The Miami Film Festival opened with Tuner — a film about a young piano tuner played by Leo Woodall who turns to a life of crime, picking locks with his mentor, played by Dustin Hoffman — and closes this Sunday with Power Ballad, starring Paul Rudd as a washed-up wedding singer who teams up with a fading boy-band star played by Nick Jonas, directed by John Carney, whose Once and Sing Street established him as one of the sharper voices working in music-centered cinema.

That tonal range crime drama opener, feel-good music comedy closer — is very Miami. The 43rd edition has screened over 160 narratives, documentaries, and short films from 45 countries, including 40 world premieres. And while most of the festival's big moments have already happened the red carpets, the honoree tributes, the sold-out centerpiece screenings the closing weekend still has real heat.

Tonight, Poetry City makes its world premiere. Directed by Aaron Glickman, it's a documentary exploring Miami-Dade's literary underground, guided by Oscar Fuentes the "Biscayne Poet" who has been typing original poems on a manual typewriter all over this city for 30 years. It's the South Florida story nobody tells, and it's getting its first showing right here.

The festival has also brought screenings back to the historic Tower Theater in Little Havana, an Art Deco gem celebrating its 100th anniversary this year the first Miami theater to add Spanish subtitles in 1960, becoming a cultural lifeline for Cuban refugees and the city's Spanish-speaking community. That venue alone is worth the trip for anyone who hasn't been inside it.

The centerpiece selections this year were The Christophers, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and Poetic License, the directorial debut of Maude Apatow. The Honorees included Adam Scott, who received the Vanguard Award; Bob Odenkirk, who took the Precious Gem Award; Danielle Brooks, who received the Art of Light Award; and Lili Reinhart, who also received the Art of Light Award. Matt Bomer picked up a Vanguard Award of his own and sat for a live taping of the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

The Made in MIA competition, which awards a $15,000 cash prize to the best locally set film, featured four world premieres shot in South Florida. This is the part of the festival that most Miamians skip, and they shouldn't. Local filmmakers competing for real money on a real stage, that's the creative economy working the way it's supposed to.

The U.S. premiere of Milly: Queen of Merengue screened at the Miami Beach Bandshell, with director Leticia Tonos Paniagua and legendary Dominican singer Milly Quezada in attendance. That's the kind of moment that happens here and nowhere else a living icon, on her feet, in the city that shaped her audience.

Sunday's closing night screening of Power Ballad is the last chance to be in the room. Passes are still available. Get yours today.

Get passes at miff.com →

For years, getting a table at Buccan meant driving to Palm Beach and competing for a reservation at one of South Florida's most reliably excellent restaurants. That drive just got a lot shorter.

Chef Clay Conley, a seven-time James Beard Award nominee and the talent behind Azul at the Mandarin Oriental Miami before he became a Palm Beach institution, is opening three concepts simultaneously at 100 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables this spring. The flagship Buccan, built around an open kitchen and wood-burning oven; Imoto, his Japanese small-plates sibling; and the Buccan Sandwich Shop, known for items like the beef carpaccio baguette and the "Beef Steak Bomb." All three share a 9,600 square foot space, and each has its own entrance from Miracle Mile.

This one has been more than a decade in the making. Conley made his name in Miami as the executive chef at Azul, and has had Coral Gables in his sights ever since. A deal he tried to close back in 2014 fell through. He finally got his spot.

"We've just always felt like that was a good spot for us. We've always kept our eyes open for the right place." — Chef Clay Conley

The business angle is worth paying attention to. This isn't a celebrity chef drop-in concept. Conley lives in this market, built his reputation here, and has earned Michelin recognition in the 2025 Florida guide. The Coral Gables expansion is a conviction bet from a chef who knows the city. It also arrives with a more expansive cocktail program than the Palm Beach original — because, as Conley put it, Miami has different tastes. Smart operator behavior.

Miracle Mile has needed a genuine anchor tenant with culinary credibility. Buccan is it. Three concepts, one address, one of Florida's best chefs. Don't wait for the reservation window to open and then scramble.

Reserve at Buccan Coral Gables →

Dubai doesn't do anything small, and GAIA is proof. The Greek-Mediterranean restaurant — which earned its reputation across Dubai, Monaco, London, Doha, and Marbella before anyone called it an "export" — has opened its first American address at 801 S. Pointe Dr. in South of Fifth.

The concept comes from Fundamental Hospitality and chef Izu Ani, whose instinct has always been to let the ingredient do the work. The Miami menu leads with fresh bluefin tuna with caviar, sea bream carpaccio, and barrel-aged feta in honey and filo. Whole fish, selected from the restaurant's signature ice display, are prepared to order with a sage and orange zest salt crust. Wood-oven-grilled prawns with harissa. It reads like a Mediterranean summer and reportedly delivers on the promise.

Downstairs, Nyx is a cocktail lounge designed to carry the evening further. The full package — refined dining plus a late-night option — positioned at one of the most coveted South Beach addresses. If this city was going to get a flagship GAIA, South of Fifth was always the right call.

Learn more at gaia-restaurants.com →