SNAPSHOTSAT SAVORCINEMA

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 wassupporting 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.