Last column by Mario Vargas Llosa in El Pas, December 16, 2023.

The seventh art had its first meeting of the year in January, with the 26th edition of the Miami Jewish Film Festival, which was held from the 12th to the 26th. Some 88 feature films and 17 short films represented 25 countries. This important event in the field of cinema brought to the city world and national premieres of films directed by emerging directors and female filmmakers.

The Coconut Grove Arts Festival celebrated 59 years of history in its 2023 edition, which was held outdoors from February 18 to 20, with the participation of some 285 artists. The person in charge of creating the festival’s commemorative poster was the American artist Benjamin Frey. The image was unveiled in January.

As part of the events leading up to the Miami Carnival, 18 young people competed for the crown of Miss Carnival Miami 2023. The pageant took place on February 11, at the Manuel Artime Theater. Dayln Rodríguez was the winner.

In March, the magic of cinema once again enveloped the city, with the 40th edition of the Miami Film Festival, which took place from the 3rd to the 12th of the third month of the year. The actor and American comedian Ray Romano, known for his leading role in Everybody Loves Raymond, opened the festival with the film Somewhere in Queens, with which he made his directorial debut.

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Cortesa/Miami Film Festival

Cuban cinema starred in the 2023 edition of the Miami Film Festival, with productions such as Amigo, by Luis Gispert; Planted, of Lilo Vilaplana; Oh Havana Storiesdirected by Eliecer Jimnez Almeida, which closed the festival.

As the festival reached its final day, Miamians also had the option to enjoy the Calle Ocho Carnival, which was held on March 12, with performances by Ayme Nuviola, as Queen of the Carnival, Jacob Forever, Osmani García , Lenier and Project 1, among others.

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Cuban singer Ayme Nuviola at the Calle Ocho Carnival on March 12, 2023.

Cuban singer Ayme Nuviola at the Calle Ocho Carnival on March 12, 2023.

Silvio Campos/DLA

on the tables

Just in the month that International Women’s Day is celebrated, the Casandra festival took the scene in Miami. Inspired by women, the Ingenio Teatro company festival was held from March 18 to 26, in its VII edition.

Andalusian dance was also the protagonist in March, with the fourteenth edition of the Miami Flamenco Festival, from the 16th to the 19th. The star of the festival, the dancer Sara Baras showed her Soul on the stage of the Arsht Center.

Other flamenco shows that captivated were Alma flamenca, Cielo y Arena and Deseo, by Ballet Flamenco La Rosa, in May, August and September, respectively.

La Rosa Flamenco Ballet

Ballet Flamenco La Rosa presents in Miami

Ballet Flamenco La Rosa presents in Miami “Flamenco Soul”.

Courtesy/Ballet Flamenco La Rosa/Jenny Abreu

From July 22 to August 13, the Miami International Ballet Festival put Miami dancing. Directed by Eriberto Jiménez, in its twenty-eighth edition the festival presented a rich program that included classical ballet, modern, contemporary and jazz dance, by companies from Europe, Asia, South America and North America.

The seventh art, literature and visual arts were intertwined in the proposal with a dance film series, workshops and events.

Although the work of the theater is felt at any time of the year, in July Miami hosts an important theatrical event with the International Hispanic Theater Festival, which was held from the 7th to the 30th. The Costa Rican play The island of mendirected by José Zayas, raised the curtain on the thirty-seventh edition of the festival founded by the playwright and director Mario Ernesto Sánchez.

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The play Al pie del Tamisis is presented at the Hispanic Theater Festival.

The work At the foot of the Thamisis is presented at the Hispanic Theater Festival.

Courtesy/Avante Theater

Every year the festival dedicates a Sunday day to International Children’s Day, with entertainment, games, workshops, puppets and a performance for the little ones.

Another important stage meeting was the Miami Open Arts Fest, organized by the company Artefactus Cultural Project, chaired by theater director and playwright Eddy Díaz Souza. Under the motto Art in Motion, the sixth edition of the festival, which was held from September 8 to October 15, offered Miamians good local and foreign theater, book presentations, art exhibitions and musical performances.

Music, letters, cinema and art

Mart Productions starred on the music scene, with the concert Accordions at Night, which it presented on November 18 at the Sanctuary of the Arts, in Coral Gables. It was an evening in which the Miami public enjoyed some of the classics by Astor Piazzolla and Ernesto Lecuona, among other composers. On August 27, the company also presented its version of the emblematic zarzuela written by Gonzalo Roig, Cecilia Valdés.

That same month, the city dressed in literature with the 40th edition of the Miami Book Fair, held from November 12 to 19, with a rich program in Spanish that included more than 30 sessions. Among the authors who brought their literary novelties was the Spanish Rosa Montero, who presented the crime novel The unknown womanwhich he wrote with the Frenchman Oliver Truc.

The journalist and presenter of CNN in Spanish Andrés Oppenheimer explored the dissatisfaction in the essay How to get out of the well!.

Jaime Bayly presented his new novel, The geniusin whose pages he recreates the time in which Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa were friends and investigates the reasons that led to the distance between the Nobel Prize winners in Literature.

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Atmosphere at the 40th edition of the Miami Book Fair.

Atmosphere at the 40th edition of the Miami Book Fair.

Courtesy/Luis de la Paz

In November, cinema once again took center stage with the Gems festival, organized by Miami Dade College as a prelude to the Miami Film Festival. From 2 to 5, the program presented 26 films representing 14 countries. The Mexican drama Radical, by Christopher Zalla, inaugurated the meeting of the seventh art that took place at the Koubek Center and the Silverspot Cinema.

Venezuelan film stars gathered from December 7 to 10 for Cinema Venezuela 2023. The exhibition, which included a selection of recent and notable productions from Venezuela, was presented at the University of Miami. The seventh edition of this film series honored the career of actress Lupita Ferrer.

At the beginning of the month that says goodbye to the year, Miami experienced its Art Week with several fairs that coexisted in the visual arts panorama from December 5 to 10.

With a varied offer for art lovers and collectors and the proposal to show the most relevant works of art of the 20th and 21st centuries, more than 170 international galleries participated in the 2023 edition of Art Miami, representing the work of more than 900 artists. .

Art Basel Miami Beach 2023 was marked by a great diversity of artistic trends. The fair, which brought together some 277 international galleries and attracted some 79,000 spectators, featured an exhibition of prominent collectors from the region and other parts of the world.

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Mural of images dedicated to the protest against dictators at Art Basel Miami Beach 2023.

Mural of images dedicated to the protest against dictators at Art Basel Miami Beach 2023.

Wilma Hernndez/DLA

Tarun Kumar

I'm Tarun Kumar, and I'm passionate about writing engaging content for businesses. I specialize in topics like news, showbiz, technology, travel, food and more.

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