It’s the early 1970s in South Florida, and three friends decide to open their own bar without any knowledge or experience in the matter.

Sarah, a daughter of Uruguayan immigrant parents in Canada, visits her parents’ native village to seek out her family roots.

“The Sea” is an experimental short depicting dreams and love.

Two friends are led to a late-night decision that could change their lives forever.

Guided by the fear of his present being forgotten, Tyson Conteh films his way through Makeni, capturing the harrowing effects of Ebola on his community and the lives around him.

An examination of the culturally-ingrained gender inequalities and abuses of power women in Hollywood face to this day.

A rip-roaring film full of twists and turns, The Trouble with You knows how to maintain a perfect balance between sweetness and fun.

Vandal explores the struggle of street artists to keep their art alive as well as the social backlash that goes hand in hand with pursuing their biggest passion.

A quietly affecting, deeply psychological film that doesn’t shy away from asking hard questions, With Love was inspired by the true story of Stephen Marshall, a news story that shook Canadians in 2006.

Yuli is the life story of Cuban ballet legend Carlos Acosta.

In a jail in Richmond, VA, a new rehabilitation effort encourages inmates to write and record original music.

A skilled computer technician has a one-sided love affair with a famous actress.

“Cathedrals” is about a blind man who can see, and a sighted man who can’t.

Diva and Astro follow parallel paths in real time.

A colorful, surreal, and provocative retelling of the production of Spanish director Luis Buñuel‘s iconic film “Las Hurdes.”

In West Kingston, Jamaica, a group of former gangsters from Denham Town have taken it upon themselves to become violence interrupters.

Cubans share their seats and their private conversation as they gather in the country’s main squares to talk to their loved ones living abroad.

The Most Beautiful Couple is a complex story about revenge, intimacy, and trust. In his blind eagerness to follow the man responsible for his and Liv’s trauma, Malte puts his marriage, rebuilt with such care and on such fragile ground, to the test once more.

All his life, Eliseo has brought the magic of movies to the small rural towns in the Dominican Republic countryside via his traveling cinema caravan. When he’s not on the road or putting on a show, Eliseo is entranced by old film reels that he never shows anyone: images of a beautiful young woman he only knows through a projected film reel, a woman whose appearance makes his days brighter and his personal solitude less oppressing.

Socrates, a resourceful, proud and determined a 15-year-old boy with an inspirational sense of fortitude, is living a hardscrabble life on the margins of São Paulo.

Sprightly Chuskit has to fight for her dream of attending school after a horrible accident leaves her in a wheelchair.

Marga is bored of her routine. That is until something completely unexpected catches her attention, and for the first time in her life, she realizes what she really wants to do.

A wealthy Brazilian family gathers on an estate in the countryside as a new era dawns upon them with the instatement of working class politician Lula as president of their country.

In their last year of high school, students in Pahokee, FL, face heartbreak, adversity, pressure, laughter, and love.

As the Kingdom of Pei prepares a triumph over a rival kingdom, its military commander has to ward off enemies inside the palace walls, too.

The crew of a commercial space vessel encounter the eponymous Alien, a deadly and aggressive extraterrestrial set loose on their ship.

A gorgeous love letter to the storied talent that is Cécile McLorin Salvant.

A biographical look at Toni Morrison‘s incredible life and enormous storytelling skills.

A young couple move to Paris at the height of the Palace years.

With The Babadook, Jennifer Kent brought us an instant horror classic that used a storybook monster as a vessel to…

Modern master filmmaker Olivier Assayas probes the foibles of a quartet of middle-age friends caught in the throes of a fast-changing world.

Three aspiring screenwriters find themselves as the prime suspects of one of Italy’s biggest film producers in this comedy about the last days of the Golden Age of Italian cinema.

The following short films screen back to back as a collection, featuring:   BUG Guillaume is thirty years old and…

Brazil, 2027. A civil servant tries to make sense of her life as evangelicalism rules over every single aspect of society.

A delicate satire of one women’s refusal to shed her perfect façade as life as she knows it slowly crumbles around her.

Deeply religious Pablo falls in love with another man, and his entire world starts shaking.

A single mom’s world comes crashing down when she receives an urgent call from her son’s school.

Marcos has to navigate bullying and an unrequited crush as animosity against him grows at his high school.

The following short films screen back to back as a collection, featuring:   DIVA & ASTRO A streetwise posse idly…

In 1970s Argentina, a series of seemingly unrelated events hit a middle-class couple’s picture perfect family all at once.

