Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival has announced that it will extend its multi-year partnership with Variety for its 39th edition (March 4-13, 2022). The festival will partner with Variety’s Streaming Room on an International Feature Film Nominees Roundtable scheduled for next year before final voting begins on March 17, 2022. The five directors that receive Oscar nominations for the International Feature Films category will be invited to participate in a panel moderated by Variety’s Film Awards editor Clayton Davis. Additional panel details will be announced at a later date.

In addition, the festival’s Miami Gems will serve as a key fall showcase for International Feature Film contenders, this year moving to November 4-7, 2021. Confirmed titles for this year that are considered to be strong contenders for International Feature Film submissions are “Norway’s “The Worst Person in the World,” directed by Joachim Trier and Iran’s “A Hero,” directed by Asghar Farhadi. Both festival events will be presented in-person. The full Miami Gems line-up will be announced in early October.

“In addition to being a renewable source of film art from the earliest days of filmmaking, international cinema is the great secret weapon of the American movie business, supplying so-called ‘American’ films with so many of their directors, stars, writers, cinematographers and more,” said Steven Gaydos, Variety executive vice president of global content and executive editor. “The Miami Film Festival shares our enthusiasm for international cinema and it’s a great pleasure to partner with them again on this vital showcase of international filmmaking voices.”

“We are thrilled to renew our partnership with Variety and to return both festivals to their traditional in-person format,” said Jaie Laplante, Miami Film Festival executive director. “Given our history with international filmmaking, it’s a natural fit to partner with Variety on the International Feature Film Nominees Roundtable, and we look forward to continue spotlighting the best films and filmmakers worldwide at both of our festivals.”

Last fall Miami Gems took place as a virtual event, while this past March, the Miami Film Festival had a hybrid format with both in-theater and on-line experiences. As part of the festival, Variety’s Streaming Room presented the Oscar International Feature Shortlist Directors panel featuring all 15 directors. The 2021 winner of the Best International Feature Film Oscar was “Another Round,” directed by Thomas Vinterberg, who also received a best director nomination. The film screened as part of the Miami Film Festival’s Monthly Screening Series in December and Vinterberg participated in the Variety panel. Past editions of Miami Film Festival and Miami GEMS have screened Oscar winners in this category including “Parasite,” “Belle Epoque,” “The Secret in Their Eyes,” “The Salesman,” “Cinema Paradiso” and “Babette’s Feast.” Last year the festivals honored Riz Ahmed, Andra Day and Joshua James Richards, and presented awards to “Sound of Metal,” “The Present” and “Quo Vadis, Aida?”, all of which went on to receive Oscar nominations.