JANUARY 31 - Feb 1-2, 2025
University of Miami, Cosford Cinema - Coral Gables
2024 SMIFF Film Program
Friday, Feb 2
NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION
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6:00pm Screening
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8:00pm Award Announcement:
BEST OF NARRATIVE
8:30-10:30 OPENING RECEPTION @ Cosford Patio
Registration link:
https://events.miami.edu/event/shorts_miami_international_film_festival_2024#
Saturday, Feb 3
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION
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6:00pm Screening
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8:00pm Awards Announcement:
BEST OF DOCUMENTARY
BEST OF MIAMI NARRATIVE
BEST OF MIAMI DOCUMENTARY
BEST OF THE FESTIVAL
8:30-10:30 AFTER PARTY @ THESIS HOTEL ROOFTOP (1350 S Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables, FL 33146)
Registration link:
https://events.miami.edu/event/shorts_miami_international_film_festival_2024_8394
Sunday, Feb 4
MIAMI STUDENT FOCUS
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6:00pm Screening
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8:00pm Panel Discussion with
Filmmakers + Film Commissioner Marco Giron, moderated by Rafal Sokolowski
8:30-10:30 CLOSING RECEPTION @ Cosford Patio
Registration link:
https://events.miami.edu/event/shorts_miami_international_film_festival_2024_2419
Friday, February 2
NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION
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6PM Screening
8PM Awards Ceremony
8:30PM Reception
HARLEM FRAGMENTS
Director: Cameron Tyler Carr
United States, 17min
An Afro-futurist scrapbook storytelling of a Harlem Black family's beautiful destruction during the 2008 recession. A natural disaster so mesmerizing you can't look away from the tragedy. Based on true events
KNOW YOU TWICE
Director: Andrew Chan Gladstone
United States, 12min
Know You Twice is a psychological drama that explores the doubts and divides that arise when the foundations of trust erode, and commitment feels less like a choice than a solution.
ANIMALS
Director: Jordan K. Paul
US Virgin Islands/US, 15min
Months into his move to Los Angeles from the US Virgin Islands, Jordan and his White roommate Tyler are stopped by the young LAPD Officer, Miller.
WHEN THE SHIFT ENDS
Director: Erinç Durlanık
Turkey, 19min
Hilal, who thinks that she started a job in a call center that sells through telemarketing, is faced with an unexpected evaluation at the end of her day by experienced salesperson Pınar.
Slow Dating
Director: Adam Szudrich
Australia, 8min
When an elderly lady tries speed dating it leads to a night with a charming stranger and a heartbreaking revelation about her husband.
RIVER
Director: Rafal Sokolowski
United States, 12min
River, a trans woman, returns home to attend the funeral of her estranged father. She arrives consumed by regret for not seeing him before he passed, but instead of closure, she finds that the funeral has been staged and that her father faked his death to lure her into ‘conversion therapy’.
STRANGE
Director: Ken Ochiai
Japan, 15min
One evening a shy suburban Tokyo high school student, Odeko, meets a tearful Kuma dressed in drag in a park. As their earnest friendship develops, Kuma's struggle to live confidently with himself changes Odeko's timidity as well.
A MOTHER'S DAUGHTER
Director: Isabel Cavalcanti
Brazil, 15min
A mother will do the unthinkable to prevent her beloved 21-year-old little daughter from traveling to the coldest city on Earth.
Nash
Director: Tim Warren
United States, 12min
9 year old Nash is determined to find the monster that killed his mother; his father George is equally determined to stop him.
Saturday, February 3
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION
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6PM Screening
8PM Awards Ceremony
8:30-10:30 AFTER PARTY @ THESIS HOTEL ROOFTOP (1350 S Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables, FL 33146)
Dragons
Director: Tyrese Shipp
United Kingdom, 10min
The Bristol Empire Dragons, a Dragon-boat racing community, have to navigate a journey of rebranding and inclusion to survive as a club.
Gordon
Director: Orna Versano Malki
Israel, 7min
a love story between the iconic Gordon Pool located on the coastal shore of Tel Aviv and the people who frequent it.
