The Miami Film Festival,held March 3-12 thisyear,wasbrimming with celebrities, including NicolasCage (see story,page 11), John Leguizamo,Ray Romano,Judy Blume, Diego Lunaand many more.Many stopped by to the red carpet like Gloriaand Emilio Estefan,CamilaCabello,GloriaGaynor and countlessothers.
But it wasafilm festival so that meansthat the focusreally ison the films,right?Well, there were so many great filmsfrom all over the world and events.
There were also awardsgiven,of course!
NicolasCage received the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker award,John Leguizamo received the Impact Award,Diego Luna received the Variety Virtuoso Award and NicholasBritell received the Art of Light Composer Award,presented by Alacran Group.Film awardsare asfollows:
$2,500 Goya Quick Bites Short Film Award ? "Not the 80s," directed by Marleen Valien
$4,000 Miami International Short Film Award ? "Nanos," directed by Emilio Subía
$10,000 Knight Made in MIA Short Film Award ? "Carmen," directed by Cristine Brache
Rene Rodriguez Critics Award ?
"The Beasts," directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen Alacran Music in Film Award ?
"The Beasts," directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen
$10,000 Jordan Ressler First Feature Award ?
"I Like Movies," directed by Chandler Levack
$25,000 Knight Marimbas Award ?
"The Beasts," directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen
$45,000 Made in MIA Feature Film Award-
"Febrero," directed by Hansel PorrasGarcia
"Plantadas," directed by Lilo VilaplanaI and Camilo Vilaplana
Miami Film Festival Audience Award Winner ? "Plantadas," directed by Lilo Vilaplanaand Camilo Vilaplana
Miami Film Festival Audience Award Winner for Documentary Achievement ? "The Padilla Affair," directed by Pavel Giroud
Miami Film Festival Audience Award Winner for Shorts ? "Save the Flea," directed by Michael J. Ruiz-Unger
(The winnersof the Knight MARIMBASaward and Jordan Ressler First Feature award will receive special support from Slated through a script and financial analysispackage.) Formoreinformation,visit
How are you feeling about your career? Have you thought about it lately?Are you making progressor just floundering?Now might be agood time to take stock and determine where you have been and where you need to make some changesto go further Perhapsyou need an acting classor new headshots. Can't afford them? Maybe there issomething else you can do to get ahead in the meantime. Get creative! Get out and meet people. Do you know about the Florida ArtsNetwork?Find out more by reading thisissue.Most importantly,no matter what you do,have some fun in the process!
Make sure also to check out the story about NicolasCage. It wasa pleasure taking photosof him on the red carpet and seeing hiswitty and candid Q&Aas part of the Miami Film Festival.Hisappearance wasjust one of many by celebs to the festival thisyear.
Break aleg!
Rachel Galvin Publisher
Filmmaker Jack Safford took on some complex issuesin hisfirst short film called "April," which wasshown at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival thislast year.The story followsateenage April,played by Celine Alva. In addition to the strugglesof just being a teenager,thisyoung girl lost her mother and hasdifficulty with her father,who keepson her about taking prescription pillsbecause he believesshe hasdepression.The struggle with him and everything in her life leadsher to drastic steps.
Safford took on quite the challenge making thisfilm,wearing most of the hatshimself,rather than having a large team behind him.
Asked why he chose thistopic,he said,"Addiction isa pandemic that most people can relate to - whether it?stheir own battle or somebody they know. For me,it wasvery close to home:a family member.To show how it can grab ahold of somebody?slife wasmy goal in writing this."
He added,"Asfar asthe title goes,'April' isthe name of our main character.However,the name hasseveral meanings. April isoften considered amonth that consistsof better weather after along winter - blossoming,growth,beautiful colors- actual changesin seasonsthat represent happinessand positivity.But April isalso the stormiest month of the year.It hasthisdark underbelly that contrastswith all of
the beautiful changes.That isthe main character."
He shot the film in Nashville and the surrounding areas."I think we shot in five total locationsin just four days: ahigh school,two houses, anearby park and a surgery center that played asthe hospital.I have to give all my praise to my actorsand the small crew we had.Those outdoor locationshad usfilming in 108° weather in July! I genuinely felt bad for them at times,but they were troopers," he said.
