The 2006 Miami International Film Festival boasts 117 films in all, three $25,000 awards and slates for local filmmakers and filmmakers abroad.
BY RENE RODRIGUEZ

rrodriguez@MiamiHerald.com

A love story set against the turbulence of 1950s Havana, a documentary surveying the history of Puerto Ricans in the United States, a celebration of legendary singer Bob Marley and a tribute to a veteran German filmmaker are among the highlights of the 23rd Miami International Film Festival, to be held March 3-12.

Festival organizers on Tuesday unveiled this year's lineup, consisting of 92 feature-length and 25 short films, including 10 world premieres, such as the opening night selection Heartlift (Lifting de corazon), a comedy about a plastic surgeon's mid-life crisis from Argentine director Eliseo Subiela, a longtime festival favorite.

Friends With Money, the closing night attraction, is the latest comedy from writer-director Nicole Holofcener about longtime friends (Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack and Catherine Keener) whose lives are thrown off balance.

Other entries from familiar festival names include Iberia, the latest performance film from Spain's Carlos Saura, this one focusing on Andalusian gypsy culture; Viva Cuba, about the misadventures of two lovestruck 10-year-olds from Cuban director Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti; L'Enfant, co-directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's Palme d'Or-winning story of two young adults confronting parenthood; and The Gronholm Method (El metodo Gronholm), a drama about the ruthlessness of the corporate world from Argentine filmmaker Marcelo Piñeyro.

Celebrated director Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire) will be in town to accept this year's Career Achievement Tribute, as well as present his latest film, Don't Come Knocking, about a Western movie star looking for his past, starring Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange.

Actress Rosie Perez also takes a turn in the director's chair with the documentary Yo soy Boricua, pa' que tu lo sepas! (I'm Boricua, Just So You Know!), about the Puerto Rican experience in America.

Wyclef Jean, Peter Tosh, Lauryn Hill and other well-known singers pay tribute to one of their biggest inspirations in Bob Marley & Friends, directed by Saul Swimmer. Another musical documentary, Pick Up the Mic, takes a look at the growing number of gay, lesbian and transgender hip-hop artists.

Also announced Tuesday was a $250,000 donation from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, to be used over three years to support the festival's marketing and provide a $25,000 cash prize to the three juried awards given to films in international, Ibero-American and documentary competitions.

''The donation raises the visibility of the festival and helps us continue to attract good filmmakers,'' said festival director Nicole Guillemet.

Other additions to the festival include two new programming slates: Touching Florida, featuring Florida filmmakers whose works have themes dealing with the state, and MIFF Abroad, which hopes to establish a cultural exchange by focusing on the filmmaking of one Latin American country each year. The inaugural program will center on Chile.

Festival screenings will be held at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami; the Regal South Beach Cinema and Colony Theater in Miami Beach; the Tower Theater in Little Havana; the Sunrise Intracoastal Cinema in North Miami Beach; and the Bill Cosford Cinema in Coral Gables.

Tickets go on sale Feb. 3 for Miami Film Society members and Feb. 17 for nonmembers. For more information, visit miamifilmfestival.com or call 305-237-3456.

Miami Herald staff writer Daniel Chang contributed to this report.

well...every where there's some tribute to Bob Marley there's Ms Hill!!! B)

yeah and I really want to see her performing on that kind of tributes!!!

Thanks Stine

yeah and I wonder what shell sing this time :whisle:

uuuu Sybille... are we thinking about the same thing??
L + WC ... again....
lol

lol. :lol: :P together again.
How about Pras ? :P

what about pras? well I am not pras :D

I'm talking about the real Pras, why is he letting Ms Hill, and Clef all alone to perform at some show ? :whisle:

mabye he doesn't like rasta music - or he is too slow and hasn't got to know about the show so far :dances:

Trust me, he does like rasta music esp Bob, I heard one of his interview where he was talking about his love for BOb's music. So, maybe he wants L and Clef to be alone this time. :whisle:

no - I think it's only you and kms who like to be them together <_<

don't even thin about this thing!!!!!!!!!I can't think about this!! :wacko:
btw...who cares about Pras!!!...maybe he doesn't like bob marley's music,or he has something better to do..he was the one that didn't want a fugees reunion..so what can you expect from him!! <_<

No, seriously, people are talking about this on the runboard : How can you be working so close with an ex that you love sooo desperately that you made an entire album dedicated to him, and keep it platonic ????

let L decide, ok? :ph43r: :crazy:

I think she can...she doesn't love him..no more....she loved Ro,she forgot Clef..and now Clef is married...ok....I think that they passed over all the problems they had,they're good friends now!! -_-

yup, i hope so.

not hoping Sybille!be sure!!!...I'm sure..I can't think that she can make the same mistake again!!..(to tell the truth sometimes me too,I think that she still loves him and that there will be new problems..but then I saw how she looked at Ro in these years and I have no doubt that she forget clef!) B)

Well it's her business anyway, but I just don't think that Lauryn is as strong as she wants us to believe. ( esp when it comes to men).

I think no woman can be strong in that situation! ;)

and no man

until she realized that he's a liar. <_<

Lauryn made n album for clef??? how did i miss THAT?

haha mybe they pay Pras to stay at home and shut up ! :lol:
OMG ....

haha sorry , but he was married too when he messed up with L ...
so what do you mean " he is married NOW" hahaha

no kms you're wrong..he wasn't married at that time...I'm sure about it!! B)
now he's married! :crazy:

I know we shouldn't really "talk" about these things ( gossips), but he actually was married at the time he was messin with L , go read that article where he revealed it all.

are you sure??..I was pretty sure it was a rumor,and that he wasn't really married...now all my certanties are broken!! :(

I am sure, it comes from wyclef's own mouth. Rolling Stones magazine 2001. :( :argh:

:crying: :crying: :crying:

I can't believe that LBoogie has an affair with a married man!!! :wacko:

I can't believe you just found out now ???
Anyway, it was like 10 years ago and she was like 19. She's human and she makes mistakes too.

yeah really..I was sure he wasn't!!!

:lol: he looks like he is too slow sometimes

id u love - u can do everything :drunk:

what ? :blink: I don't understand.

I think it's "if you love you can do everything"...I think he refers to the fact that clef was married at the time..

u are right l-boogie

I'm a genius!! :dances:

I think that type of love can be dangerous.

of course it is!...but I'm still a genius!! :winkwink: