Tampa Film Fan

sunscreen film festival runs through march 22

The Sunscreen Film Festival will run through Saturday, March 22, and will screen 73 films from all over the world, including fifteen Florida films (films either made in Florida or made by Floridians). The festival will close with an Oscar-style awards ceremony at the Vinoy followed by an after party at Art Gallery NOVA 535.”

The film fest will take place at “the Renaissance Vinoy Hotel and other downtown St. Petersburg locations. Pricing is structured to accommodate the needs of any festival addendee from single screening passes for $8 to all-events passes for $90. Please refer to the festival website for a complete breakdown.”

From the press release:

One feature that is sure to get a lot of attention is Raiders of the Lost Ark:The Adaptation. This charming remake of the Steven Spielberg classic was begun by three boys in Mississippi. They started at ages 11, 12, and 13 and finished seven years later. It was recently discovered, blessed by Spielberg himself and has been playing to sold-out audiences ever since.

In keeping with its mission of promoting film in Florida, Sunscreen will show 15 films made in Florida and five others by Floridians now working out of the state.

There’s also an interesting workshop on the schedule for tomorrow:

Screenwriters — Aspiring screenwriters will have the opportunity to get some pointers from an impressive panel of experts. Blockbuster action writer, Steven DeSouza (Commando, Die Hard), best-selling how-to author Karl Iglesias (The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters and Writing for Emotional Impact), and Academy-Award nominee Timothy J. Sexton (Children of Men) will conduct a 90-minute discussion on the fine art of turning stories into film.

The screenwriters panel will take place on Friday, March 21, at 4 p.m. The session is free and open to the public.

Other festival highlights (besides the ones mentioned above, I mean) include:

• The Strong Women and Why They Matter short films screening
• Florida filmmaker Georg Koszulinski’s wonderously subversive film Cracker Crazy:Invisible Histories of the Sunshine State, which I saw about two months ago on DVD and am looking forward to seeing again on the big screen
• The documentary FEMA City, a look at the 2,000 Hurricane Charley refugees relocated to Charlotte County, Florida
• The well-made Star Wars homage/fan film/installment Forced Alliance and the very funny 300 parody 300 Pounds, part of the Action! Horror! Science Fiction! short films block
• The comedy Screw Cupid

Visit www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com for the schedule and more info.