MiFo LGBT Film Festival Honors Two Angel Award Recipients

MIAMI - March 8, 2017 - PRLog -- This year, MiFo LGBT Film Festival's annual Angel Award is being given to two outstanding individuals that have contributed heavily to both the MiFo film festival and the LGBT community overall.

Carol Coombes and Jaie Leplante have spent decades supporting independent film and LGBT rights in the greater Miami area, and to honor their years of dedication, the MiFo LGBT Film Festival is excited to award them our 2017 Angel Award recipients.

Carol Coombes is a veteran in the non-profit arts world and has spent the last 20 years in project and event management. She's currently the Director Cultural Arts for World OutGames Miami where she oversees a multi-disciplinary cultural arts program that taps into the vast network of arts non-profits and artists throughout South Florida. Previously, she worked with both the Miami International Film Festival and was the Managing Director of Philadelphia QFest.

Jaie Laplante is the Executive Director of the Miami Film Festival, where he's worked since 2010 to help bring more Iberoamerican filmmakers to the U.S. Jaie began his career as a film critic and journalist in Canada, where he became one of Western Canada's most outspoken advocates for connecting local talent with their hometown communities in order to foster independent film. He also sits on the Miami-Dade County Film and Entertainment Advisory Board.

"As Co-Executive Directors from 2001 to 2006, the MiFo Film Festival grew from a small film festival to a nationally acclaimed organization that helped launch LGBT culture and film into the mainstream. Carol and Jaie have been pillars of the local LGBT community for decades, and their support and leadership has helped many organizations - ours included - grow and continue to thrive in the greater Miami area."- Victor Gimenez, Executive Director of MiFo LGBT Film Festival.

Carol Coombes and Jaie Leplante will receive their Angel Awards on MiFo's Opening Night, April 21st, 2017 at 8 PM.

About MiFo

The MiFo LGBT Film Festival is a bi-annual film festival with a mission to inspire, entertain, and educate the public and encourage a sense of community through international and culturally diverse film, video and other media that offer historical and contemporary perspectives on the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.

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