HBO’s The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart and Amazon’s Sound of Metal starring Riz Ahmed tied for the MIAMI GEMS 2020 Audience Award at the Miami Film Festival GEMS. Miami Film Festival’s annual fall event took place from October 8-11 as a hybrid event that included virtual screenings and panels.
Directed by Frank Marshall, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart is an emotional documentary through the memories of the brother band’s only surviving member, Barry Gibb, as he recalls how the best-selling music act evolved their unique sound after relocating to Miami in the mid-1970s.
Sound of Metal, directed by Darius Marder, is already generating Oscar buzz for a Best Actor nomination for Ahmed’s blistering performance as a heavy-metal drummer whose life begins unravelling when he discovers he is losing his hearing. Last year’s MIAMI GEMS Audience Award winner, The Two Popes, went on to receive three Academy Award nominations while first runner-up Parasite, received the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Spain’s double-Goya Award-winning Out in the Open, directed by Benito Zambrano, was chosen by audiences as first runner-up, and another HBO documentary, 537 Votes, directed by Billy Corben of the Miami-based production company Rakontur, was selected as second runner-up.
Sound of Metal will open nationwide in theaters on November 20th and stream on Amazon Prime starting December 4th, while 537 Votes will air October 21st on HBO and stream afterwards on HBOMax.
Miami Film Festival reiterated their commitment to a safe, in-person event of the 38th edition, March 5 – 14, 2021 – opening on “305 Day,” which is the area code for Miami. The festival released its poster for the edition ahead, a specific homage to Miami Film Festival’s pride in the “305,” designed by Los Angeles-based artist Akiko Stehrenberger.
