In a momentous occasion, Moonlight came out on top at the 89th Academy Awards. Despite Hollywood’s checkered history around race, religion, and sexuality, the film that was made on a shoestring budget managed to take home three awards on Sunday night. The Academy Awards opened and closed the ceremony with Moonlight winning an award. The film taking home the biggest prize of the night, Best Picture, marks a huge step forward for the Academy. A coming of age film about gay man of color living in Liberty City, not about slavery or the civil rights movement, has expanded the Academy’s recognition of black filmmaking beyond confining storylines or stereotypes.
The Miami Film Festival is here! But wait, you’ve never attended a film festival or festival screening before. Whether you’re diving in or just dipping your toe in the water, here’s everything you need to know to make your first festival experience shine.
Actress Monica Bellucci speaks at the Miami International Film Festival in Miami, Florida, US, on 8 March 2016. EFE/Gaston De Cárdenas
The 34th edition of the Miami Film Festival will roll into Miami on the 3rd of March until the 12th. Show off your 305 pride and check out what’s in store.
Last week FIU’s Black Student Union hosted an interview and Q&A event staring Issa Rae, YouTube personality and HBO star as their speaker in honor of Black History month. During the event Issa Rae speaks on what it was like to grow up being an awkward black girl in a society where she didn’t necessarily fit into the social norms at the time of what it meant “to be black”, and how these experiences help her shape her creativity. Rae reveals that’s she would like to use her platform to reshape the way that society views people of color in media specifically the view of Black women who are being oppressed on two fronts for being women and being of color. During the Q&A section Rae gives advice to aspiring writers and producers on how to stay true to themselves in their work and know that when they are doing something they are passionate about they have to be prepared to defend it.
Film Gate Interactive Media Festival celebrated its fourth annual conference this past week at the University of Miami with a line-up full of industry innovators. The festival has served as fertile ground for discussion and exploration of all things film, with a keen interest in technological trends in the field of filmmaking and how these in turn influence commercial products like interactive media and virtual reality. This year it had a lot to say on how filmmaking trends are changing today’s most wide-spread form of storytelling: marketing and advertising. The festival opened on Saturday with a networking brunch where attendees had a chance to meet with the various speakers and check out the hands-on workshops sponsored by names like Sony and Red Digital Cinema.
If you’ve seen Marking the Infinite, the Frost Art Museum’s current exhibition of Australian aboriginal women’s art, you might be especially interested in Tanna, one of this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Film. Set on the eponymous south pacific island, Tanna tells the story of two warring tribes who must learn to deal with the repercussions when their young adults decide to disobey their orders. If you have yet to see the Frost exhibit or are thinking about attending the shorts screenings and performances that will close it, this would be a great film to whet your appetite.
Are this year’s Oscars another parade of safe Hollywood self-congratulation or a courageous vote of confidence for under-recognized artists? Well, some of both. The list of nominees was released on January 24th and came with a quite a few surprises. This list of nominations breaks several records, offers several first time nominations, and even cements a comeback story. So, without further ado, here are the highlights of the nominees.