Safford added,"The most challenging part of the shoot was scheduling.I knew we only had four daysto get everything we needed,and the weather had to be perfect. AsI mentioned,it was incredibly hot,but it thankfully never rained,which isa miracle for a southern summer to go aweek without a drop of rain. Beyond that, really the only challenge wasme figuring out my directing style. It was my first time directing.However,that sort of ignorance eliminated stressthat I didn? t know waspossible. Looking back,I am amazed we shot thisin four dayswith just athree person crew (myself,aboom mic operator and hair/makeup)."
Safford,who also runsa production company that focusesmore on video marketing for clients,decided he wanted to make more of anarrative film and to take mattersinto hisown hands rather than waiting. He made a trailer that got hisfoot in the door before the movie waseven finished.It allowed him to shoot four more filmslast year alone.
One of hisgoalsin making thisfilm wasto show the truth of addiction, which affectsnot only the person who is addicted but everyone around them.He said,"Addiction isnot a selfish act of wanting something,it isadisease. This country hasa lot of work to do to help alleviate thishorrific crisis."
https://youtu.be/7XeSmxVv11Y
@notjacksafford and @saffordfilms
which made me rethink my decisionsalong with the sudden financial instability that led to my abrupt move from Los Angeles to Utah
"Like that wasn't enough, another series of unexpected circumstances gushed at me like awhirlwind. It felt like every aspect of my life started to fall apart one by one,with an unanticipated heartbreak."
Upon hearing the story of Ryan Devriesrecovering from an accident while canyoneering,filmmaker Krushan Naik found some kinship.
DeVrieswent from feeling at home in the great outdoorsto almost giving it up due to the accident.But eventually,with support,he wasable to work his way back into enjoying the sport he loved. Naik related to thisand ended up creating adocumentary called 'Resurgence' about what happened to Devries. Naik said,"Hearing the story for the first time made me reflect on all the eventsthat occurred and were simultaneously taking place in my life asan international student back then.After moving to the statesin 2019 and navigating life in aforeign land,the massive wave of socio-political turmoil and unrest during the worldwide pandemic pushed me to deal with unimaginable uncertainties From the science vs politicsvs religious clashes,to the Black LivesMatter movement and the racial tension around it, all of it made everyday life on the edge,especially asan International student.
"Then came ashocking regulation (which wasthankfully later revoked) for non-immigrant studentsto leave the country if the universities decided to remain online for the fall 2020 semester because of the pandemic,
"Next," he continued,"the people'sresponse to the presidential elections and the attack on the Capitol added to the uncertainty of the future of 'aliens' like me in the states All of it had driven me to aspace of complete uncertainty that felt like adark abyssfrom which I never saw myself resurging.All my planshad backfired,dreamswere shattering,the future had never looked so uncertain,and every day wasanew challenge in an alien world buried under snow for weeksand weeks. Isolation,depression,anxiety, helplessnessand fear put me through an existential crisis.But,I persisted and resurged! Somewhere around that time,I even came up with aquote, 'There isno story without suffering; afriend of mine even printed that and gifted it to me in aframe to keep myself motivated,not give up and keep hustling.So,when the time came to make afilm,I decided to make 'Resurgence' because it had the perfect arc that showshow to rise back from your ashes,no matter how hard life hitsyou I felt like aPhoenix with a hopeful,optimistic and cheerful ending!"
Naik shot the whole film in Utah in multiple locations. The interviewswere shot first,then the B-roll,which took about four months,he said. Editing took from about November 2021 to May 2022.
Asked the most difficult part of doing the film,he said,"The film was challenging on all levels My biggest challenge was logistics and finance while making 'Resurgence' after enduring the pandemic.On the physical end, it demanded intense commitment, and hiking the canyons with a heavy backpack and a slipped disc was challenging, sometimes extremely painful.But,I just kept
pushing and decided to do it all by myself. Living in LosAngeles during the Pre-Production and Production stage,I made multiple tripsto Zion National Park, Utah,to shoot with athree-camera and lights set up and simultaneously record sound Because the wall ? where the incident occurred ? wasalong strenuous hike/repel deep in the canyon, carrying non-essential itemswasout of the question,
which meant no heavy film equipment. So,I had to think of alternative ways to get pro-quality footage that would later complement the interviews captured on AlexaMini and Canon cameras. Luckily, in the fall of 2021, Apple released the ProRes Codec for iPhones, which allowed capturing substantial quality,so I recorded the B-Rollson my phone.The downside was that it consumed aridiculousamount of storage space on asmall device,so I didn't have the luxury of keeping the camerarolling all the time; it had to be motivated/intentional."