12 year old Ángela is introduced to the beautiful and exciting world of womanhood on a roadtrip with her three half-sisters.

When Janno’s mother brings Pieter home, a dangerous fight for power, heritage and parental love will change both boys’ lives forever.

After her father disappears, 13-year old Lili carries out a spiritual ritual in the hopes of bringing him back – but something goes terribly wrong.

He became known the world over in the late 90s as an original member of legendary Cuban band Buena Vista Social Club, but Eliades Ochoa’s passion for his country’s musical heritage led him to pursue a life dedicated to music much earlier than that.

A look into the deep sorrow and messy feelings of the ones who are left behind after violent death hits a family.

After spending the last decade in turmoil, Marcus resorts to one last option in an attempt to put an end to his mental disarray.

Javier’s neatly laid-out plans are upturned when a ghost from his past is suddenly standing at his front door.

A hybrid-documentary short film about a couple separated by U.S. immigration policy whose love may or may not stand the test of time.

In a near future, men have resorted to robots for companionship.

A young man sets out on an adventure through the Florida Keys.

Amazing Grace shows footage of the recording of Aretha Franklin‘s best selling album of the same name.

A stunning new documentary that draws upon never before seen NASA footage to bring a new level of drama and suspense to the moon landing.

An unprecedented look into the extraordinary life of America’s most beloved sex therapist, Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

This program features work by early film pioneers, artists and commercial as well as avant-garde filmmakers. With an absence of, or disregard for, conventional storytelling, these films animate clothes, shop mannequins and magazine illustrations, allowing them to assume lives of their own and assert a powerful sense of their reality as material things.

Filmmaker John Chester and his wife, Molly, a culinary writer, trade city life to start their own farm on a stretch of depleted soil outside Los Angeles.

The following short films screen back to back as a collection: LIBERTY **OPENING NIGHT FILM, KNIGHT MADE IN MIA AWARD…

Henri-George Clouzot’s Inferno is one of the most tantalizing uncompleted projects in film history. The Inferno Unseen is a newly edited assemblage of rushes filmed in 1964.

This pairing of José Rodríguez-Soltero’s lavish “Lupe” and Ron Rice’s landmark psychedelic masterpiece “Chumlum” features two of the most accomplished uses of superimposition in underground film, transporting drag glamour into a profoundly hallucinatory dimension.

A funny and touching coming-of-age doc about four women from three different generations that all share one thing in common: Their lives have been forever changed by their all-consuming love of boybands.

This program focuses on the coming-together of dance (or, more precisely, choreographed movement), clothing and cinema, drawing attention to the unique ways in which these art forms explore, magnify and shape one another.

After the horrible destruction the earthquake of January 2010 left in its wake in Haiti, hope is rebuilt through profound conviction and hard, communal work.

Focusing on fashion film as a means of investigating the properties of both dress and cinema, this program highlights the great potential of this burgeoning form to enrich and challenge established conventions of fashion and beauty imagery.

A look into Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s rise from obscurity to pulling off one of the biggest political upsets of the year.

“Rapsodia Satanica” is a masterpiece of silent Italian cinema. Based on a 1915 poem by Fausto Maria Martini, it was conceived as an “opera d’arte totale”, an amalgam of all the arts of the time, including the avant-garde fashion designs of Mariano Fortuny.

Fútbol and Chola, two stray dogs, have established their reign in the popular Plaza de los Reyes in Santiago de Chile, where they spend their days surrounded by the lively Chilean youth.

A unique biographical portrait of the harsh interrogator Mike Wallace, who often resisted being asked questions himself.

A wide-ranging biography that maintains an admirable balance in probing Miles Davis’ artistic highs and personal lows, covering his recording career along with his marriages and struggles with addiction.

The Silence of Others reveals the ongoing struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General Franco, who wielded gargantuan power and influence over all areas of Spanish society from 1935-1975.

Exceptional Spanish-language short films competing for a juried award of $5,000 cash, courtesy of HBO.   A FISHES’ RECALL An…

In this documentary, we take a peek into not only 20th century movie culture through Pauline Kael’s writing, but are also shown her life through the movies she wrote about so passionately.

Magic City Hustle follows several former players for the Miami Hurricanes who get an unexpected chance to turn pro — but not playing football.

An exploration of the origins of one of Miami’s most important yearly cultural events, Art Basel.

