I hate Miami’s gloomy September, but it’s a fine time to go to the movies. I’ve recently seen three movies at the University of Miami’s wonderful Cosford Cinema. I was among a few dozen people who saw One of Them Days, one of about 50 who saw Sinners, and one in a fully packed house who saw Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale; all were free screenings.
The Miami Film Festival calls GEMS its mini-fest, but it’s always a great appetizer. GEMS brings big films to Miami along with side dishes like filmmaker appearances, seminars, and parties. Just last year, GEMS audiences got to see excellent titles like The Brutalist, I’m Still Here, and A Real Pain before they came out in theaters. They also talked with Pamela Anderson and Sebastian Stan.
Once GEMS was MIFFecito until the Miami Film Festival renamed it in 2014 as a fall showcase at, may it rest in peace, MDC’s now terminally underused Tower Theater Miami. Originally a seven-day event featuring 10 premieres and in-person appearances, it was rebranded as Gems Film Festival in 2015. Today, GEMS continues to do its red-carpet, aspirational thing.
This edition of GEMS will start with a drink and a movie at their program launch where you can get a head start on the GEMS lineup before tickets go on sale on October 1. (It’s not GEMS’ fault that there is no Head Start for kids though.)
This year’s gift begins with After The Hunt, a psychological drama about a professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at a crossroads when a star student (Ayo Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light. Directed by filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and written by Nora Garrett, following its world premiere in Venice, After The Hunt received a six-minute ovation. So it seems Me Too, Black Lives Matter, and sexual harassment are still essential in a world in which diversity, equity, inclusion, human rights, respect and honesty often appear on the run from bigoted political villains in denial.
Luca Guadagnino is called an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer, but this is reductive. Born in Palermo to an Algerian mother and a Sicilian father, Guadagnino spent most of his childhood in Ethiopia. He attended the University of Palermo where he studied literature and later on graduated from Sapienza University in Rome. His best work is ‘Call Me by Your Name,’ a romantic drama that earned him several accolades, including an Academy Award nomination. He also made that Zendaya tennis drama Challengers best enjoyed on airplanes.
Why do we love film? From the moment I first cried and ran to the safe room during Dracula as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee terrorized me, until I saw Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso, I have been forever bewitched by the power of cinema despite watching Happy Gilmore 2. So, when I think about how our lives are spent sitting on couches watching Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Prime Video, Apple, Tubi, Pluto, Roku, etc., I’m grateful and sad.
There is nothing like the big screen. Therefore, do yourself a favor and go see After the Hunt, GEMS, and the Miami Film Festival the way they are intended to be seen – on big screens.
After the Hunt will screen at 7:00 p.m. at the Koubek Theater on Tuesday, September 30.
GEMS runs from October 29-November 5. The Miami Film Festival runs from April 9-19, 2026. Info can be found here: https://miamifilmfestival.com/
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