Koubek Center

Romería
2026-04-12 18:00 (America/New_York) | Koubek Center Theater, 2705 SW 3rd Street, Miami, FL, 33135, United States
Biography, Drama, Romance
Spanish, Catalan, French
Spain
Armed with a camcorder and a thirst for truths long buried, 18-year-old Spanish orphan Marina is piecing together the ghosts of her parents. Traveling to Vigo to secure a document from her paternal grandparents that’s required for her university application, she finds in her father’s family an icy evasion, forcing her to untangle a web of conflicting memories about her deceased parents.
Carla Simón delivers a luminous, intimate study of auto-fiction, utilizing a mesmerizing performance from Llúcia Garcia to dissect the gap between the stories of absent family members, the stories we create about them, and who they truly were. This is a heart-shattering master class on identity.
Romería screened in competition in Cannes.
DIRECTED BY CARLA SIMÓN
2025
112 MINS

The King Of The Internet
2026-04-12 20:45
Drama, Comedy
Portuguese
Brazil
The King of the Internet is a wild and dramatic saga that follows how Daniel Nascimento rose to become one of Brazil’s top hackers, joined a criminal organization that moved millions of reais, lived a lavish, high-rolling life, and was arrested in a federal police operation – all before turning 17.
This latest film from Brazilian director Fabrício Bittar is brash, loud, exciting, and – most of all – extremely entertaining. His prior films include How to Become the Worst Student in School, a top-10 Brazilian box-office hit; Ghost Killers vs. Bloody Mary, selected by 15+ international festivals and winner of Best Gore at FrightFest; How to Hack Your Boss, released on Netflix; and Inexplicável, which went on to rank as a Top 3 Global title on Netflix.
DIRECTED BY FABRÍCIO BITTAR
2026
134 MINS

Miami Stories
2026-04-15 18:15
Comedy, Local
Spanish
Uniteds State
Miami Stories is a wild, collective comic confessional where some of the most outlandish figures from Cuba’s complex political scene – coming from both sides of the conflict – gather to reveal their Miami gospels, not without a touch of arrogance. The notoriously infamous Wasp Network, Castroism’s spy ring operating in the heart of the exile capital, is transformed – through sharp, corrosive satire – into the Mosquito Network.
FBI agents, influencers, radio and TV hosts and producers, actors, and filmmakers express themselves in torrents of unchecked speech, full of winks and double meanings that expose the humorous extremes of an unstoppable, razor-sharp ideological landscape.
Miami Stories prove that laughing at oneself remains the ultimate mark of intelligence.
Expected guest:
ELIECER JIMENEZ ALMEIDA / DIRECTOR
2026
74 MINS

Madwoman's Game
2026-04-16 18:30
Documentary
English
United States/France/Mexico
Madwoman’s Game follows Bianca Mitchell-Avila, a young Latina chess player who sees the game not simply as competition, but as the blueprint for navigating life. Through travel, mentorship, and matches with world-class women players, Mitchell-Avila explores how the lessons of chess extend far beyond the board. At the heart of this documentary is a simple, resonant question: If life is like a game of chess, how do we play it?
Directed by Zach Zamboni, a multiple Primetime Emmy Award winner, and the winner of a Peabody Award, Madwoman’s Game is executive produced by Keanu Reeves and Miami’s own Carla Berkowitz (Critical Thinking).
DIRECTED BY ZACH ZAMBONI
2025
73 MINS

