courtesy of: The Morning News
by Rosalie Klein
Opening night of the third edition of the Aruba International Film Festival is almost here! This coming Friday, June 22, festival Co-founder and Executive Producer Jonathan Vieira will welcome Oscar and Golden Globe nominated actress Virginia Madsen on the Red Carpet at Paseo Herencia in Palm Beach for the World Premiere of “The Magic of Belle Isle,” co-starring Morgan Freeman.
This glittering night, covered by international press on island for the festival, will be followed by the first of three spectacular shows over this coming weekend that comprise a new aspect of the festival, the AIFF Concert Series.
The famous AIFF after-parties have been replaced with late night concerts featuring top performers, starting with Colombian superstar Juanes, who launched his stellar career by winning 3 Latin Grammies for this debut album “Fijate Bien”; he has won a total of 17 Latin Grammy Awards and one Grammy Award. On May 29 he released his album "Juanes MTV Unplugged", which is already #1 on Billboard Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop Albums. Doors open at 8:00 PM and the concert will begin promptly at 11. Internationally renowned Aruban singer Roger Peterson, lead vocalist of the internationally known band “Intwine” will open the program. Juanes will be arriving on Wednesday, June 20, and has graciously offered to visit island schools and talk to students about their futures and his career.
Jonathan welcomed island media to proudly show-off the AIFF Harbor Arena created just for this series, with the largest stage the island has ever seen to accommodate the full orchestra of international megastar Marc Anthony, one of the most influential and successful American/Latin performers of the last 15 years and considered one of the great Salsa singers, who will appear on Saturday evening, June 23.
The brand new concert venue is in Aruba’s container harbor, the entrance off the roundabout across from the Oranjestad Wendy’s. Containers have been placed around the stage to provide optimal acoustics for what will surely be one of the most memorable musical events Aruba has ever hosted.
Saturday evening’s concert with Marc Anthony has already sold out all the Platinum VIP tables, which seat ten and are sold as a unit for $3,500. This includes a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label and snacks, but there are 2 left for the
Juanes concert and the Sunday night DJ “Dirty Dutch” event. Some VIP standing room only tickets are left for Juanes at $170, which will place the ticket holders right up next to the stage.
The few general admission tickets left for Marc Anthony and Juanes are $80; DJ Chuckie and his branded “Dirty Dutch” event on Sunday, June 24, is only $20 p/p. Tickets are available at
- Cas di cultura
- Winter Garden
- Gayo Rojo
- CDs & More
- Veneta Cucine
- Paseo Herencia - Happy Monkeys
This year, the AIFF will host industry luminaries Ray Liotta, Pietro Scalia, editor of “Prometheus” and the soon to be released “Amazing Spiderman,” actor Richard Kind, and some very special secret celebrities, yet to be announced.
For more information and updates, visit the AIFF website: http://www.arubainternationalfilmfestival.com or their Facebook page for the latest news updates.
AIFF 2012 Schedule of events:
