Eduardo J. Padrón
President
Office of the President
300 N.E. Second Avenue
Miami, Florida 33132-2297
305-237-3316
epadron@mdc.edu
Message From the President
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Miami International Film Festival Celebrates Success
The Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) ended its ten-day marathon of film premieres, seminars and special events on Sunday, March 11. This year's Festival was a true success story, with attendance figures exceeding previous records and unprecedented growth in the number of international participants and professionals.
Three films screened at MIFF have been picked up for North American distribution -- Brazilian productions Alice's House and Antonia, and the Colombian and Argentine collaboration, A Ton of Luck. This development speaks volumes about the power of MIFF and its prominence in world cinema.
Congratulations are in order to the winners of the coveted $25,000 Knight Grand Jury Prizes, announced on the evening of Saturday, March 10. Banished (USA) by Marco Williams took top honors in the Documentary Cinema Competition, dramatic feature El Violín (Mexico) by Francisco Vargas Quevedo swept the Ibero-American Cinema Competition, and Red Road (Scotland) by Andrea Arnold dominated the World Cinema Competition.
I would like to thank all of the MIFF staff and volunteers for making 2007 the best year in the Festival's history.
As many of you know, this year's Festival was the last to be directed by Nicole Guillemet. I want to thank Nicole for five years of dedication to MIFF and welcome our new Festival Director, Patrick de Bokay.
Patrick brings three decades of experience to the Festival, with a background in both film and marketing and advertising. His familiarity with the international film marketplace will be instrumental in leading MIFF's 25th anniversary celebration in 2008.
Thank you.
Eduardo