He added,"The weather also added to the logistical challenge. The summer and fall season of 2021 wasrough for the areas in and around Zion, as occasional unusual storms forced me to reschedule time and again.Because of this,most logistical decisionswere also last minute,hindering collaboration with peers willing to volunteer"
Money wasalso an issue,when he needed to hire more professionals.He explained,"There were occasionswhen I would leave for Zion after overnight planning and assembling every piece of equipment the next day on immediate notice.The driveswere exhausting,12-14 hourslong,followed by shoot/work the next day. Sometimes,I would call my sister and mother back home in
Indiato stay awake while driving at night. On one occasion,I wasgoing back to LAwith all the equipment,racing away from astorm,which covered most of the southern Utah route in the snow,stopping everyday life the following day.
"On my last trip to Zion,while shooting the B-rollsin the canyon,the plan to get out of the canyonsbefore sunset viaashortcut backfired (somewhat). The hike wasstrenuous,and I,being an unprofessional climber, had to be supported with a rope during my climb out when we unexpectedly hit a steep mountain.After which,we lost sunlight and our track,too,resulting in athrilling final few hours. Allegedly,amountain lion followed us,forcing usto use whistlesand simultaneously rushing toward the main trail,which,I must admit,wasexciting.
"With lodging and boarding,because I couldn't afford ahotel,I slept on a yoga mat at night and ate PB&Jsandwichesand frozen food for breakfast, lunch and dinner to save money It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I gave everything in me,emotionally,physically and mentally to make this film and almost died three times during its production process: twice while dozing and driving,and once while nearly becoming the alleged mountain lion'sdinner. But,all in all,it wasan exciting and retrospective experience that made me nothing but even more resilient and got me pumped up for the next one."
"Resurgence" wasshown at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, where it won an award for Best College Documentary It hasbeen in several other festivals,including the Oscar®/Academy Award® qualifying St.Louis International Film Festival.
Naik'sfirst film wasan animated short,nominated for the ViewersChoice Awardsat the 24 FPSInternational Animation Awards2012,Mumbai.
He holdsaMaster'sin Film & TVProduction from LoyolaMarymount University and adiplomain 3D Animation and VFXfrom when he wasin India He also had an advertising agency working with Bollywood celebrities and the best of film and fashion industry artistsfor seven years.
For moreinformationonNaik,visit www.krushanaik.film.
Bring on the laughs! On Dec.3,actor/ writer/ director Matt Florio,of ComedyFlo, created aprivate night to show some of hisshort filmsto the cast and crew His short filmsincluded "Ask Aldo," "Unhired Guns," "The Florida Manifesto," "No Dessert for Bert" and "Friend Draft." Membersof the cast spoke about what it waslike working with Florio and honored him. He spoke aswell. The good feelingscontinued all night long asmany went to an after party afterward on Las Olasaswell.
Florio isno stranger to making films.He started hiscompany Comedy Flo in 2010 and hasbeen going strong ever since,receiving accoladesalong the way. The awardsjust keep on coming! If you have not seen hiswebsite,take alook It isquite impressive the sheer number of filmshe hasmade And he bringsin local Florida actors
Findout moreabout thismanonthemoveat www.comedyflo.net andlookfor moreabout himhereinIndependent StreakMagazineaswell.
By Rachel Galvin
Palm Beach got anew film festival starting in January. Not to be confused with the Palm Beach International Film Festival that once graced our area with awide array of celebritiesand partiesthrough the years,thisfestival focused more on motion pictures.
