No Place to Go Lands in Miami

No Place to Go by Oskar Roehler beat out 23 others to win the Prize of the International Film Critics (FIPRESCI Prize). The jury praised the "dramatic intensity with which it depicts a woman in crisis both personal and historical." The short film award went to The Heart of the World by Guy Maddin (Canada, 2000) for "its loving and comic homage to the cinemas of Eisenstein and Pudovkin and silent cinema in general."

Miami Fest Caters to Local Spanish Residents

The comfortably small Miami Film Festival is distinguished from other film festivals in that it is principally aimed at the local population which is predominantly Spanish speaking. In addition, it is linked to a Latin Jazz Festival, which takes place after the evening screenings. This is the dream child of the film festival's director Nat Chediak, who is an expert on Latin Jazz having written a highly praised book on the subject. Sometimes the concerts are directly linked to the film preceding it. For example, the Canadian-produced Spirits of Havana, a video-shot documentary on the Toronto-based jazz musicians Jane Bunnett and Larry Cramer, had the two musicians performing in the club following the movie.

FedEx Express Sponsors Audience Award

At the conclusion of each of the 26 international films that are shown during this year's FIU Miami Film Festival (Feb. 23 - March 4), audience members will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite film. All ballots are confidential and are immediately collected in ballot boxes, which are then tabulated by McClain and Company, a Miami-based certified accounting firm. The film with the majority of votes is the award winner.

"The winner of this prestigious FedEx Express Audience Award will be announced on the Festival's final night," said Festival Director Nat Chediak. "This is truly an honor for the selected film, as this award not only demonstrates the overall crowd response, but adds additional visibility to sometimes overlooked films."

The elegant crystal award will be presented to the winner by FedEx Express Latin America and Caribbean President Juan N. Cento, Festival Director Nat Chediak and President of the Film Festival Board of Directors Rosa Sugrañes at the Closing Night Wrap Party, which will be broadcast on HBO Latin America. Previous winners of this award include East-West, Train of Life and Secrets of the Heart. This is the 18th annual edition of the Film Festival, which has become a signature event on the Miami social scene, attracting an estimated 50,000 film fans from around the world, as well as VIPs and film industry celebrities.

"FedEx Express Latin America and Caribbean Division is proud to sponsor the FedEx Express Audience Award," said FedEx's Cento. "FedEx Express has a long history of supporting the arts, and it is always an honor for us to be able to help showcase films that are making an impact around the globe with diverse and culturally enlightened themes."

FedEx Express, Latin America and Caribbean, a division of the $15-billion subsidiary of the FedEx Corporation, connects areas that generate 90 percent of the world's gross domestic product in 24-48 hours with door-to-door, customs-cleared service for documents, packages and freight, backed by a money-back guarantee. The company's unmatched air-route authorities and infrastructure make it the world's largest express transportation company, providing fast, reliable and time-definite transportation of more than 3.3 million items to 210 countries each working day. FedEx employs approximately 145,000 employees and has more than 45,800 drop-off locations, 663 aircraft and 44,500 vehicles in its integrated global network. The company maintains electronic connections with more than 2.5 million customers via FedEx Powershipâ, FedEx Shipâ and FedEx interNetshipâ.