Miami’s culture calendar has a high-profile start tonight: Steve Lacy takes the stage at Bayfront Park, four days before the Miami Film Festival’s GEMS returns with eight days of premieres and awards-season discoveries.
The 13th annual GEMS runs Oct. 29 through Nov. 5. Miami Film Festival bills this year’s program as its largest GEMS lineup yet, with 50 titles. WLRN describes the festival as a place to see films moving from Cannes conversations toward awards-season attention. An early look, not a prediction of who will ultimately take home an Oscar.
The festival opens with Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy The Debut and closes with Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid. Between them, the centerpiece selection ranges from a disability-rights documentary to new work by filmmakers including James Gray and Martin McDonagh.
WLRN’s festival coverage features a still from Fjord, which screened as a GEMS preview-night selection earlier this month. Image courtesy of Miami Film Festival.
GEMS: eight days of premieres and film discoveries
According to the festival’s announcement, The Debut opens GEMS on Thursday, Oct. 29. The musical comedy, written and directed by Eisenberg, stars Julianne Moore as Mona Friedman, a housewife who becomes an intense method actor after landing a small role in community theater. Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Bernadette Peters and Eisenberg also appear.
On Nov. 5, Club Kid brings the festival to a close. The Cannes-premiered feature is Firstman’s directorial debut; he stars as a New York club promoter whose party-centered life is disrupted when the 10-year-old son he never knew arrives. Cara Delevingne, Diego Calva and Kirby Howell-Baptiste are also in the cast, the festival says.
The six announced centerpiece films offer a quick guide to the range of stories in the program:
- Being Heumann follows disability-rights activist Judith Heumann and the fight to change the lives of millions, according to the festival.
- Behemoth! centers on a cellist returning to Los Angeles after two decades away.
- Bunker follows an architect hired to build a survivalist shelter for a technology billionaire, a project that puts pressure on his marriage.
- Elsinore tells the story of actor Ian Charleson as he prepares to play Hamlet while facing an AIDS diagnosis.
- Paper Tiger, James Gray’s crime thriller, follows two brothers drawn into a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true.
- Wild Horse Nine, from Martin McDonagh, follows a CIA mission to Easter Island as conspiracies unfold amid Chile’s looming coup.
The lineup also includes international films submitted to the Academy Awards by their respective countries, among them Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden, Lukas Dhont’s Coward and Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur, according to the festival’s program announcement. Those submissions add to the awards-season context without guaranteeing what the Academy’s eventual nominees will be.
GEMS programming extends beyond screenings. The festival says it will honor actor John Turturro with the Variety Creative Vanguard Award and host a career conversation with him. It will also present a special screening of Hedwig and the Angry Inch for the film’s 25th anniversary, with writer, director and star John Cameron Mitchell appearing.
Where to watch, and what tickets cost
Festival screenings and events are spread across Miami-Dade, including Koubek Center, Silverspot Cinema, Coral Gables Art Cinema, O Cinema, the University of Miami’s Bill Cosford Cinema, MDC’s Chapman Center at the Wolfson Campus, the Wolfsonian at FIU and Vizcaya Museum & Gardens. Check the festival schedule for each screening’s venue and start time before making plans.
The festival ticketing page lists general screenings at $16.50 and opening-night tickets for The Debut with pre-reception at $55, before processing fees. Centerpiece screenings are $20; Club Kid closing-night tickets are $25. The festival notes that each ticket or event carries a $2–$10 processing fee, and discounts are available for members, students, seniors and veterans with valid identification. Limited free tickets are available for Miami Dade College students.
Steve Lacy’s “Oh yeah? Tour” stops at FPL Solar Amphitheater at Bayfront Park on Monday, Oct. 26. Image via Live Nation.
Tonight: Steve Lacy at Bayfront Park
Before the film festival begins, Steve Lacy’s “Oh yeah? Tour” arrives tonight, Monday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m. at FPL Solar Amphitheater at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami. Live Nation’s event listing confirms the date and venue; the Bayfront Park listing gives an expected 8–11 p.m. event window.
Venue information lists the box office opening at 5 p.m. and doors at 7 p.m. The venue is cash-free, and its bag policy allows a clutch no larger than 6 by 9 inches or a clear bag. Check the venue’s current guidance before leaving, as entry policies can change.
More on the South Florida calendar
Wednesday, Oct. 28, Young Miko: The rapper’s Late Checkout Tour stops at Kaseya Center, with the event scheduled for 8 p.m. and doors at 7 p.m., according to the arena’s event page.
Friday, Oct. 30–Sunday, Nov. 1, Hocus Pocus: Factory Town’s three-night electronic music festival returns with five interconnected stages and more than 100 artists, according to Factory Town. The lineup includes Eric Prydz, Gorgon City, Purple Disco Machine, Chase & Status and Skream. The event is 18-plus, and Factory Town says there is no on-site parking.
Wednesday, Oct. 28–Sunday, Nov. 1, Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show: The show opens Wednesday, bringing a major waterfront event and additional activity to downtown Fort Lauderdale, Axios reports.
For GEMS screening times, availability and venue details, use the official festival calendar; ticket prices and policies are listed on the festival ticketing page. More regional culture reporting is available in South Florida Digest’s Arts & Entertainment section.
