FFCC member Hans Morgenstern spoke with the Miami International Film Festival’s executive director Jaie Laplante at the 31st annual, 10-day long festival loomed. The following is an excerpt from a recent interview with Laplante.

Remember turning 31 years old? If you’re old enough, maybe you partied hard enough that you don’t recall. If you’re too young, it’s surely not a number you’re very concerned about achieving. For the Miami International Film Festival, the 31st anniversary is shaping up to be a year to remember.

With nearly 100 films from almost 40 counties on the lineup, this edition of MIFF will be a fiesta for the ages. “You’ve got to be the best of the best to get invited to MIFF,” says the fest’s executive director, Jaie Laplante.

profile world screenings at downtown Miami’s Gusman Center for the CINEDWNTWN series, and look out for the small but no less potent films from around the world featuring powerful performances by talents you might not have heard of.

Plenty of big names appear in MIFF’s selections this year, including Tilda Swinton and Tom Huddleston in director Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Joaquin Phoenix in The Immigrant, and Andy Garcia in Rob the Mob.

Read the rest at Cultist