by Javier Morin
The beloved, boundary-breaking, Miami-based Borscht Corporation returns this November with its semi-annual film festival, lasting from the 15th to the 24th. Historically, the Borscht Film Festival goes as far back as 2005, serving as a platform for Miami filmmakers, and 2019 marks its return after two years of absence. This year’s festivals follow what Borscht refers to as its “rebirth,” a rebranding as an effort to establish itself as a larger part of the community, and open the corporation up to offer more extravagant projects.
For November 2019, Borscht brought out the big guns, showcasing their main set of events under the name “Borscht 0,” which goes hand in hand with the aforementioned rebranding. The event featured a number of short films, including “Carros” from director Alec Castillo, a story written in the same vein as Pixar’s “Cars” but is particularly set in Cuba, and features the type of cars one would see in the country. Also at the Borscht Film Festival this year was the film “Queer Mythology: The Last (Hialeah) Supper” directed by, and starring Karli Evans, a fantastic display of the vibrant LGBTQ+ culture that Miami is home to.
The event also featured films like “Emergency Action Plan,” a short thriller by Dylan Radford telling the story of a man who plans to shoot up his workplace, and “Dead Mall,” a bizarre film by Olivia West Lloyd in which a minotaur invades an abandoned mall in downtown Miami.
As expected from an organization of such high caliber, Borscht did not fail to deliver, as it once again rose from the fog to provide Miami with an outlet for local filmmakers to have their creative works seen, and the organization did so in a gracefully wrapped package. From the location’s loud aesthetic to the marvelous works displayed, the Borscht Film Festival was as weird as it was enjoyable.