By Coral Gables Gazette staff

The 43rd Miami Film Festival opens Thursday, April 9, and runs through April 19 — ten days of more than 160 films from 45 countries, including 40 world premieres and a lineup that has brought the festival recognition as the preeminent showcase for Ibero-American cinema in the United States. The Coral Gables Art Cinema, at 260 Aragon Avenue, is one of the festival’s official venues, hosting 13 screenings over seven days.

Among them is one that carries a specific Coral Gables resonance. Flavia — a British family adventure film starring Martin Freeman, Jonathan Pryce, and Toby Jones, adapted from Alan Bradley’s beloved mystery series about an 11-year-old amateur detective and master poisoner — screens Sunday, April 12 at 5:30 p.m. in its North American premiere. The co-producer is Mitchell Kaplan — the man who opened the first Books & Books on Aragon Avenue in 1982, co-founded the Miami Book Fair, and has spent four decades building the literary and cultural life of this city. After the screening, a reception will be hosted at Books & Books Coral Gables, 265 Aragon Avenue.

The film and its story

Flavia is set in 1950s England, at a decaying British manor house where 11-year-old Flavia de Luce — brilliant, fearless, and deeply interested in poison — discovers a dead body. Her father is accused of the murder. Flavia launches her own investigation, unearthing long-held family secrets and pitting herself against the true killer.

The character is drawn from Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series, which has sold more than six million copies in over 40 territories. The first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, won the Agatha, Arthur Ellis, Dilys, and Debut Dagger awards upon publication in 2009. The film rights were originally optioned by Sam Mendes in 2012. The production that finally reached the screen was directed by Bharat Nalluri from a screenplay by Susan Coyne — the writer behind Daisy Jones & the Six and The Man Who Invented Christmas — and stars Molly Belle Wright in the title role alongside Freeman, Pryce, and Toby Jones.

Kaplan produced the film through the Mazur Kaplan Company, the production company he formed with Paula Mazur in 2012. Their previous productions include The Man Who Invented Christmas, starring Christopher Plummer and Jonathan Pryce, and Let Him Go, starring Diane Lane and Kevin Costner. Flavia is their most directly Miami-connected production — a film made from a beloved book series, co-produced by the man who built South Florida’s most celebrated independent bookstore, screening at a Coral Gables cinema and celebrating afterward at that same bookstore. The loop is unusually complete.

Tickets for the Books & Books event are required and available at the Books & Books website.

The full Coral Gables Art Cinema schedule

The Coral Gables Art Cinema’s festival lineup spans documentary, narrative, and premiere screenings across seven days. Several include filmmakers and subjects in attendance:

On Friday, April 10, the evening opens at 6:30 p.m. with A Life Illuminated (Florida premiere), followed at 9 p.m. by TheyDream (Florida premiere), with director, producer, writer, and editor William D. Caballero, co-producers and co-writers Erin Ploss-Campoamor and Elaine Del Valle, and film participant Milly Caballero all in attendance.

On Saturday, April 11, the day begins at noon with Street Smart: Lessons from a TV Icon (Florida premiere), with star Sonia Manzano and director Ernie Bustamante in attendance. Cookie Queens follows at 2:45 p.m. (Florida premiere). At 5:30 p.m., Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World (Florida premiere) screens with producer, director, and editor Sasha Waters present. The evening closes at 8:30 p.m. with Normal, featuring Bob Odenkirk, screened in 35mm with a special introduction.

Sunday, April 12 brings I Swear (East Coast premiere) at 2:45 p.m., followed by Flavia (North American premiere) at 5:30 p.m. and Honeyjoon (Florida premiere) at 8:30 p.m., with director, writer, and producer Lilian T. Mehrel in attendance.

Monday, April 13 offers The Soundman (Florida premiere) at 7:45 p.m.

Tuesday, April 14 screens The Hollywood Rabbi (world premiere) at 6:30 p.m. and Blue Heron (Florida premiere) at 9 p.m.

Wednesday, April 15 presents Broken Voices (Florida premiere) at 7 p.m.

Thursday, April 16 closes the Coral Gables run with All God’s Children at 6:30 p.m., with the director in attendance, and The Last One for the Road (Le città di pianura, Florida premiere) at 9 p.m.

The festival and its history

The Miami Film Festival held its first edition on February 3, 1984, and has been expanding ever since. Now administered by Miami Dade College — which has housed the festival since 2003 — it draws more than 45,000 audience members annually and has hosted filmmakers including Pedro Almodóvar, Alfonso Cuarón, Werner Herzog, Spike Lee, Denis Villeneuve, and Wim Wenders. Its red carpet has welcomed Gregory Peck, Sofia Loren, Michael Caine, Antonio Banderas, Anne Hathaway, and Christopher Plummer, among many others.

The Coral Gables Art Cinema has been an official festival venue for several years, bringing a curated selection of the festival’s programming to a neighborhood with its own deep investment in film and the arts.

Tickets for all screenings are available at miamifilmfestival.com.

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MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL AT THE CORAL GABLES ART CINEMA
When: April 10 – 16 (festival runs April 9 – 19)
Where: Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables
Tickets: miamifilmfestival.com

FLAVIA — NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE with Books & Books reception
Screening: Sunday, April 12, 5:30 p.m., Coral Gables Art Cinema
Reception: Following the screening at Books & Books Coral Gables, 265 Aragon Ave. Tickets: Required for both events; available at Books & Books website