Carmen (Marquee Screening)

Thursday, March 9, 7:15 PM
Silverspot Cinema 13

Following the screening, there will be a Q&A from with director Benjamin Millepied and star Melissa Barrera.

Carmen follows a young and fiercely independent woman who is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother. Carmen survives a terrifying and dangerous illegal border crossing into the US, only to be confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard, who cold-bloodedly murders two other immigrants in her group. When the border guard and his patrol partner, Aidan—a Marine with PTSD—become embroiled in a deadly standoff, Carmen and Aidan are forced to escape together. They make their way north towards Los Angeles in search of Carmen’s mother’s best friend, the mercurial Masilda and owner of La Sombra nightclub – a sanctuary of music and dance. Tickets.

Sunday, March 5, 2:30 PM
Coral Gables Art Cinema

While the young dancers Irma and Olga try to stand their ground in the demanding ballet world of 1970s Amsterdam, Olga is launched as the big new star of the Royal Ballet. She soon discovers the dark side of her talent and Irma has to watch as her best friend succumbs to the pressure to perform, losing herself in the nightlife. Tickets.

Sunday, March 5, 12:15 PM
Silverspot Cinema 13

Special Presentation 
Pedro Luis Ferrer is among the best musicians and composers in the history of Cuban music. From a very young age he began his career creating songs and poetry that included praise for the Cuban revolution, but when he did not want to participate in the government-controlled Nueva Trova movement and began to create songs and poetry criticizing the Cuban totalitarian regime, he was censored by the authorities, prohibiting his work and his presence in all distribution media and concert venues on the island, leaving him practically in exile in his own country. Despite the government’s efforts, his songs and poetry spread from hand to hand inside and outside Cuba, which is why Pedro Luis affirms that the artist is thunder and the people are wind. This is his story. Tickets.

Saturday, March 4, 9:15 PM
Coral Gables Art Cinema
Documentary Achievement Award
Pianoforte follows a group of young musicians from around the world – contestants in the legendary Chopin Piano Competition, who have prepared since their childhood for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Observing the triumphant highs and crushing lows of competition, the film captures the intense pressure they face in an experience that combines tears of exhaustion and despair with the ecstatic joy of playing. Pianoforte is an intimate coming-of-age portrait of young pianists navigating the rigors of competition, intense practice sessions, new friendships, lots of drama, and even more nerves. Tickets.

Following the screening, there will be a Q&A from with director David Petersen and Miami City Ballet Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez. 

Over ten years in the making, LIFT shines a spotlight on the invisible story of homelessness in America through the eyes of young, home-insecure ballet dancers. After performing all over the world, dancer Steven Melendez returns to the shelter where he grew up to give back to his community, offering a ballet workshop to homeless kids. His traumatic reaction to the shelter sends him on an unexpected journey with three kids, offering him an insight into how to turn hidden trauma into dance, and together they make an aristocratic art form into an expression all their own. Tickets.