Moving images often capture the whole range of human emotions that live beneath the surface of our skin. These moving images express what words sometimes fail to express. But, more often than not, films find a way to combine the power of language with imagery to create a dynamic force for deeper human understanding. This year the 2012 Borsht Film Festival promises to do just that when it projects short films about our magical city upon the big screen.

Borscht Film Festival.

The 2012 Borscht Film Festival 8 will once again debut commissioned short films about and for Miami by Miami-based and regional filmmakers, but this year there will be entries from as far away as London and South Africa. Borscht is funded by a Arts Challenge Grant from John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to continue “forging the cinematic identity of Miami both locally and globally,” in its mission to “redefine Miami in cinema.”

Many of the Borsht films go on to participate in film festivals across the country and around the world. These films represent the diversity of our insane and inspiring landscape of concrete and sea, blue skies and hurricanes. They’re a melange that connects us visually and viscerally to Miami space-time (dis)continuum where our decentralized  and often unstable collective identity emerges.

The big screen, even in short film format, is a mirror. It reflects the existential crises that we’ve experienced as a collective and as individuals. In one way or another, Miami gets into our bones. It moves and molds us in ways that no other city can. We are all linked by Miami’s manic forces—for the better, I hope. Borsht 8 will shed some light on that.

The festival usually sells out fast, so order your tickets today. The earlier you order, the cheaper the cost.

The 2012 Borsht Film Festival will take place Saturday, December 15 at 8 p.m. at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-949-6722 . To order tickets visit: www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/calendar/view.aspx?id=12354.