Water, Star Medicine
Director: MESA/ Turquoise Trail Middle School Students
United States, 10min
Dr. Lisa Spencer assigns her Santa Fe middle school students the study of water. They traveled to sites to explore the Rio Grande, drought in New Mexico, and farming in the desert by early Pueblo peoples.
The Pathway
Director: Bebete Viégas, Guga Lemes
Brazil, 4min
One child, two homes, a single journey, and many things along the way. A film about the integration of two buildings, revealed in a continuous shot. Directed by Bebete Viégas and Guga Lemes.
Priangan
Director: Andry Herdiansyah
Indonesia, 13min
About traditional activities that always prioritize masculinity and are broken by a young girl who wants to get gender equality.
Playing with Fire
Director: Ian McDonald
United States, 15min
In their hidden corner of the Los Angeles rave scene, Kai and Saniayh not only found a diverse and welcoming community but also a dangerous new passion; fire dancing.
The Vestibule
Director: Eser Tokas
Turkey, 12min
Ahmet Akten has been a tombstone craftsman for fifty years. He creates tombstones using his craftsmanship, employing his manual skills. Being on the brink of death has left deep imprints on his thoughts. The tombstones adorned with verses carry the stories of the past into eternity. Tombstone craftsman Ahmet Akten depicts the fragility and value of life. He captures the meaning of life in the silence of graves. He sheds light on the mystery behind life's essence.
Heaven Is On My Side
Director:Marco Espirito Santo
Portugal, 4min
A short film on gratitude and big-wave surfing featuring João “Massas” de Macedo, “Heaven Is On My Side” is simultaneously a documentary and a meditation on environmental consciousness through Macedo's experience at the world’s biggest wave in Nazaré, Portugal.
The Birth of the Modern Snowmobile
Director: Nate Sheppard
United States, 7min
A short documentary chronicling the story of Wisconsin inventor Carl Eliason and his essential contributions to the development of the modern snowmobile.
Landfill: From Guppies to Yuppies
Director: Henry Dane
United States, 5min
Artists and entrepreneurs battle over a Boston geographical area known as Fort Point, which started out as landfill.
Coming and Going
Director: Tomás Ferreira
Portugal, 10min
Abroad at the time of her death, a grandson returns to revisit the house of his late grandmother, now occupied by another family. A reflection on the love for a home where one grew up and yet made by a grandmother missing another life, in another house, in another country.
News Without a Newsroom
Director: Oana Liana Whaples
United States, 15min
Once, the old Miami Herald building was the glue that kept its community together. After its destruction, a sense of mentorship and camaraderie was lost along the way. Journalists discuss the impact the newsroom has had on them, raising questions about the future of journalism without a physical space.
Sunday, February 4
Miami Student Focus
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6PM Screening
8PM Awards Ceremony
8:30PM Reception
Espejos del Juicio - Una Canción
Director: Assad Mardelli & Bianca LeoCAT - CENTER OF CINEMATOGRAPHY
6min
In such turbulent times, it is difficult for us to recognize the reflection of what we commonly are as a society in front of others and the ailment for which we may be responsible, even “involuntarily.”
Confined
Director: Clifton Askew
NYFA - South Beach
17min
In a seemingly ordinary home, Cody becomes entangled In a web of deceit and supernatural danger caused by his controlling grandmother.
Lucas
Director: Pablo Velho
UM
14min
This short film is about Lucas struggling to pay for his hormonal treatment while figuring out how to heal from obstacles imposed by a sexual predator. " Lucas" speaks about inequality and unacceptance towards transgender and the importance of mental health.
In the Shadows
Director: Michael Jimenez
MIAMI DADE COLLEGE
21min
Leo, an old, undocumented field worker, gets a chance to escape poverty after winning the lottery. However, he's unable to collect the winnings himself. With no other options, he must seek help from the daughter he abandoned years ago.
Pastorius
Director: Jorge Cereghino
FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
12min
A film about South Florida jazz bassist, composer, and producer, Jaco Pastorius.
Azulejos
Director: Maria Paula Arboleda
UM
19min
A young woman, Daniela, visits her grandmother to tell her some important news.
Epoch Echoes
Director: Tara McCall
FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
4min
A film about life in flux that eventually comes full circle.