Spain at the 2015 Miami International Film Festival

The 32 edition brings the latest and greatest in world cinema from Cuba, Spain, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, United Kingdom, China and more.

The 2015 edition of the Miami International Film Festival showcases 125 films, including 94 feature films and documentaries, 18 short films, 11 student films and 2 works-in-progress, produced and directed by both renowned and emerging talent from 40 countries. The 10-day annual event takes place at the Festival’s traditional home, the historic Olympia Theater at Gusman Center in downtown, plus six additional cinemas scattered across The Magic City; and includes a plethora of screenings, stylish parties, thoughtful panel discussions, spirited film competitions, awards ceremonies and immersive cultural exchange opportunities for filmmakers attending from across the globe.

Spanish films at MIFF:

Marshland

• On Thursday, March 12 at 9:45 pm. At Olympia Theater. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Alberto Rodríguez. U.S. Premiere.
• Original title: La Isla Mínima.

Set in 1980, in the swampy lowlands of the Guadalquivir River in southern Spain, two teenage girls have disappeared after a local fiesta, and two mismatched and troubled cops from Madrid arrive to investigate—Juan (Javier Gutíerrez, winner of the Best Actor Goya) and Pedro (Raúl Arévalo, in a very different role than his comedic turn in the Festival’s awards night film, Sidetracked). A stylish thriller which became the third highest Goya-awarded film in history.

The Pilgrim – Paulo Coelho’s Best Story

• On Saturday, March 7 at 7 pm. At Olympia Theater. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Daniel Augusto, Brazil / Spain. In Portuguese and Spanish with English subtitles.
• Original title: Não Pare na Pista – A Melhor História de Paulo Coelho.

Paz Vega co-stars in this true-life story of the great Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho’s early years, when he was equally fixated by the mysteries of writing, black magic and rock n’ roll.

Kamikaze

• On Thursday, March 12 at 7 pm. At Olympia Theater. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Álex Pina.

When a pounding snowstorm postpones the departure of a Moscow commercial airline bound for Madrid, a young male passenger with questionable intentions has his plans temporarily grounded by the eclectic collection of his fellow passengers.

Playing Lecuona

• On Friday, March 13 at 9:30 pm.At Olympia Theater. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Pavel Giroud and Juan Manuel Villar, Spain / Colombia. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Legendary virtuoso Cuban composer and pianist Ernesto Lecuona gets the all-star treatment from renowned musicians Chucho Valdés, Michel Camilo and Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

Wild Tales

• On Friday, March 6 at 7 pm. At Olympia Theater. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Damián Szifron, Argentina / Spain. In Spanish with English subtitles.
• Original title: Relatos Salvajes.

An all-star cast of Argentina’s biggest stars creates an epic comedy of unfettered revenge,co-produced by Pedro Almodóvar’s El Deseo. Simón (Ricardo Darín) is pushed to the breaking point by Buenos Aires civic bureaucrats who have towed his car on the day of his daughter’s birthday; whereas white-collar businessman Diego (Leonardo Sbaraglia)is enraged by blue-collar righteousness on a dusty, deserted highway. By chance, a roadside diner waitress (Julieta Zylberberg) meets the pompous jerk who destroyed her family; and wealthy patriarch Mauricio (Oscar Martínez) is determined to be the pompous jerk who won’t let anyone destroy his family.

Sidetracked

• On Saturday, March 14 at 7 pm. At Olympia Theater. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Álvaro Fernández Armero, Spain. In Spanish with English subtitles.
• Original title: Las Ovejas no Pierden el Tren.

Alberto and Luisa (Inma Cuesta) are entering a mid thirties “life crisis”— their chosen careers have failed to ignite, and their adorable young son is STILL without a sibling. Yet that’s nothing compared to what each of their older siblings are going through—Alberto’s separated older brother Juan is feeling major anxiety about dating a woman 20 years his junior, and Luisa’s older sister Sara (the scene-stealing Candela Peña) is feeling the same about not dating anyone. Everyone in the hilarious Sidetracked is afraid of their train leaving the station, without them on it!

Paco de Lucía: A Journey

• On Saturday, March 7 at 4 pm. At MDC’S Tower Theater. Buy tickets.
• On Sunday, March 8 at 9:45 pm. At Regal 17. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Curro Sánchez Varela, Spain. In Spanish with English subtitles.
• Original title: Paco de Lucía: La Búsqueda.

World renowned fl amenco guitarist Paco de Lucía’s exceptional life and rise to fame are exquisitely put together in this fi lm by his son Curro Sánchez Varela.

Easy Sex, Sad Movies

• On Wednesday, March 11 at 9:45 pm. At O Cinema Miami Beach. Buy tickets.
• On Friday, March 13th at 9:30 pm. At Regal 18. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Alejo Flah, Argentina / Spain / France. In Spanish with English subtitles.
• Original title: Sexo Fácil, Peliculas Tristes.

A screenwriter for a new romantic comedy goes deep inside his characters, and in the process fi nds it hard to keep up with his own love life.

They Are All Dead

• On Monday, March 9 at 9:30 pm. At Cinepolis. Buy tickets.
• On Wednesday March 11 at 9:30 pm. At Coral Gables Art Cinema. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Beatriz Sanchís, Spain / Germany / Mexico. In Spanish with English subtitles.
• Original title: Todos Están Muertos.

In a leap of magic realism, an agoraphobic Spanish/Mexican former punk rock star begins to see the ghost of her longed brother, and realizes that hiding behind Doña Rosario’s maternal protection isn’t going to last much longer.

Beautiful Youth

• On Monday, March 9 at 9:30 pm. At Regal 18. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Jaime Rosales, Spain. In German and Spanish with English subtitles.
• Original title: Hermosa Juventud.

Two unemployed twentysomething Spaniards, still living at home with their parents, resort to amateur pornography in order to move out of their stasis.