Editor

The 21st Annual Miami International Film Festival showcases work by acclaimed filmmakers from around the world, between January 30th and February 8th, 2004. The Festival brings to Miami audiences new and exciting documentary and dramatic features, providing an opportunity to view films that may otherwise never reach Florida’s theatres.

Sixty-three films from 34 countries will be offered in 2004, many of which have been submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Academy Award® consideration in the Foreign Language Film category: Osama (Afghanistan), Valentin (Argentina), Carandiru (Brazil), The Story of the Weeping Camel (Mongolia), Suite Habana (Cuba), Bon Voyage (France), Good Bye, Lenin! (Germany), I’m Not Scared (Italy), Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (South Korea), Evil (Sweden), and Seawards Journey (Uruguay).

Fanning out across the city, screenings will take place in five locations: Gusman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami, Regal South Beach Cinema 18 on Lincoln Road, Tower Theater in Little Havana, Sunrise Intracoastal Cinema in North Miami Beach, and Bill Cosford Cinema at the University of Miami in Coral Gables.

Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Bon Voyage opens this year's Festival on Friday, January 30th at Gusman Center for the Performing Arts; Opening Night Party to be celebrated in the Design District
Bon Voyage, a French film written and directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, enjoying its East Coast Premiere, will open this year’s Festival. In attendance will be the director, and actors Virginie Ledoyen and Peter Coyote. The film also stars Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu. Bon Voyage tells the story of escapees of the suffocating Nazi occupation of Paris, gathering in a hotel in Bordeaux. A sophisticated comedy of errors ensues when elaborate personal schemes and political plots intersect.

To celebrate the Festival’s Opening Night, there will be a pre-opening VIP reception on the second floor of Gusman. A Gala Opening Night Party will be held after the screening at the Moore Building in the Design District, 191 NE 40th St. (valet parking is provided). This event promises to be one not to miss. Tickets to the Opening Night Film (screening only) are $25 and tickets for the Opening Night Party (party only) are sold separately for $125.

Dogville to close 2004 Festival on Saturday, February 7th at Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, with a party on Wachovia Plaza in downtown Miami
The Festival will close with the second U.S. screening of Cannes favorite, Dogville, by Lars von Trier on Saturday, February 7th, 7pm at Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, in downtown Miami. Lars von Trier won the European Film Academy’s 2003 Best Director - European Film Award for his film.

Dogville is the tale of a fugitive (Nicole Kidman) who arrives in the isolated township of the film’s name. With some encouragement from the self-appointed town spokesman (Paul Bettany), the little community agrees to hide her in return for her agreeing to work for them. However, when a search sets in, the people of Dogville demand a better deal in exchange for the risk of harboring the fugitive and she learns the hard way that in this town, goodness is relative.

Celebrated director Lars von Trier is best known for his critically acclaimed 2000 film, Dancer in the Dark, starring Björk. Dancer in the Dark won the Best Actress and Palme d’Or at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.

After the closing night screening of Dogville, the audience is invited to join in the festivities at the Closing Night Party on Wachovia Plaza, 200 SE 1st Ave. Guests can enjoy great food and drink while dancing to live music and tunes spun by a DJ. Tickets to the Closing Night Film (screening only) are $25 and tickets for the Closing Night Party (party only) are sold separately for $50.