefully equal parts ridiculous and entertaining — and maybe a little insightful."
Lago plays a teacher who tries to proclaim the perils of single use plastic on the environment to apathetic middle schoolers. When he encourages the students to pick up litter at school, Lago's character butts heads with the father of one of his students.
"For the longest, I've really wanted to find a way to mesh the advocacy for environmental stewardship with Cuban culture in Hialeah," Lago said.
The story, he said, draws inspiration from his life growing up in Hialeah. Several scenes stemmed from road rage incidents or his work as a middle school counselor. It makes for a film that feels distinctly Miami in both dialogue and setting. Lago said he wanted to write characters that could show the double-edged sword of Hispanic masculinity.
"I wanted to make sure that I also represented somebody who was doing his best, in his eyes, doing his best to be a father, doing his best to provide," Lago said. "And kind of honoring his own view of masculinity: work hard ... [and] advocate for your kid, even if that means nearly coming to blows with the kid's future."
Audiences can see their stubborn tío or their goofy classmate in the characters. It's one of several reason why Lago's film has been named as a finalist for the Made in Miami Award. It recognizes feature-length films that have a substantial portion of their content set in South Florida.
"The nature of conflicts that occur in that film, I feel are very unique to Miami. You would read this, it'd be like a Florida man news story," Lago said. "You're watching the movie and it feels familiar to you, if you're from here."
Sun. April 7, 2:30 p.m. at Silverspot Cinema 13. Find more info here.
The Asylum
The Miami of the '80s may bring back memories of race riots in Overtown or Cocaine Cowboys. But amid the turmoil, there was a bright spot: Miami high school basketball.
In the late '80s and early '90s, Miami Senior High's basketball team won an unprecedented eight boy’s state championships, making them the ones to beat. The program gave rise to stars like Udonis Haslem, Doug Edwards and Steve Blake.
Now, this piece of Miami history is making its rounds in the film festival circuit.
In The Asylum, Sports Emmy Award-winning producer Jaime Gutierrez retells the team's legacy through archival footage and interviews with former players and coaches.
Gutierrez also played high school basketball and remembers competing against Miami Senior High in their gym, nicknamed the Asylum, where he saw banners emblazoned with their triumphs.
"Everybody would be terrorized to play in there. Everybody was worried and scared to play in there because they thought they were going to go crazy … because of the team they had to play," he said.
He remembers the energy of the games, being crammed in a packed gym — no air conditioning, drenched in sweat.
"You felt everything," Gutierrez said. "You got the feeling of, 'O.K., this is something special in here."
Gutierrez was entrusted with sharing the stories of Marcos "Shakey" Rodriguez and Frank Martin who spearheaded the program, injecting rigor and passion for the sport. The team was so popular, students from other school zones were clamoring to join. The film chronicles not only their highs but their lows — and how their sheer popularity attracted controversy.
"If you look back at it now and you go and you see what these kids have done….you can't question why they did it and how they did it," Gutierrez said. "They're like, 'Okay, we got basketball as our outlet. Let's teach these kids what to do and how to do it. And let's see if they can become better human beings.'"
Sun. April 7, 3:00 p.m. at the Adrienne Arsht Center — Knight Concert Hall. Find more info here.
Antihero
When José Manuel Domínguez completely lost his vision at 28 years old, all hope of a career in the theater seemed kaput.
Life was meaningless without the arts, until Domínguez's friends encouraged him to keep going.
"I told them, it doesn't make any sense for me to keep alive if I'm not able to do theater, if I'm not able to do what I love to do," he said. "[Then] they told me, 'That's very selfish, that's very stupid. It's time for you to evolve.'"
That next evolution gave birth to the Antiheros Project, an all-inclusive contemporary performing arts program in Miami-Dade County that welcomes people of all abilities.
Director Patricia Juarez, who saw one of the performances, felt inspired to share Domínguez's remarkable journey in her film Antihero.
"Listen, everybody has the right to enjoy art and to enjoy life," Juarez said.
Juarez stitches scenes from theater rehearsals where people twist, contort, stand on chairs or crawl on the ground under Domínguez's direction. It took trial and error to develop his directing process, that relies on collaboration and feedback of his fellow actors.
"People have to trust you. It doesn't matter if you're blind or you are not. It's the same for every director," he said.
Domínguez's approach to performance considers all levels of accessibility. Playbills come in extra large print and in braille. Screens display subtitles in both English and Spanish. There are touch tours during which visually impaired people can touch the stage and props before performances.
Filming the process introduced Juarez to a community that was new to her.
"I never talk about accessibilities and handicapped people because my topics usually have been about women," she said. "But then the life put me on [this] path."
Domínguez said he's proud of the film, which is also a contender for the Made in Miami Award. "It's a nice gesture because this film belongs to Miami. We all belong to Miami, the place in which we live, we breathe and we create art."
Sat. April 13, 1:00 p.m. at the Koubek Center. Find more info here.
Konpa
The new film Konpa follows a Haitian-American journeying to reconnect with his culture and language through dance, music — and even romance.
The coming-of-age story uses konpa, a popular Haitian music and dance genre, to bridge cultural and language gaps between non-Creole speaking Haitian-Americans and Haitian natives.
"I was trying to figure out a way to put both on display without saying one is better than the other, but having a common understanding that both cultures exist," said Haitian film director Al'Ikens Plancher. "And both cultures have flaws and both cultures have a lot of things that that's worthwhile."
This 9-minute short film stars Nagela Lukacs, Lesly Chery, and actor/producer Edson Jean. He said the film builds a strong connection to his culture.
"It's sort of the acknowledgement of holding onto your roots, finding a heartfelt way to address conversations about deteriorating cultural connections," Edson said.
Konpa made its debut at the Tribeca Film festival and is circulating the film festival circuit.
Tues. April 9, 7:30 p.m. at the Bill Cosford Cinema in Coral Gables. Find more info here.
The Miami Film Festival takes place from April 5-14. Find a more comprehensive list of movies and programming at the festival's website.
*An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Jaime Gutierrez had played basketball for Miami Senior High.
