LENT Day 27 The Festival’s Rene Rodriguez Critics Award is bestowed on Saint Patrick's Day - CinemaDave

The Festival’s Rene Rodriguez Critics Award is bestowed by all accredited film critics covering the 2018 Festival to one outstanding film in the Official Selection. The Award was established in 2018 in honor of Rene Rodriguez, The Miami Herald’s film critic from 1995 to 2017, for his outstanding body of work and contributions to the art and discourse of cinema. This year, Rodriguez will announce the winning film in person. Members of this year’s jury are:

Gary M. Kramer / Film Critic for Salon.com and other various publications, Co-editor of Directory of World Cinema: Argentina, Volumes 1 & 2


Hans Morgenstern / Vice Chairman of the Florida Film Critics Circle (FFCA), Film Critic for IndieEthos.com, contributor to Miami New Times


Juan Barquin / FFCA Member, Film Critic for Dim The House Lights, GALECA Member, Arts contributor to Miami New Times, Flaming Classics Programmer


Michelle F. Solomon / FFCC Member, Film Critic/Editor for ​Miamiartzine.com​, Writer for ​Artburst Miami


Rubén Rosario / FFCA Member, Film Critic for Miamiartzine.com ​


Allison Hazlett-Rose / FFCA Member, Film Critic for FlickDirect


Alfred Soto / FFCA Member, Film Critic for Humanizing The Vacuum


Ruben Peralta Rigaud / MPAA Certified, OFCS Member, Film Critic for Cocalecas.net in Miami & Revista Cineasta in Dominican Republic, Writer for Culturacolectiva from Mexico


Joanne Butcher / Writer for Cinesource Magazine


Dwight Casimere / Entertainment Editor of The Times Weekly Chicago


Hernando Olivares / Film Critic contributor to El Sentinel/The Sun Sentinel and Radio Caracol Miami


Roger Walker-Dack / Film Critic for Queerguru.com


Gisela Savdie / Film Critic for LetraUrbana.com in Miami and El Heraldo in Colombia


Dave Montalbano alias “Cinema Dave” / Film Critic for Observer Newspaper


Carlos DeVillavilla / Film Critic for Cinema 365 Blog in Orlando


Mayra Blanco-Martinez / Film Critic for Conexiones Magazine


Winners in these categories, as well as the $10,000, audience-voted Knight Documentary Achievement Award will be announced at the Festival’s Awards Night ceremony on Saturday, March 17th at the Olympia Theater, part of the CINEDWNTWN program presented by Miami Downtown Development Authority. The Festival’s closing night selection, the International premiere of the smash hit Spanish comedy Holy Goalie!, will screen after the ceremony.