\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tDustin Hoffman and Leo Woodall in \u2018Tuner\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBlack Bear<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe festival kicked off with Tuner<\/em>, starring Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman and directed by Oscar winner Daniel Roher, and concludes tonight with an 80th<\/sup> birthday party tribute to director John Waters, with the iconoclastic filmmaker present. MFF added an extra day this year, extending its length to 11 days.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJames Woolley, executive director of the Miami Film Festival<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiami Film Festival<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\t\u201cThe thing behind that is we play so many great movies and we hate scheduling them on top of each other,\u201d Woolley explains. \u201cSo, every little opportunity we get to spread it out a bit and let people have their choices be easier is good for us because there\u2019s nothing worse than having too many films you want to see all at the same time. And our audience has gone with us on it. They like the extra time; they\u2019re seeing more films per person and the films are full.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tBob Odenkirk in a scene from \u2018Normal\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAllen Fraser<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe festival, a program of Miami Dade College, unspools at several venues in Miami, Miami Beach, and Coral Gables, including the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts a short distance from Biscayne Bay. Among the stars honored this year have been Adam Scott, Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk, Oscar nominee Danielle Brooks, Lili Reinhart, Matt Bomer, and Sesame Street<\/em> legend Sonia Manzano. Odenkirk came to MFF to present his new action-thriller Normal<\/em>, and Scott for his horror film Hokum<\/em>. Festival programmers examine theatrical release schedules with an eye to inviting prominent guests.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s exactly how Adam Scott and Hokum<\/em> came together,\u201d MFF director of programming Lauren Cohen tells Deadline. \u201cWe saw that Hokum<\/em> has a May 1st release date and said, \u2018Okay, early, mid-April is probably in that perfect sweet spot and before they\u2019re fully doing the press stops that the studio needs from them.\u2019 So, this is that really perfect window before they have all these obligations and it\u2019s also something desirable for the studio to get that very well-deserved recognition for the stars. So that\u2019s how it came together for Bob Odenkirk too \u2014 Normal<\/em> comes out this weekend\u2026 The timing just is really, really fortuitous that way.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tSonia Manzano in \u2018Street Smart: Lessons From a TV Icon\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStreet Smart LLC\/Illustrations by Jeffrey Aviles<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tManzano, who played \u201cMaria\u201d on Sesame Street<\/em> for an astounding 44 years, received the festival\u2019s Impact Award. She and director Ernie Busamante were on hand for a screening of his documentary about her, Street Smart: Lessons From a TV Icon<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019m very gratified and thrilled to be honored,\u201d Manzano told Deadline shortly before she received her award. \u201cI\u2019ve been honored many times, but this has kind of special meaning for me because more people from the Latin community are honoring me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe Miami Film Festival reflects the diversity of its home base and robust Cuban American community by devoting space to many films with Latin American themes or connections. On the slate was A Loose End (Un cabo suelto)<\/em> directed by Uruguayan filmmaker Daniel Hendler; Eva y Ad\u00e1n en Miami<\/em> directed by Cuban filmmaker Lilo Vilaplana; Homo Argentum<\/em> from Argentinian directors Mariano Cohn and Gast\u00f3n Duprat; It Would be Night in Caracas (Aun es de Noche en Caracas)<\/em>, by Venezuelan director Mariana Rond\u00f3n and Peruvian-born director Marit\u00e9 Ug\u00e1s; Runa Simi<\/em>, a documentary set in Peru; Milly: Queen of Merengue<\/em>, a musical about Dominican singer Milly Quezada directed by Dominican filmmaker Leticia Tonos Paniagua. The period piece Under the Same Sun (Bajo el mismo sol)<\/em>, directed by Spanish filmmaker Ulises Porra, takes place in 19th<\/sup> century La Espa\u00f1ola, the colonial Caribbean island now shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tAlina Fern\u00e1ndez Revuelta, a daughter of Fidel Castro, in the documentary \u2018Revolution\u2019s Daughter\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiami Film Festival<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe Miami Film Festival hosted several documentaries about Cuba, including Revolution\u2019s Daughter<\/em> which focuses on one of Fidel Castro\u2019s 11 children \u2014 Alina Fern\u00e1ndez Revuelta \u2013 who fled Cuba in 1993 after rejecting her father\u2019s repressive rule. Fern\u00e1ndez Revuelta, who lives in Miami, attended the world premiere of the film. At a Q&A afterwards, she reflected on the Cuba her father created with his overthrow of the Batista regime in 1959.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve been a bizarre experiment,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez Revuelta commented. \u201cWe\u2019ve been undergoing 67 years of \u2018building the revolution,\u2019 which is absurd\u2026 because \u2018revolution\u2019 is a short moment in history. I think about what the French would have done if their revolution lasted 67 years. Nobody in France would have a head. So, we are a phenomenon. We are something indescribable. We are absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAmong other Cuban-themed documentaries programmed at MFF were To the West, In Zapata<\/em>, directed by David Bim, and the world premiere of Calle Cuba<\/em>, directed by Vanessa Batista.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe have an incredible programmer, Alejandro R\u00edos, who does the best job of anyone in the world on Cuban film,\u201d Woolley affirms. \u201cHe does such a great job of connecting to the community, and [the screenings] sell well because the community trusts him and knows the films are going to be great. It\u2019s a real badge of honor for the filmmakers to be here\u2026 They view it as their festival, and it\u2019s a real celebration when they are accepted and premiere here. So, it\u2019s a great program. We\u2019re extremely proud of it, and it\u2019s one that sales-wise just continues to grow. We\u2019re really thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tDirector Ben McKenzie takes part in a discussion after a screening of his documentary \u2018Everyone Is Lying to You for Money.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatthew Carey<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tCohen, the director of programming, highlights others doc on the slate, including Ben McKenzie\u2019s Everyone Is Lying to You for Money<\/em>; Runa Simi<\/em> directed by Augusto Zegarra; The Trial of Alec Baldwin<\/em>, directed by Rory Kennedy, and Coroner to the Stars<\/em>, a documentary about former L.A. County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Noguchi directed by Ben Hethcoat and Keita Ideno.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tLauren Cohen, director of programming at the Miami Film Festival<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiami Film Festival<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\t\u201cThey\u2019re some of the best movies in the lineup,\u201d Cohen says. \u201cI gravitate towards programming documentaries because I think that they\u2019re kind of the vessel that has the most interesting conversations out of them afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAny festival, no matter where in the world, faces the challenge of luring people from their homes to participate in the event. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe, as the festival community, have something very special, which is that we have filmmaker guests, activations like parties, and things that make a festival an experience, and it competes really beautifully against that home watching cinema [on] Netflix or whatever service you may pick,\u201d Woolley comments. \u201cAnd people are hungry for that level of connection, and they\u2019re excited to experience things together. For us, film festival attendance just continues to grow, and I think it\u2019s because we offer a distinction, and people love that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Dustin](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
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