The 30th annual Miami International Film Festival officially opens today and on display are nine unique films screened at four locations. Many of the films are airing at the same time making it difficult to choose which films to skip and which to see. So pick your genre and decide which film is right for you.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
It seems opening night is for sci-fi fans. Four of the 9 films come from the sci-fi/fantasy genre. While the premise to all of these films look amazing, it really is a matter of taste.
Ghost Graduation is for the teens and follows high school ghost students who graduate with the help of a supernaturally powered teacher. It's more for the Twilight/Hunger Games crowd. If a teen dream isn't your thing, then check out The Fifth Season (La Cinquieme Saison). It introduces something new to South Florida audiences: Winter (although the weather this weekend might prove me wrong). Villagers try to appease Uncle Winter and when they are unsuccessful, they are stuck in a land of eternal winter. Bummer.
Halley and The End (Fin) both screen tonight at 9:30 p.m. at their respective theaters and if you plan on watching them you have a choice between slowly watching a man die from an unknown disease and finally become a zombie or watching friends get picked off as they battle the apocalypse. Honestly, their both pretty good choices. Halley screens at O Cinema while The End screens at the Coral Gables Art Cinema.
Horror
If you're a fan of American Horror Story: Asylum, then Saniturium starring Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba), Robert Englund as known as Freddy from A Nightmare On Elm Street and Malcolm McDowell, then this film is for you. It follows three mental patients in three different tales of psychological horror. Tonight is the film's world premiere. You won't want to miss that.
Music
Twenty Feet From Stardom is the opening night film and it chronicles the lives of backup singers to the stars. It features interviews with Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen. The benefit to this film is that it screens alongside the opening night party so you can watch rock stars and then party like one afterwards.
The other musical film, Turning takes the stage to the screen and chronicles 13 female musicians with gender identity issues. If you're a fan of the stage this show is for you.
Drama
This category features two Kenyan movies. Nairobi Half Life is a crime drama set in Kenya following a young man's journey on his way to acting who takes a detour working as a drug mule. Paradise: Love is basically the gritty side of How Stella Got Her Groove Back where an older Austrian woman gets a younger Kenyan lover except she has to pay for her pleasure and yet legally, it's not prostitution. The film got a 7 out of 10 rating on IMDB so its worth a watch.
The 30th Annual Miami International Film Festival continues until Mar. 10. See website for screening times and locations.
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