Mission
The mission of the Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) is to bridge cultural understanding, endorse tolerance and encourage artistic development and excellence within a vigorous academic setting by provoking thought through film. By bringing the best of world cinema to Miami, MIFF presents the city and the film industry with a singular platform that fosters creative and technical talent.
Vision
With its singular geographic and cultural position, the Miami International Film Festival attracts the best of international cinema. The Festival offers participating filmmakers and industry professionals the distinct advantage of showcasing their films in a multi-cultural metropolis within the United States, the world’s largest film market. As a Miami Dade College cultural experience, the Festival is guided by an internationally respected educational institution and cultural beacon. In addition, MIFF’s film and event programs are supported by the Miami Film Society, an organization going into its 25th year of supporting film. Because of the Society, the Festival has grown deep roots within Miami’s multicultural communities. MIFF has hosted a diverse offering of films throughout its twenty five years. In 2007, more than 300 filmmakers, producers, directors, writers, actors, and industry representatives from around the world were present for screenings as well as for business, educational and social functions. More than 1,300 regional, national and international press organizations have active relationships with the Festival. Filmmakers including Luc Besson, Pedro Almodovar, Spike Lee and Wim Wenders have screened their films at MIFF. Distributors such as HBO, Fox Searchlight and Miramax have participated in the Festival’s business programs. Finally, MIFF’s screening venues are as unique as the films themselves, reflecting the communities MIFF serves through film. Three theaters are historic landmarks, including the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, a grand movie palace evoking the golden age of Hollywood, tailored-made for major red carpet events; the Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road in the heart South Beach’s Art Deco district; and the Tower Theater in Miami’s culturally vibrant Little Havana neighborhood. The Festival also screens films at the University of Miami’s lush central campus in Coral Gables at The Bill Cosford Cinema along with the Sunrise Intracoastal Cinema serving the North Miami Beach neighborhoods and the Bryon Carlyle Theater serving the Mid-Beach neighborhoods.