Miami Film Festival

About

Miami Film Festival is a world-class platform for International and Ibero-American film. The Festival showcases the work of the world’s best emerging and established filmmakers to the diverse cosmopolitan community of Miami. With its special focus on Ibero-American cinema, Miami Film Festival has become the natural gateway for the discovery of Ibero-American talent.

Awards

• The $30,000 MARIMBAS Award is Miami Film Festival’s top award, presenting $30,000 cash to the jury-selected feature film (60 min or longer) that best exemplifies richness and resonance for cinema’s future. The cash prize will go to the lead producer (production company), but is eligible to be split with a US distributor, if there is a US company that has made a commitment to release the winning film in US theaters prior to a VOD release.
• The $10,000 Documentary Achievement Award is a cash prize given to one documentary film as voted upon by the Festival audience, awarded to the film’s lead producer (production company). 
• HBO Ibero-American Feature Film Award presents $10,000 cash, courtesy of HBO, to the jury-selected best U.S. Hispanic or Ibero-American feature film (60 min or longer) in the Official Selection, awarded to the lead producer (production company).
• Jordan Ressler First Feature Award presents $10,000 cash to the filmmaker (director, or writer/director) of the jury-selected best film made by a filmmaker making his or her feature narrative (60 min or longer) film debut.
• The $10,000 Made in MIA Award is a cash prize to the filmmaker of the jury-selected best film of any genre and any length in the Festival’s Official Selection that features a qualitatively/quantitatively substantial portion of its content (story, setting and actual filming location) in South Florida, from West Palm to the Keys, and that most universally demonstrates a common ground of pride, emotion, and faith for the South Florida community.
• Zeno Mountain Award presents $5,000 cash, courtesy of Fringe Partners, to the filmmaker of a jury-selected film of any genre and any length that best celebrates the diversity of abilities and disabilities and helps to break down barriers to our understanding of people living with disabilities. 
• IMDbPro Short Film Award presents $5,000 cash, courtesy of IMDbPro, an Amazon company, to the filmmaker of a jury-selected short film (30 min or less) of any genre.
• The $2,500 Poster Design Award is a cash prize split between the producer and the poster designer of the jury-selected best poster (representation of its film for marketing purposes) of all films, regardless of genre or length, with completed posters in the Official Selection.
• The $2,500 Trailer Award is a cash prize split between the producer and the trailer editor of the jury-selected best trailer (representation of its film for marketing purposes) of all films, regardless of genre or length, with completed trailers in the Official Selection.
• Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation CinemaSlam Competition is a cash-competition prize open to all Miami-area film students. The Festival will detail prizes and entry requirements, as well as open submissions, beginning in October 2018, until January 11, 2019.
• Feature Film Audience Award and Short Film Audience Award are two separate awards presented to the filmmakers of the Festival audience’s choice of best non-documentary feature (60 min or more) and best non-documentary short (30 min or less) of the entire Official Selection.
• Rene Rodriguez Critics Award is presented to the filmmaker of one film of any genre and any length voted on by all accredited film critics covering the annual Festival, for the film they consider the best of that year’s selection.

Rules

• World premiere must have occurred no earlier than January 1, 2023

• There is a minimum Florida premiere requirement for films to compete in all Feature Film Award categories. However, all things being equal, the Festival will give programming preference to films that offer a World, International, North American or US premiere status.

• Exhibition format must be delivered on DCP, with the exception of Virtual Reality projects that are accepted to the IMDbPro Short Film Competition (these will be exhibited in the VR format).

Premiere Requirements

No premiere requirement

Jury and Organizers

Festival director: Nicolas Calzada;
Associate Director, Program and Industry: Diana Cadavid;
Executive Director: Jaie Laplante.