Miami Film Festival Programmer Ivonne Cotorruelo and Latin American Cinema

The only Latin American feature film awarded in this edition was the Cuban “El caso Padilla” by Pavel Giroud, which received the Audience Award in the documentary category. In addition, several titles related to the Latino community in Miami and the rest of the country received recognition. The 45,000 dollars awarded by the Knight Made in Miami Feature Film Award were divided between “February” by Hansel Porras García -a feature film about a Cuban exile who receives a visit from her best childhood friend- and “Plantadas” by Lilo Vilaplana and Camilio Vilaplana -film starring three Cuban political prisoners during the Castro regime that also received recognition from the public-. The short film “Carmen” by Cristine Brache -inspired by the director’s experience with her mother’s mental instability- received the Knight Made in Miami Short Film Award ($10,000), while “Ñaños” by Emilio Subía -on the life of two Ecuadorian brothers in a Latino neighborhood in Queens- won the Best Short Film award at the festival.

LatAm cinema spoke with the programmer of MFF’s Ibero-American titles, Ivonne Cotorruelo, about the relevance of the festival for the Miami public and its relationship with Latin American cinema.

The Miami Film Festival celebrates its 40th edition this year, what are the achievements and the relevance it has acquired in these years?

My relationship with the festival dates back to 2012, when we participated in the industry area with “Venecia” by Kiki Álvarez. The following year an event for independent Cuban filmmakers was organized in which I collaborated as a curator. I think the most important thing that the festival has achieved is to have built community. The beautiful work he does to create a very diverse program, which includes everything from very crude Latin American movies to comedies, without escaping any genre. That, along with the activities and meetings organized by the festival, builds community. For example, we had a wonderful experience at the screening of “La hija de todas las rabies” by Laura Baumeister and there were two women who, when the film ended, came down crying, hugged the director and said: “This is the story from my family, this is me, I have also had to deal with being a woman in Nicaragua.” This anecdote sums up how relevant the festival has become for the city of Miami. On the other hand, the MFF is built as a strategic point of visibility for Ibero-American filmmakers. It is a festival that works as a bridge and helps a lot to the career of the filmmakers. Not only does it offer the possibility for the public here to meet these films, but it broadens the possibilities of the filmmakers, proposes a dialogue, and works with diversity in all spheres of the festival.

This is a festival that fills the halls, what are the themes and the Latin American countries that best connect with the public in Miami?

This tradition stems from MFF founder Nat Chediak, and then continued with its director of 12 years, Jaie Laplante, who opened up the channels for audiences to have a chance to dialogue with the filmmakers. The quantity and quality of Latin American films makes it very difficult to put together the Ibero-American program, but I would say that the strongest country this year was Brazil. All the Brazilian films that were nominated were excellent and we ended up selecting two: “Regra 34” by Carolina Murat and “Carbón”, Carolina Carolina Markowicz’s debut feature. The interesting thing is that they are not at all alike, one has to do with the exploration of a woman’s sexual life through the networks; and the other takes place in a rural environment and portrays the resilience of a poor family in the middle of nowhere that shelters a drug gangster. This year there is a very strong presence of female directors and several films that deal with the issue of the elderly, which works very well in Miami because we have a veteran audience.

As you said, the MFF is a strategic point of entry to the US for Latin American filmmakers. What is it that most attracts you in a film when programming the selected films?

It is a painful process, because one never has all the slots that I would like to have to program, but there are two things that I am always looking for. One is a voice. I want to find filmmakers who have a voice, an originality when it comes to telling stories, approaching cinema, working with aesthetic resources and using them to connect with the audience. Second, I’m always looking for filmmakers who aren’t outsiders. I need a film that speaks of a reality of which its director is a part, that one feels that the director did not parachute into the community where the story he is telling takes place. That is something that enriches us from Latin American cinema, that shows you places, contexts where you have not been or know, because its filmmakers grew up there, or their family lived there. I also try to have a balance between tone, genre and point of view, that there are points of view that talk to each other and that even clash, and that new things emerge from there.

The MFF has Latin American titles and others produced and filmed in the US on Latino themes. What are the differences between these two ways of relating to Latin America?

I believe that all movies, like living beings, are different. It is very difficult to make a comparison, since even some that come from the same region are diametrically different, but something positive regarding the films from Miami is that more and more are being presented, both short and feature films. That shows that more movies are being made in Miami, more quality movies. I don’t program that section but it is very diverse, this year it included titles like “Patria y vida” by Beatriz Luengo or “Amigo” by Luis Gispert. The public responded very well, because you can see the city where you live on the screen, but through the eyes of another. That is what art does: you can pass every day by the same corner where there is a mural, but you never looked at it like when a filmmaker came and captured it, worked with it, transformed that reality and made it available to you. There’s that magic.

Do Miami residents have other options to see Latin American movies during the rest of the year?

There is a very active local public here. When I lived in Miami, I went to the Tower Theater every Sunday to see the movies, and my mom always goes to Coral Gables. Then there’s GEMS, the other portion of the festival that also has a huge turnout. GEMS started in 2014 under the name MIFFecito with the aim of offering a “mid-season” solution, bringing the most acclaimed titles of the year to the local public each November. There is a large Latino public here, people who connect a lot with Latino cinema; in the projections there is always a moment in which people want to speak in Spanish. It reminds me of when I lived in Cuba, of the passion that was at the Havana festival, that calm and beautiful passion.

You mentioned that your first approach to the MFF was in your area of ​​industry, do you plan to return with sections such as Work in Progress or other industry events?

I don’t know, but I hope so. After the pandemic, everything is very uncertain, it takes time to readjust. But I know that the ability to create it exists. It was a fantastic event and there are a lot of very talented people who work at the festival.