Miami Film Festival GEMS 2026: Screenings, Venues, and Award Lineup
The Miami Film Festival hosts GEMS 2026 from October 29 to November 5, presenting eight days of festival-circuit features across South Florida. Produced by Miami Dade College, the midseason event brings fall awards contenders and international competition titles to local screens ahead of their commercial theatrical debuts. Screenings and public programs run across Little Havana, Downtown Miami, and Coral Gables.
The Film Lineup
The festival opens October 29 at MDC Koubek Center with the Florida premiere of The Debut, directed by Jesse Eisenberg. Distributed by A24, the comedy-drama stars Julianne Moore as an amateur theater performer who adopts an obsessive method-acting routine, with Paul Giamatti in a supporting role. The event concludes November 5 with Club Kid, directed by Jordan Firstman, detailing a nightlife promoter confronting unexpected parenthood.
The schedule highlights five notable international features:
Elsinore: Simon Stone directs Andrew Scott in a biographical drama chronicling actor Ian Charleson rehearsing Hamlet while managing an HIV diagnosis.
The Beloved (El ser querido): Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen leads this Spanish drama starring Javier Bardem and Victoria Luengo as an estranged father and daughter.
Campeón Gabacho: Directed by Jonás Cuarón, this drama follows an undocumented boxer in the Bronx after winning the Audience Award at SXSW.
Josephine: Beth de Araújo directs this feature, which earned the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance.
Paper Tiger: James Gray directs a crime drama tracing two brothers caught in commercial debt.
Industry Tributes and Live Panels
Onstage discussions feature established and emerging filmmakers. On November 2, John Turturro receives the Variety Creative Vanguard Award at Chapman Auditorium on MDC Wolfson Campus, accompanied by a career retrospective conversation.
On November 4, Spanish directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo receive the Variety Virtuoso Award alongside collaborator Guitarricadelafuente, followed by a screening of La Bola Negra. The program also features John Cameron Mitchell, who attends a 25th-anniversary screening of Hedwig and the Angry Inch to receive the 2026 Impact Award. Evening receptions for badge holders take place at partner rooftops in Brickell and Downtown Miami.
Participating Venues
Screenings take place across four distinct locations:
Silverspot Cinema (Downtown Miami): 300 SE 3rd Street. Serves as the primary site for narrative features, offering reserved seating and in-theater food service.
MDC Koubek Center (Little Havana): 2705 SW 3rd Street. Staging venue for the opening and closing night red-carpet events.
The Bill Cosford Cinema (Coral Gables): 5030 Brunson Drive. Located at the University of Miami, hosting international features and university co-presentations.
Chapman Auditorium (Downtown Miami): 300 NE 2nd Avenue, Building 3. Houses major tributes and filmmaker discussions on the MDC Wolfson Campus.
Key Details
Dates: October 29 through November 5, 2026
Venues: Silverspot Cinema, MDC Koubek Center, Chapman Auditorium, and Bill Cosford Cinema
Access: Individual screening tickets, Pick Six passes, and Take Twelve packages
Box Office: Schedules and ticket sales are available through the Miami Film Festival site.