Cuban Contemporary Independent Shorts
2026-04-17 18:30
This documentary seeks to unravel the Cuban catastrophe through two narrative sources: dialogues and conversations of ordinary citizens as a kind of soundtrack—sometimes humorous, at other times deeply dramatic—reflecting on and citing examples of a nation’s tragedy under the whims of a cruel and inept dictatorship, steeped in hopelessness.
The other perspective is conveyed through images of daily survival: the elderly under the protective wing of nuns, endless lines, scarcity, blackouts, repression—a city resembling a postwar landscape. In the end, there is no hope other than the longed-for freedom.
DIRECTED BY ANA VICTORIA PÉREZ
SPAIN, CUBA
2025
41 MINS
Rancor A young man who has left Cuba reflects on three fundamental spaces in his life: Madrid, where he lives with his wife and his dog; Miami, where his mother, sister, and nephews live; and Republican Cuba before the Revolution, when his grandparents built the house that, over time, the entire family eventually abandoned.
DIRECTED BY CARLOS A HALLEY
CUBA, SPAIN
2026
15 MINS
The Last Game (El último juego) In a lonely, gray city, a boy says goodbye to his friends as he prepares to leave the country with his parents, but he engages in one last game that takes an unexpected turn.
DIRECTED BY DANIEL CHILE
CUBA
2025
24 MINS
Night and Fog Luanda and Vladimir must carry their father's dead body out of the house -a daunting task, given that everything they know is contained within those four walls.
"Everything" truly means everything, from the most ordinary objects to memories and hope.
DIRECTED BY BORIS GONZÁLEZ ARENAS
CUBA
2026
16 MINS
Norheimsund A girl’s long-distance romance with an older Norwegian man promises to pull her and her mother out of their austere life in Cuba, but her dreams are shaken when she realizes he isn’t as idyllic as he seems.
DIRECTED BY ANA A. ALPIZAR
CUBA, UNITED STATES
2025
12 MINS

The Last Viking
2026-04-17 20:45
Dark comedy
Danish, Swedish
Denmark/Sweden
The Last Viking is a Danish dark comedy directed by Anders Thomas Jensen about two brothers searching for buried treasure. Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) has just been released from prison following a 15-year sentence for robbery, and he’s intent on recovering the cash from a prior heist that his brother, Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen) has buried.
But Manfred has since developed a mental health issue that’s caused him to forget everything, including where the money is. Together, the brothers embark on an unexpected journey to locate the hidden cache and discover who they really are.
The Last Viking – which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and also screened at Toronto International Film Festival – is an offbeat, intriguing, and devious comedy.
DIRECTED BY ANDERS THOMAS JENSEN
2025
116 MINS

Uncle Roly
2026-04-18 14:45
Drama, Comedy, Loca
Spanish
United Statesl
In a dramedy tone, Uncle Roly tells the story of an incorrigible and rebellious relative who never followed the customs of social and family life. After many years of absence, two spoiled nephews – protected by overbearing parents and who have yet to decide what to do with their lives – must unexpectedly deal with their uncle on an unforeseen adventure to find treasure in the Everglades.
An insoluble cultural clash arises between the bilingual young Miamians and their uncle, who displays his apparent disregard for American social expectations as if it were a virtue. Life will never be the same again for any of them as the hunt becomes a catharsis and a revelation of family secrets.
Expected guest:
DENNIS VELAZQUEZ / DIRECTOR
2025
81 MINS

Revolution's Daughter
2026-04-18 15:00
Documentary
English/Spanish
United States
This is a singular documentary that revisits the drama of the Cuban dictatorship and its impact across generations, drawing on testimonies from diverse voices within the exile community and using as its leitmotif Fidel Castro’s daughter, Alina Fernández Revuelta. The film highlights perspectives seldom heard in discussions of the turmoil Castroism brought to the island, with figures such as Gloria Estefan, Ricardo Pau-Llosa, José Bedia, Margarita Cano, Nilo Cruz, and Bonco Quiñongo, among others, sharing personal stories conveying hope and long-awaited freedom.
Collectively, they underscore the success of Cuban Americans in the United States – and how their entrepreneurial spirit could help shape a future free Cuba.
Expected guests
Thaddeus D. Matula
Filmmaker: Director / Producer / Writer — President Double Life Films & Cinematula
Alina Fernández
Executive Producer
Ricardo Pau-Llosa
Documentary subject, Poet, Art Critic
Pablo Cano
Documentary Subject, Marionette Maker

Maria Antonia
2026-04-19 12:00
Drama
Spanish
Cuba
Miami Film Festival is proud to present the world premiere screening of the restoration of Sergio Giral’s classic film, Maria Antonia. Set in pre-revolutionary Havana, it follows the turbulent life of a fiercely independent Afro-Cuban woman whose defiance of social norms puts her in constant conflict with the world around her. Adapted from Eugenio Hernández Espinosa’s acclaimed stage play, the film portrays María Antonia’s struggle against poverty, machismo, the rigid moral codes of her neighborhood, and her passionate but destructive relationship with a charismatic boxer – which pulls her into a spiral of jealousy, violence, and fatalism.
Through her story, Giral explores race, class, spirituality, and the resilience of Afro-Cuban women, delivering a portrait that is both intimate tragedy and social critique.
DIRECTED BY SERGIO GIRAL
1990
103 MINS