Called officially the Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Film Festival,presented by MorseLife,thisfest took place from Jan.26 to Feb.15 and presented filmsat a wide array of locations.In West Palm Beach,they showed filmsat the KravisCenter. In Lake Worth,it wasMoviesof Lake Worth.In Palm Beach,they also showed at CMXDowntown at the Gardensand at Regal Royal Palm. The Paragon Delray Marketplace also saw filmson their screens.IPICin Delray and BocaRaton did aswell. They even went west to Wellington at the CMXWellington. Thisinaugural fest offered 26 different screenings,including awide array of films(some of which are pictured here).
The festival wasfounded by Ellen Wedner,well-known in the South Floridafor working with the Miami Jewish Film Festival for 10 yearsand then the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival for seven years.She also created the KidFlix Festival and the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival,which is now called the OutShine Film Fest.In addition,she worked for the Miami International Film Festival and for the Fire Island PinesInternational Film Festival. For moreinformationonthisfestival,visit www.palmbeachfilmfestival.org.
Asa bonusevent after the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival,the "Below Deck" cast and crew made a special appearance on Nov. 21 at Savor Cinemato celebrate the launch of their newest season. Since its original launch in 2013,the reality show hasgained quite an audience and ended up in several spinoffs.The cast in attendance said afew words,including Captain Lee.
The evening,put on in combination with Winterfest, benefited the Freedom WatersFoundation. The foundation helpsthose with special needs,aswell as children and veteranswith a positive therapeutic boat experience.
Guestsenjoyed some lite biteswhile mingling and then could watch the season opener inside or on the patio.
On this page, you will see pics of many of the guests at the event, the band and more, as well as additional pics of cast and a photo of FLIFFChair Steve Savor and Lisa Scott-Founds, president & CEO of Winterfest, presenting a check to the Freedom Waters Foundation
By Rachel Galvin
Call him wild and artistic,outrageousand surreal or even eccentric,but never call him boring.NicolasCage isthe type of actor that transcendsthe script and jumpsoff the screen with hislarger than life personality. That isjust one reason thistenaciousactor hashad such aprolific career.He started life asone of the famousCoppolas(including his uncle being director FrancisFord Coppola) but wanted to stand on hisown,so changed hisname to NicolasCage,named in part after Marvel superhero Luke Cage. He got hisstart in the iconic 80sfilm ?Fast Timesat Ridgemont High?under hisbirth name. It wasn? t until ?Valley Girl?the next year that he began to take on star statuswith hisnew name. Since then,he hasgone on to make more than 100 films,many becoming classics,like ?Moonstruck,??National Treasure,??Ghost Rider??Gone in 60 Seconds,??The Cotton Club,??Face/Off?and countlessothers. Of course,in what he would call hisscariest prospect,he played himself recently in ?The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.?
Cage iscertainly aware of hisfame,but after more than 45 yearsin the biz,he does not come acrossasbeing too full of himself. In contrast,he useslevity and charm and is quite disarming and approachable. At least he appeared that way when he arrived in Miami for the Miami Film Festival on March 5. He wasthere to receive the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award followed by doing a Q&Awith Emily Longeretta.
Upon receiving the award,he reflected on what it really meansto break ground,saying,"What doesit mean to break ground?To gather our feelings,our dreams,our emotions,our memories,utilize our imagination and break through with an ounce of ourselves,our vessels,and turn them into art.To take those organic elementsand build,be constructive. When you break ground,I think it'salso amatter or recalling and feeling what'sbeen done before and transcending that to inform something new, which keepsfuture generationsstimulated and inspired,and that these future generationswill take our expressionistic bedrock and develop them into something original,powerful and transcending what'sbeen done and building something of their own."
Cage wasmore than happy to answer Longeretta'squestionsabout hisprolific career, aswell asquestionsafterward from an eager audience.
Cage,who started acting at age 15,said,"I've seen a lot of changesin the last 45 years,but I'm very excited about the different directionsthat we can continue to go. I see myself asastudent, which iswhy I really wanted to do this. My father wasan educator.He wasDean of Creative Artsat San Francisco State.So,education isvery important to me.But,when I speak to younger generationsabout where they want to go,I find that I learned something. So if you stay asa student,you stay interested because if I don't stay interested,then I run the risk of boring my audience and I never want to do that."
One of the changeshe hasseen isthe proliferation of streaming,something he isnot against,but he isglad to see that people are still also watching filmsin the theater. He seesvalue in both.
