GEMS opens on 29 October at $16.50 a seat
The Miami Film Festival runs its fall GEMS showcase from 29 October to 5 November 2026. The festival describes GEMS as its 13th year of bringing the year's awards-season films to Miami, with filmmaker appearances, seminars, parties and special events. A faculty lead pricing a group of ten has one number to start from: the general screening ticket costs $16.50.
Ten general screening tickets come to $165 in face value. The processing fee sits on top of that, and it changes the group total.
The published price ladder
Opening Night is The Debut with a pre-reception, at $55 general and $50 for members. Closing Night is Club Kid at $25 and $22. Centerpieces run $20 and $17. A general screening runs $16.50 and $14.50. Special screenings span $25 to $82, with the member range printed as $22 to $87. Variety's A Conversation With... sits at $40 and $35.
Every ticket and every event adds a processing fee of $2 to $10. That line is the one a group budget misses. Ten general tickets carry $20 to $100 in processing on top of the $165 face value, so the group lands between $185 and $265.
Run the same arithmetic up the ladder. Ten centerpiece seats cost $200 plus fees. Ten closing-night seats cost $250 plus fees. Ten opening-night seats with the reception cost $550 plus fees. A special screening at the top of its range costs $82 a seat, or $820 for ten, before any fee.
Free MDC tickets exist in limited quantities
Miami Dade College students have access to free GEMS tickets. The festival prints two conditions next to that line. The quantity is limited, and enrolled students receive an email when tickets become available.
Treat a free seat as a bonus for the student who claims it. Build the budget on the $16.50 tier and the group total holds when the free allocation runs out.
A separate discount applies to students, seniors and veterans with valid identification. The box office checks the ID, so each discounted seat needs its holder at the window with a card in hand.
Book before the 29 October opening
Tickets went on sale to the general public on 1 October. The festival's FAQ states that screenings and events sell to maximum capacity in advance. Once capacity is reached, advance sales close and the event becomes rush line only.
The rush line releases empty seats about 15 minutes before a film starts, at full price, as capacity allows. Ten people cannot count on ten rush seats landing together. Buy the ten seats before opening night, or split the group across two screenings with confirmed inventory.
Passes cover part of the program
The festival sells a Pick Six pass and a Take Twelve pass. Both redeem against general or centerpiece screenings. The pass page excludes the Opening Night film, the Closing Night film, retrospectives and celebrity conversations.
A pass arrives as a code by email confirmation, and the pass page publishes no price. Ask the box office for the figure, then compare it against $99 for six general seats and $198 for twelve at the $16.50 tier.
The room side of the trip
The festival's venues page lists seven screening venues across Miami, Coral Gables and Miami Beach, including MDC Wolfson at 300 Northeast 2nd Avenue and Silverspot Cinema at 300 Southeast 3rd Street.
Confirm the venue for each screening before the room block goes firm. A block on the wrong side of the city adds a drive to every night of the run.
bookMyTeam lists Florida among the five states it does not serve, with California, Hawaii, Iowa and Washington, because of state seller-of-travel registration. A Miami block goes to the hotels directly. The group-rate calculator at bookmyteam.org/group-rate-calculator turns a nightly rate into the whole-stay figure.
The decisions for the faculty lead
Pick the tier first. The general screening tier keeps ten people inside $265 including fees. The opening-night tier takes the same ten to $650.
Add the processing fee to every quote, and add it per ticket. The festival prints the range as $2 to $10, and a group buys ten tickets at once.
Then set the deadline. Tickets are on sale, and the program sells out. The group that books in the first week of sales gets ten seats together. The group that waits buys the rush line.
