Before there was a Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, before Art Basel found its U.S. home on the ocean-kissed sands of Miami Beach, there was the Miami International Film Festival (MIFF). Arguments could be made that there were numerous other film and cultural events of superb quality and support. However, in terms of worldwide recognition, only the massive Miami Book Fair International elevated Greater Miami to the level that the aforementioned festivals – and the modern MIFF – do today. Through challenges of all types, financial struggles, global competition and the region's then general lack of universal recognition for high culture, MIFF continued to forge ahead, each year bringing something new and different to audiences. At first powered by visionary founders, a strong commitment to Spanish-language films and the support of Miami's cultural elite, the festival endured, improved annually and today ranks as one of the most respected events of its type in the country,