Through hiscareer,he hasdone a wide variety of films... Some have been massive hitsand others,well,haven't.
Longerettaasked him if he had a gauge of what isgoing to work and
what won't. He said, "No I really don't.It'salways asurprise." Some he felt were not going to work, but did and othersthat he thought would be a home run,floundered.
"There'san alchemical element to filmmaking where it'sreally up to the movie gods We don't really know," he added.
Asked what makeshim say 'yes' to amovie,he said."The key isto really understand your life experience ...what you can play authentically that you don't have to act too much,you have the emotional content at your fingertips... If you have the life experience to surf your emotionsin such away that you can inform the character where you don't feel you are faking it,aslittle aspossible ...and then I would think that if you can challenge yourself ... Isthere something new you can learn?if you have that student mentality,you never let go of that You never consider yourself amaestro. You consider yourself someone that can learn something,then put yourself in asituation where there'sa chance that you might evolve."
He also feelsit isimportant to go toward thingsthat scare you. "Massive Talent wasterrifying to me because I'm playing myself in a movie,some freak named Nick Cage," he said. "Thiscould be an Andy Samberg sketch for two hoursand I can fall on my face." He added, "But,I did it and am glad I did it because it had great actorslike Pedro Pascal."
Cage explainswhat got him bit by the acting bug in the first place:.It wasafter hisuncle said,"You know,you remind me of Jimmy Dean" and he wasunsure who that was,but he ended up at 15 yearsold sitting down in Beverly Cinema to watch JamesDean in "Rebel
Without a Cause" and hislife waschanged. He said,"I had grown up listening to classical music,looking at paintings,reading novels, Melville,thisthat and the other,but when I saw what Dean did ... He is having a nervousbreakdown ...and he doesnot seem to be faking it, and he'scrying and I'm crying and I'm like,'Oh my God,that'swhat I've got to do.' Film performance isaspowerful athing I've ever seen.I have to act. Nothing else matters. Thisiswhat I have to do. And I want to keep feeling with me at all times. I want to keep making moviesthat will hopefully inspire somebody else,some studentshere that will ... think I have got to do that,and keep the cycle going because film performance in moviesisthe most powerful thing for me and that?s why I wanted to do it."
Right now,he said he isexcited by a young filmmaker named Jim Cummings,who isbased in New Orleans. "He really isDIY. I think he's agroundbreaker because Jerry Lewis,my neighbor,used to tell me you are not really a filmmaker unlessyour acting in it,directing in it, scoring it ...cutting it,and you are atotal filmmaker. Jim Cummingsisa total filmmaker. That'shopefully what I aspire to do,asastudent,to do it all in house."
Longerettabrought up the concept of him being on television and he said,"My 17-year-old,he said,'Dad I think you ought to watch some immersive TV,some streaming. I want you to see 'Breaking Bad''... and I don't normally watch TVasa rule.Asactors,boy,are they good. They are all so good..."
He continued,"What I learned from that isthat if you have that much time per segment,each episode,you can spend the whole 40 minutes just staring at asuitcase thinking what am I going to do with that suitcase?Am I going to kill thisperson or not kill thisperson... and you can't do that in maybe three hours,if you're lucky,and it got my wheelsspinning and I thought,well,maybe it?stime to try that.That?s new? that,for me,would be ground breaking."
Longerettaasked if there wasarole he hasdone that he would like to revisist or see someone else revisit,to which he said,"Well,yeah. I actually wanted them to cast somebody else to play me [in 'Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.'] I can't think of who they would cast.I think there'ssome moviesthat we can do asequel with it hadn't been done.Sean [Connery] and I,for the longest time,wanted to do a sequel to 'The Rock ' But,it never happened That would have been good.Sadly,he wasagood friend ...he passed on. But,I think Con Air could do asequel.I'm actually going to be talking to some people in LosAngelesabout a'Face/Off' sequel.
"When I did 'Renfield,' which hasn? t launched yet,I had such a good time working with NicholasHoult.What agreat actor he is.I 12
Emily Longeretta & Nicolas Cagewassupporting Nick,but I thought,'Thisisthe perfect amount of time for Draculain thismovie,but I wouldn't mind exploring how did Draculabecome Dracula?How did you become that guy?It'ssort of like I want to take the time to portray that,to see how he got there. To me,Draculawasalwayslove in exhile. He isunrequited love . Ultimately,if you don't get love back,you're going to go bad. I want to look at that."
