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FilmFreeway Submission

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2026 WINNERS!

South Beach Film Festival May 6th-9th,2027

Welcome to our 3rd year!! Thank you for making us one of the fastest growing film festival in the country! The South Beach Film Festival, an annual celebration of cinema, brings together filmmakers, actors, and film enthusiasts in the vibrant heart of Miami Beach. Known for its diverse selection of films that span genres, cultures, and perspectives, the festival showcases both emerging talents and acclaimed artists. Set against the stunning backdrop of South Beach, participants and audiences alike are treated to a captivating experience that combines film screenings, panel discussions, and networking events. As it continues to grow in prominence, the festival not only highlights the artistry of filmmaking but also fosters a dynamic community of creative minds passionate about the art of storytelling.

Events/Parties/Networkers

Kick Off Party

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13TH
Location: Avalon Hotel 700 Ocean Dr.
Hours: 7pm-9pm
Cost: Free
This is the party that will kick off our 2026 season. Come mingle, network and have a few cocktails with film industry professionals, directors, screen writers, actors, locals and everyone in town for the festival. Free event t-shirts and gifts for the first 50 attendees.

SOLD OUT

Film Industry Breakfast

THURSDAY, MAY 14TH
Location: Marseilles Hotel. 1741 Collins Ave.
Hours: 9am-11am
Cost: Complimentary with Thursday Marseilles Hotel Screening ticket.
Join our Networking Industry Breakfast at
the beautiful Marseilles Hotel located on Collins avenue overviewing the ocean. Space is limited. Register today.

RSVP

Awards Ceremony

SUNDAY, MAY 17TH.
Location: Santorini by Georgios. 100 Ocean Drive
Hours: 12pm-2pm. Awards Ceremony 1pm.
It's the closing event of the festival! Come see who's taking home the awards. Beachside restaurant. There's no cost to attend. Must RSVP.

RSVP

Featured Films

THURSDAY, MAY 14TH Location: Marseilles Hotel, 1741 Collins Ave. Hours: 11am-7pm Cost: $20(price includes all films below)
Categories: Shorts, Documentaries

PURCHASE TICKETS

TWIN SEAS
Short Film. Length: 16min

Screening: 11am
A girl undergoes supernatural changes shortly after getting with her best friend's boyfriend

FUTURE TENSE
Short Film. Length: 7min

Screening: 11:30

After a devastating breakup, Liz is shattered. She falls into depression and fears facing a future without her ex

THE COUNTDOWN DUDE
Short Film. Length: 3.45min

Screening: Noon

In a basement littered with relics of consumption and sleepless nights, Gilbert listens to the sound of the world almost ending. What begins as digital noise becomes a living intelligence—an invisible god slipping into the machinery of annihilation

SUGAR SLATE
Short Film. Length: 3.25min

Screening: 12:30

In 2025 Miami, River is a single mother and aspiring actress navigating the surreal world of modern gig work

THE CAFONE
Short Film. Length: 23min

Screening: 1:00pm

Ne'er-do-well Sal Forte reunites with his inept friend to steal, cheat and rob in an effort to pay off gambling debts and keep enraged criminals at bay.

RICH SPIRIT
Short Film. Length: 13min

Screening: 1:30pm

Sarai deals with protecting her daughter, Teresa, from the realities in which they live in.

CAPTI
Short Film. Length: 9min

Screening: 1:50pm

In a dystopian future where individuality has been erased, Onus endures life in a bleak, controlled society where everyone wears identical clothing and white mask.

SENSUS MORI
Short Film. Length: 8min

Screening: 2:00pm

When an elusive society agrees to be interviewed, a journalist must contend with their ideologies or risk falling prey herself.

SHALOM PASSION
Documentary. Length: 1:03min

Screening: 2:00pm

Documentary, produced by Carey Smolensky, filmed in December 2023 during Carey's two week volunteer mission to Israel after the horrific attack on October 7th

RICE & SUGAR

Documentary. Length: 1:01min

Screening: 1:00pm

Phillip O’Leary is a filmmaker and photographer whose work is defined by its intimacy and authenticity, revealing the dignity and resilience of lives often overlooked. A graduate of New York’s International Center of Photography, Phill began his career in still photography, creating striking portraits of everyday people around the world – fishermen in Cambodia, monks in Nepal, back-alley cooks in India, and horse riders in Mexico. In 2017, he photographed the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock, North Dakota.

