MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

By Anthony Oporta

I think the best way to bring people to any event is giving free desserts and liquor. And that’s exactly what Desserts + Directors is all about. Even better is when these desserts are made by local Miami businesses who have a deep passion for desserts and their city.

After 20 minutes, or so into the event, Jaie Laplante stood on stage to warmly greeted the guest at the event, thanking them all for coming down to Miami to be a part of 35th Anniversary of the Miami Film Festival. Desserts + Directors is a wonderful event to kick back, have some free sweets, liquor and meet great people from around the world in the film industry. The event holds a good amount of different dessert stands, ranging from ice creams to cookies, crepes and even matcha waffles.

The second you walk in, you are greeted with a wonderful aroma of freshly baked cookies from Nummies Bake Shop, owned by Erica Cruz, who’s also the pastry chef. Erica takes a playful approach to her baking and adds a unique spin to classic desserts with hopes of going from “Miss 305, to World Wide” with her delicious, homemade cookies and pies.

Throughout the event, people mingled, drank and talked about different ideas, motivations and goals for their films and life. I met with two different directors and got to interview them a bit about their experience in tonight’s event and the film festival in whole. I first spoke to Adam Schlachter, born and raised in Miami, but now residing in L.A. He talked about how he used to attend the Miami Film Festival back in the 80’s with his dad when he was kid. He says that seeing how much the festival has developed and grown, especially under Jaie Laplante. Although he does not have a film in the festival, he is very happy to meet new filmmakers and have the potential to collaborate and spark fresh ideas and films in this industry.

After speaking to Adam, I spoke with Arminio, a student in the Miami Dade School of Entertainment and Design Technology; S.E.D.T. Arminio has his student film in the Miami Dade College Student Film Festival. I asked him how he feels about having his film be accepted into the festival and the only feeling he can tell me was “Dude, I’m just stoked, that’s all”. He told me how the Miami Film Festival has opened his eyes to new opportunities to work, create and meet new people from around the world. He hopes that the festival continues to grow and bring in more people from around the world to our wonderful city of Miami.

During the event, I got to meet with a local ice cream maker named Mike Romeu, owner of Sweet Melody. What caught my attention was one ice cream that incorporates brie cheese in it. I know, cheese and ice cream doesn’t sound normal, but trust me, it worked amazingly well. He also has another flavor is very near and dear to his heart, Chocolate Cake ice cream. This ice cream is dedicated to his late fiancée who made this recipe and loved eating it. Seeing how both the name of his company, Sweet Melody, which is inspired by his daughter, and the Chocolate Cake ice cream, dedicated to his late fiancée, shows that not only can food fill our bellies and bring directors and film lovers to an event, but also show love and passion.

Another local ice cream company present was Frice Cream, owned by Alissa and Jeremy Frice. Both hailing from Portland, Oregon, the Frice family moved down to Miami after vacationing down here one winter and brought their shop with them. They loved how the city was deeply rooted in diversity and how easy it was to cultivated fresh fruits for their ice cream. And since moving down here, the couple has been giving more back to the community than they actually take in from sales. Knowing this and seeing how much they love this city makes me proud and very happy to have them in this city. And having delicious ice cream that’s creamy and cool is definitely a plus.

As the event started to come to an end, I found myself in a horrible situation. Sugar rush. I know, I should have expected it, but honestly, my taste palette is that of a child, so I couldn’t contain myself. To counter my sugar rush, I walked on over to Yōko Match, a Japanese green tea shop that makes products ranging from hibiscus matcha drink, to coconut matcha, and even matcha waffles. Yōko Matcha’s drinks helped calm down my sugar and finish the party a bit healthier than I started.

Desserts + Directors is truly something special. Although I was expecting it to be much bigger than it was, seeing how everyone was enjoying the music, drinks, delicious desserts, and just having a great at the festival and our amazing Miami, made look at this festival in a whole different perspective. I recommend this event to anyone who is looking for a laid back atmosphere to meet other filmmakers and have a great time, with a free drink in one hand, and a locally made dessert in the other.