What wasthat processlike to do 'Renfield,' asked Longeretta?"Hisis an entirely different version of Dracula," he answered. "They are going about it like the bossfrom hell. There isatoxic relationship between Renfield and Dracula. And usually when you see Renfield portrayed in movies,he isportrayed in sort of agrotesque manner. Well,Nick isa very charming,handsome,elegant,funny,witty actor,so thisisa unique take on Renfield but I think it'san entirely different version of what we know asDracula."
He continued,"I had a lot of help.Christien Tinsley did the makeup. I had these ceramic teeth in my mouth the whole time.I wastrying to speak with some level of eloquence when it?shard to form any words at all,but I had alot of help Great costume department,great makeup artists.So,we all sort of pow wow?d and coallesced thischaracter together." He said he kind of "cherry picked" what he liked about Draculasthat have worked in the past and tried to find something new in the character.
Hisfavorite type of movies?Independently spirited family drama. "I like 'East of Eden' and I like 'Ordinary People.' I like moviesthat take place at home and the struggleswe have at home,and how we?re trying to either succeed and become better people or succumb to the pressuresof the human experience."
"My other favorite genre I would say would be horror," Cage said. "Some of the most talented,artistic people now are making horror films. And I think you can do so much ? The reason why science fiction and horror isso important to me isthat it gave me aformat where I could expressmy more serialistic and abstract dreamswith film performance."
When he worked on 'VampiresKiss,' he thought back to his experience of watching 'Nosfaratu' asakid. "My dad wasshowing me Nosfaratu when I waslike 5 yearsold and it did what you would imagine ?it scared the crap out of me.But,I thought,OKhow do I bring that back to the modern film.Then,it wasthe 80s. And I said,OK,this guy Islosing hismind.So,if he islosing hismind,that'sthe engine that allowsyou to become very surrealistic with your behavior.It'snot over the top.You design where the top is.You design how far you want to go in your vision,your expression.And 'VampiresKiss' allowed
me to do that," he said. He added,"I think science fiction is important because you know everyone'svery sensitive right now but if you look at the science fiction format,you put it on adifferent planet. You put it in the future,what have you,and you can pretty much say what you want because it?snot right now.Oh,I didn? t mean that.It wason a planet called Exidor.But you can get your freedom of speech mojo on and do what you want."
He explained what scareshim asan actor when he isreading through script."I just don? t want to bore people I really don? t want to bore people.It?sOKif the movie doesn? t work but I?ve got to entertain you. That?sfirst and foremost and if you?re not entertained on some level or provoked on some level,whether the movie worked or not,then I haven? t done my job.If I think I?m going to be stepping into a really boring movie,that scaresthe crap out of me," he said.
He added that hisscariest role wasfor The "Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." "Playing NicholasCage in a movie -- that was terrifying.Really scary. I wasreally afraid? I probably did look pretty goofy ? all over that big screen for ya,folks."
What doeshe think about superhero movies?"I gottabe nice about Marvel moviesbecause I named myself after a Stan Lee character named Luke Cage. What am I going to do ...put Marvel moviesdown? Stan Lee ismy surrealistic father.He named me," he said,adding,"I think there isplenty of room for everybody.I?m seeing movieslike 'Tar.' I?m seeing all kindsof artistic and independently-driven movies. I think there isplenty of room for everybody."
When Longerettamentioned that he hasnot yet been part of the Marvel Comic Universe (MCU),He said,"Oh me?I guessI?m not in the MCU.I don? t need to be in the MCU.I?m Nick Cage," which received huge laughter and applause from the audience.