Desperate to connect to a British girl adorned with images of nationalistic pride, a young man invites her on a late night date.

An undocumented mother of two is faced with her sister’s deportation and her younger son’s disappearance at the same time.

“The Rafter” tells the incredible story of Reinaldo Cruz, the man widely believed to be the first Cuban refugee to arrive on U.S. shores on a homemade raft.

Leo navigates the complexities of his family relationships and the trials of a changing season.

An old man returns to his hometown many years after a traumatic tragedy forced him to leave.

A daughter yearns for a sign of her mother’s approval.

A Venezuelan student creates a paramedic group to help those injured in street marches.

A look into the harsh reality of an Obama-era immigration detention system.

Gigantes is a restless, drug-fueled, fast-paced tale of brotherhood and rivalry, where alliances are broken as quickly as they are made, and blood loss and violence reign supreme.

When Janet’s husband Billy makes an announcement at a party she’s hosting, a series of revelations start gradually unraveling.

Young biology student Jule sets out on a road trip from Berlin to Portugal, and picks up hitchhiker Jan along the way.

A young swordsman travels back home to revenge the murder of his master.

Dolores Dreier 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.

Hotel Mumbai tells the harrowing true story of the 2008 Mumbai terrorists attack on the famed Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

In this gangster tale of striking majesty, Qiao will do anything it takes to protect her mobster lover Bin.

A socially awkward young man and his unhappily married co-worker fall in love in the endless aisles of the superstore they work at.

Making good on his promise to his 9-year-old son Nico, struggling father Curro takes him on a summer vacation neither of them will ever forget.

Paris, 1979: Anne gets tangled up in the murder investigation of a serial killer who is going after the stars of the third-rate porn she produces.

In a near-future 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 and defeat the local capo.

A Dominican boy embarks on a thick, curly-haired journey through Hollywood.

A mesmerizing character study of a longtime prisoner who struggles to escape his past and rediscover his humanity.

Carlotta learns to deal with a rare, untreatable deficit of her brain.

When Robert is attacked by three masked men, he will have to reveal a secret that will change all their lives forever.

In the Florida Panhandle lies the rural town of Marianna, where resident Lamar Wilson annually runs a particular marathon to lift the veil of racial terror in the town’s buried history.

Screwball looks at doping in major league baseball from the perspective of Miami’s Anthony Bosch, a specialist in performance-enhancing drugs.

A high-seas, dramatic environmental documentary about conservation activist vessel Sea Shepherd, and its epic chase of the “Thunder”, one of the world’s most notorious poaching vessels.

A celebration of Haiti’s passion and love for music.

DJ EFN and his Crazy Hood crew explore the hip hop scene in Colombia.

Marcos and his wife Alma discover a cure for the bizarre dancing pandemic that has afflicted their town.

The lives of five very different people intersect amidst the true story of a stream of thousands of dead pigs found floating in the Yangtze River in modern-day Shanghai.

Raúl, a retired foley artist, becomes obsessed with the sounds of his neighbor’s life.

When Riadh and Nazli’s son Sami suddenly disappears, Riadh desperately attempts to trace his footsteps and reach him before he makes an irreversible decision.

Marcello decides to stand up for his own dignity when the petty criminal schemes of the local bully, Simoncino, bring him to a breaking point.

Julio wants to prove himself and show his fellow townspeople that he can survive two electric chair executions in a row.

A reflection on the remnants of a film culture that so deeply affected and defined Cuba’s collective memory.

Celeste is a kindly planetarium worker who accepts to leave everything and everyone she knows to embark on an adventure that will change her life forever.

Ramin is a young Iranian man living and working illegally in the port city of Veracruz, Mexico, where he slowly begins to recover his own desire for love and friendship.

A family’s vacation to Florianópolis proves to be just what they need to find their way back to each other.

Chloe lives with her paranoid, overprotective father, who is convinced the world outside their doorstep lurks with overwhelming evils aiming to destroy them.

A conversation between a frustrated daughter and her eccentric mother proves that no matter how old we are, we never stop craving our parents’ love and support.

Franky and Ballas explore the ups and downs of their friendship as they feel the pressures of their last years of high school weighing on them.

The Great Mother follows Nora Sandigo as she becomes the legal guardian of over 1,000 children of undocumented parents.

An encounter with a lost falcon beckons Aaron to return to his divine origin.