Featured Films

THURSDAY, MAY 14TH Location: Faena Miami Beach 3500 Collins Avenue
Screening Hour: 4:00pm. Followed by Cocktails 6:00pm
Categories: Features, Documentaries

PURCHASE TICKETS

THE MADNESS OF MOONLIGHT
Documentary. Length: 1:38min

Screening: 4:00pm

In a quiet workshop far from the world of mass production, a team of master craftspeople set out to build something extraordinary: a piano that is also a sculpture, a story, and a legacy. The Madness of Moonlight follows Frank, a perfectionist and visionary, as he pours his heart, time, and future into creating a one-of-a-kind instrument.

From raw timber to final polish, the film reveals a creative process that is as emotional as it is technical. Frank’s journey is shaped by the lessons of his parents, the pressures of survival, and the weight of making something truly lasting. Against all odds, set in a warehouse in New Jersey as well as the rich cultural backdrop of Vienna and inspired by Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, this is a story about art, obsession, and what it means to give everything to one idea.

Featured Films

FRIDAY, MAY 15TH Location: Collins Park Rotunda, 2100 Collins Ave.
Hours: 12:00pm-5pm FREE EVENT
Categories: Features, Documentaries

RESERVE YOUR SEAT

AN ORDINARY COUPLE
Documentary LGBTQ. Length: 1:17min

Screening: 12:30pm

Celebrating their funeral first to show love is for eternity, despite challenges posed by the AIDS epidemic, people against Prop 8, and the stop and go of marriage laws.

HOLLYWOOD BABYLON
Documentary. Length: 52min

Screening: 2:30pm

Before morality descended upon Hollywood in 1934, the movie capital looked a lot like Sodom and Gomorrah. Damien Chazelle’s film Babylon evokes that wild era when the film industry was steeped in scandal—orgies, murders, mafia, drugs… nothing was off limits. The Roaring Twenties were unbridled: jazz, illegal alcohol, liberated women, and risqué films by the dozens.

Hollywood was churning out up to 700 films a year, exploring without restraint adultery, homosexuality, corruption, and abortion. On screen, actresses appeared in transparent lingerie; behind the scenes, stars were entangled in sordid affairs like the Fatty Arbuckle scandal or the murder of William Desmond Taylor.

Featured Films

FRIDAY, MAY 15TH Location:Twisted Tonic. 723 Lincoln Ln
Hours: 7:00pm-11pm Cost: $10(price includes all films below)
Categories: LGBTQ

PURCHASE TICKETS

INSIDE THE OASIS: THE STORY OF SOUTH FLORIDA'S GAY MECCA
Documentary LGBTQ. Length: 50min

Screening: 8:00pm

The Story of South Florida’s Gay Mecca explores the LGBTQ+ community’s evolution in Broward County from the 1950s to the present. Through archival footage and firsthand accounts, the film charts the fight against discrimination, the triumph of visibility, and the fragile nature of progress as newly emboldened political forces once again challenge the community’s hard-won rights.

OUR FAMILY PRIDE

Feature LGBTQ. Length: 48min

Screening: 10:00pm

A husband and father of three (Jaimie) finally reveals a truth he’s buried for decades -- he's gay. His wife Max -- and their children, Mike, Kaitlin, and Sydney -- watch as their dad now lives the best version of himself.

Featured Films

SATURDAY, MAY 16TH Location:Lincoln Road Mall,
between Lenox Ave and Alton Rd.
Hours: 5:00pm-11:00pm FREE EVENT
Categories: Features & Documentaries.

SOLD OUT

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BEYOND THE BORDER: LATINO REPRESENTATION IN HOLLYWOOD
Documentary. Length: 90MIN

Screening: 6:00pm

Since the 1920s, Hollywood cast Latinos as bandits, exotic dancers, or anonymous foreigners, often even replaced by white actors in disguise. But across the decades, the community pushed back. Icons like Rita Moreno and Edward James Olmos, fueled by the social movements of the ’60s and ’70s, opened the door to a more authentic presence on screen.

LAST SHOT
Feature Comedy. Length: 1:40min

Screening: 8:00pm

12-year-old basketball prodigy Caden Isaacs deals with grief and identity while navigating high expectations and a complex relationship with his estranged mother after his father's death.

Stars: Michael Rapaport, Jaime Pressly, Johny Simmons

MURDER GARDENS 2
Feature Drama. Length: 1HR 35MIN

Screening: 9:30pm

Murder Gardens 2 is a gripping crime thriller that explores the blurred line between loyalty and survival. This sequel delivers a story of brotherhood, consequences, and the cost of unfinished business.