MIAMI – Dec. 8, 2015 – Underscoring the strength and breadth of independent cinema in South Florida, five Miami-based films will screen at the highly selective 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
All of the selections were directed or produced by members of Borscht Corp., the collaborative dedicated to telling Miami stories and which is gaining prizes and praise for its films. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a supporter of Borscht, will provide a stipend to the Miami filmmakers to help them attend the festival in January in Park City, Utah.
“In just a few years, our indie film scene has begun to draw national and international attention. We’re excited that Miami stories are being told in this broader context, and honored on one of the world’s most important stages for film,” said Victoria Rogers, vice president for arts at Knight Foundation, which funds projects that help build community through film in Miami and seven other cities.
“When I started Borscht with some friends, I never dreamt that a few years later this small project with a silly name would have sent shorts to Sundance for six years in a row. I feel grateful for the support from the community – from the initial inspiration and help making the films, to showing up by the thousands when the rough cuts are screened at the Borscht Film Festival. It’s truly a collaborative effort and none of this happens without the love from Miami,” said Lucas Leyva, a Borscht founder and filmmaker. “Likewise, we are humbled that Sundance and other international festivals find value in the work we are doing down here and give us a platform to share them with an international audience.”
The films are:
“Boniato,” directed by Andres Meza-Valdes, Diego Meza-Valdes and Eric Mainade: A migrant worker who is illegally in the U.S. decides it’s time to move on from picking crops and find a better job. Little does she know insidious supernatural forces have a different plan for her.
“Swimming in Your Skin Again,” directed by Borscht guest filmmaker Terence Nance: A film about motherhood, banality, Miami, the water, the divine feminine and how to sing in church in a way that calls forth your own adulthood.
“Glove,” directed by Bernardo Britto and Alexa Haas: After accidentally being unclipped from a spacecraft, an astronaut’s glove travels to the edge of the universe.
“Dolfun,” directed by Sebastian Silva: A love story becomes an existential crisis when Silva flies to Miami to fulfill his lifelong dream of swimming with a dolphin.
“Jacqueline,” directed by Bernardo Britto: A young French woman hires a man to document her self-imposed political asylum in Argentina after she supposedly leaks highly confidential government secrets.
For the full list of 2016 Sundance selections, visit sundance.org.
About Borscht Corp.
Borscht Corp. is an amorphous collaborative dedicated to telling Miami stories. Through commission grants, film production, myth-making, and idiosyncratic events (including the biannual Borscht Film Festival), we forge the cinematic identity of Miami locally and globally. For more, visit borscht.biz.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.
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Contact: Anusha Alikhan, director of communications, 305-908-2646, [email protected]
Lucas Leyva, co-founder, Borscht Corp., [email protected]