After being diagnosed with ALS, a curmudgeonly older man, Sol, goes to the hospital with his partner Ben to record a voice bank of phrases and words before he loses the ability to speak.

Over the course of a phone conversation with a sympathetic friend, a man analyzes, deconstructs and interprets the meaning of his choice to take a public political stance.

An international soccer superstar ends his career in disgrace and sets out on a cosmic odyssey in search of the source of genius.

Leonor wants to leave home, but her mother, Estrella, doesn’t want her to go. Mother and daughter will have to face a new time in their lives in which the world they share is wavering.

A chance encounter morphs into a mystery in Lee Chang-dong’s Burning, when a mysterious man named Ben confesses a dark secret hobby.

Marjoun escapes her hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, and takes to the open road on a motorcycle.

An arrogant and ill-mannered basketball coach is sentenced to community service, forced to work with a team of differently-abled players.

Elaine, a Latina girl excitedly growing into her maturing body, soon has to face the harsh reality of sexual abuse.

A self-proclaimed “prepper” faces society’s unacknowledged fear of aging and the erroneous assumption that getting older means losing control.

After her daughter Yoshiko is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and her husband is deployed to overseas military service, Saki is finding life harder and harder to manage.

Best friends Carlos and Gera are introduced into the Mexican post-punk underground nightlife.

A young father (Steven Yeun) separated from his wife, takes drastic measures to see his newborn son, who he feels is being unfairly kept from him.

A couple is overjoyed to welcome their firstborn son into the world. Euphoria slips away, however, when they return to an unwinnable argument over what name they will give their son

Jonathas lives in an orphanage boy until one day he is adopted by a childless couple. When his new parents get him home, his effeminate mannerisms disturb them and Jonathas gets “returned.”

Alice purposefully misses her flight home and relishes the temporary sense of freedom that comes with being a stranger in an unfamiliar city.

After Steevens helps his friend out with a job, his precariously balanced life is disrupted in a series of unexpected events.

A lifetime of loneliness has begun to weigh on Raymonde, and she starts asking herself questions about the meaning of things, about God and about her tardy virginity.

While waiting for a show to start at a theater, two strangers start a conversation.

Jacques, a solitary writer living in Paris, begins a love affair with young student Arthur.

Two brothers try to comprehend their current situation amidst the Seminole Wars of 1830.

Blind American athlete Erik Weihenmayer attempts to kayak the violent white water rapids of the Grand Canyon’s Colorado River.

Desperately looking for inspiration, a troubled musician struggling to compose a song for his manager canoes deep into a lush river, where he unearths uncanny muses that take over his life.

A detective obsessed with a decade-old murder is pulled deeply into a web of lies and intrigue fabricated by two old friends.

A Guatemalan teenager living in poverty with his mother finds new hope for his life when he meets a young construction worker.

Everything seems idyllic when the budding author Nina moves from Denmark to a small Faroese island with her boyfriend William. But all the peace and freedom she was craving quickly turns the island into a lonely prison.

“This Is Your Cuba” follows Anton, a young boy who is thrust into adulthood as the Cuban Revolution tears his family apart.

The owner of a failing inn and a roadkill collector team up to devise a Bigfoot hoax to draw in tourists; but a Miccosukee Hunter is set to make sure that doesn’t happen.

A three-day program of screenings, performances, talks and conversations that explore the intersection between fashion and cinema.

CinemaSlam is Miami Film Festival’s film school competition, aiming to discover, showcase and celebrate the work of undergraduate and graduate…

A married PE teacher seeks out an affair with one of the students at her new school.

A portrait of Colombian legend Fernando Botero, one of the greatest living artists today.

Annie, a teacher in a elementary school classroom, is forced to hide in the safety of a closet after the announcement of a schoolwide lockdown.

Faced with the reality of losing both his job and his love, motorcycle messenger Mancha will have to reach deep within to lead his motley group of misfits, dodging usual and unusual obstacles along the way.

Huracán is a psychological drama about an aspiring mixed martial arts fighter who suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder.

When Juanita, a Dominican immigrant, and Mariano, a lonely Spanish farmer, get married, Mariano will have to learn about a whole new country and culture.

Two best friends risk drifting apart as their neighborhood undergoes drastic changes caused by gentrification.

Mad Men meets Buena Vista Social Club in this surprising story about the dancers who fell in love with Cuban Mambo in the 1950s, sparking a dance craze that swept the nation and the world.

An estranged family tries to reconnect in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.