Throughout the years,Cage haslearned a lot about the industry and received some great advice in the process. He recalled astory about some advice that actor Martin Sheen gave him that he later discovered wasvery helpful. He said,"Charlie Sheen [Martin'sson] and I used to spend alot of time together in Malibu and that wasbefore either of us really hit it,and we would watch moviestogether,and I remember Charlie and I were watching 'Deliverance' ? great movie? and then, Martin popped in the room and it wasthe scene with Ned Beatty ? and he waslike,?That?sa terrible scene.?And I don? t know why he said this,but he said,?You know,the only thing that matters?Did you like where you were and did you like who you were working with??In my mind? I didn? t say thisto Martin Sheen -- I wasterrified of him,he is such agreat actor ... I said in my mind,?Well,that?snot what matters? What mattersis,wasthe scene great?Wasthe movie great?' But,as I?ve been doing it and doing it,45 yearsnow,I realized Martin was right? It?sall that really matters.The sun isgoing to burn out and these movieswill last for another few thousandsof years,whenever it does,and they?re not going to be there anymore,but I want to know that I had agood time working with the people who were making the movie with me and know that I enjoyed the place that I wasat and I think that wasgreat advice."
What'snext for Cage??I want to get my Jim Cummingsmojo on. I want to get DYI.I want to take Jerry Lewis?sadvice and be the total filmmaker. I haven? t done that yet," said Cage. "I want to get my own cameras. I want to write my own script.I want to direct and put whomever I want in that movie,and I want to cut it and then score it, and own it and then sell the negative,and do something. That?sthe next step. And I don? t want it to cost too much.We?re going to do this for $50,000.We?re all gonnaput in a little money and we?re going to sell it and it?sgoing to be great."
Nicolas Cage giving a speech; Cage happily signing autographs for student; Cage being interviewed, with Andrea Salazar, who works with PInzur Communications, standing by; Lauren Cohen, director of programming for MIFF, begins the evening before the montage of Nicolas Cage's work is played and Emily Longeretta begins her Q&A with him.
Held Jan. 12-26,the Miami Jewish Film Festival,for the 26th time, welcomed eager film-goers,35,000 of them,over the 15-day period.They showed 106 film premiersand presented five major prizesin the categoriesof feature and short films.There were more than 2,500 submissionssent in and,out of those,88 feature films and 17 short filmswere selected.
The locationsutilized to show the filmswere varied,including Bill Cosford Cinema,the Coral GablesArt Cinema,the Miami Beach JCC, the Miami Theater Center,the Michael-Ann Russell JCC,the O CinemaSouth Beach,and the historic Miami Beach Bandshell,as well asin people'shomes,asthey showed the filmsvirtually.
Critics Jury Prize: America
Ofir Raul Graizer, Director - Israel
Next Wave Jury Prize: Barren
Mordechai Vardi, Director - Israel
The Audience Award for Best Narrative Film: Erez Tadmor,for Matchmaking - Israel
The Audience Award for Best Documentary Film: RobertaGrossman, for Reckonings- USA
The Audience Award for Best Short Film:AndreasKessler,for Nakam (Germany,2022)
For moreinformation,visit https://miamijewishfilmfestival.org.
By Rachel Galvin
The Florida ArtsNetwork celebrated their becoming a501 (c) (3) on Feb. 9 with aspecial event held on the rooftop of Pier 6 in Pompano Beach,FL.They announced they are working on their nonprofit status...honestly,it wasjust another reason to party...Not like they need a reason. They are all about bringing people in the film industry together to meet each other,have a good time and collaborate.The event wasattended by filmmakersand actors,including a lot of newcomers.
The group,which isrun by Richard Sosa, president,Frank Ruffolo, vice president,and Christine Ruffolo, corporate secretary,has eventsthroughout the year,including awards events,picnicsand other networking parties. They are looking for support to help them fund their eventsand their website, on which they promote locals.
Interestedinhelpingout orinjust knowingwhat theyareall about...andwhat theyareup tonext?For moreinformation,visit www.FloridaArtsNetwork.com.
Those who stayed until the end got together for a photograph to commemorate the occasion.
Villade Palmaonce again wasthe place to be on Oscar night. Steve Savor,who isthe chair of the Ft. Lauderdale Intl. Film Festival,holdsaglamoroussoiree at hismansion yearly complete with large screensinside and out to watch the awardsceremony,aswell asalive band,catering (thisyear by Billy G's Catering),an open bar and alwayssome interesting surprises. People were announced at the door thisyear and were greeted by golden clad sirensready to pose on the red carpet or pour some prosecco