Coronoer To The Starts
2026-04-19 13:00
Documentary
English
United States
Coroner to the Stars chronicles the extraordinary journey of Dr. Thomas Noguchi, the former Los Angeles County chief medical examiner-coroner, whose groundbreaking autopsies forever shaped American culture.
From Marilyn Monroe and Robert Kennedy to Sharon Tate and Natalie Wood, Noguchi pushed forensic science into the spotlight – even as Hollywood elites and political adversaries sought to silence him. A Japanese immigrant who unwittingly rose to fame in a city driven by stardom, Noguchi’s fearless pursuit of truth often placed him in the crosshairs of controversy.
Best described as “CSI meets TMZ,” Coroner to the Stars is a behind-the-curtains look at someone who shaped the way we – and history – view the deaths of some of our most beloved fallen icons.
DIRECTED BY BEN HETHCOAT, KEITA IDENO
2025
83 MINS

Blue Trail
2026-04-19 14:30
Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Drama
Portuguese
Brazil/Mexico/Netherlands/Chile
In a near-future Brazil, productivity is a religion and the elderly are deemed expendable. Tereza (Denise Weinberg) is unceremoniously sent to The Colony, a state-run exile for seniors.
Refusing to be erased, she escapes her daughter’s guardianship to pursue a final wish: to fly. Her journey down the Amazon’s waterways, aided by a drug-smuggling boatman (Rodrigo Santoro) and a bible-selling rebel, becomes a post-tropical delirium fueled by the psychedelic slime of a blue snail.
Director Gabriel Mascaro (Neon Bull) delivers an exquisite odyssey that reinvents the road movie. Visually stunning and fiercely anti-authoritarian, The Blue Trail is a transfixing meditation on the radical, sensual right to stay free.
DIRECTED BY GABRIEL MASCARO
2025
86 MINS

Colors of Time
2026-04-19 17:00
Drama, Romance, Comedy
Frech
France
A group of strangers, all descendants of a woman named Adèle Meunier, are gathered in Normandy, France. The town would like to purchase her long-abandoned property, and four “cousins” are tasked with overseeing the transaction. Thus begins a genealogical journey into the past, taking us to 1895 Paris, with the City of Light on the brink of an industrial and cultural revolution.
Colors of Time literally plunges us into a moment in time when Parisian creativity is at its apex, creating a spark that’s about to erupt into a movement far beyond anyone’s expectations. Cédric Klapisch‘s endearing new comedy is nothing less than a soul-stirring, time-traveling – and at times, hallucinogenic – trip for lovers of the arts everywhere.
DIRECTED BY CEDRIC KLAPISCH
2025
126 MINS

Homo Argentum
2026-04-19 19:45
Comedy
Spanish, Italian
Argentina/Italy
Homo Argentum is Argentina’s biggest silver screen success in years and has become a national sensation. The film is a collection of vignettes, with a portrayal of 16 very different characters who reflect the flaws of urban life, with a perspective full of humor and irony.
Guillermo Francella stars in all of them, delivering stellar performances that often make him unrecognizable from one character to the next. The result is a fierce and hilarious satire that, between laughs, invites audiences to reflect on identity, idiosyncrasy, customs, and human behavior, explored through connection to themes such as love, friendship, family, and work.
DIRECTED BY MARIANO COHN, GASTÓN DUPRAT
2025
98 MINS

Poetry City
2026-05-18 17:30
Documentary
English
United States
Miami is a city undergoing a profound cultural renaissance, yet its literary history often remains in the shadows. Poetry City follows Oscar Fuentes – known to many as “The Biscayne Poet” – and Nicole Tallman, Miami-Dade County’s poetry ambassador, as they lead a collective of writers on a quest to rediscover the voices of Miami’s past. Featuring appearances from literary giants like Richard Blanco and Mitchell Kaplan, Poetry Citydemonstrates how the county’s commitment to the arts has fueled South Florida’s international ascent.
The journey reaches a powerful climax at Miami Book Fair, where the poets stage a theatrical presentation pairing historical works with their own contemporary responses, proving that Miami’s heartbeat is, and always has been, pure poetry.
Expected guest:
AARON GLICKMAN / DIRECTOR
2026
56 MINS
