Now in its 9th year, the Gasparilla International Film Festival — Tuesday, March 24 through Sunday, March 29 — has grown into a serious contender for national and even international consideration on the film-fest circuit. With a new title sponsor in Suncoast Credit Union and in the wake of a successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that allowed it to re-open Channelside’s shuttered cineplex for a unique (and uniquely Tampa) pop-up experience, it’s safe to say the 2015 installment is set to surpass everyone’s expectations.
Such expansion brings with it the necessity to provide bigger attractions — bigger names in attendance, a wider variety of styles and genres, more buzzy films that have appeared at “name” festivals like Sundance or Toronto. And a common complaint heard about other quickly growing festivals is the ease and suddenness with which smaller, and more local and regional, filmmakers and fare can get squeezed out of the schedule in favor of the marquee draws.
GIFF has unarguably upped the ante in terms of said marquee draws; it has also continued to diversify its offerings, adding a number of films that easily fall under the category of mainstream fare. Does that mean Florida movies and makers are getting short shrift this year? Absolutely not.
Among the most heavily anticipated shorts this year is Posthumous. Not to be confused with the full-length “modern day fairy tale” of the same name, directed by Lulu Wang and also showing this year, the short is a gritty little character study that takes place against the backdrop of the Everglades’ infamous “Python Challenge,” in which the invading snakes are hunted for bounty. Director Noah DeBonis was born in the Philippines and lived in Japan before relocating and earning his film degree from the University of Miami. His film closes out Shorts Block 4, held at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the festival’s Sample Music Theater (one of the four Channelside cinemas being used for the festival, all named for Indiegogo contributors).
Posthumous Trailer from Noah DeBonis on Vimeo.
Also from down south comes Borscht Corp, a showcase of shorts from Miami’s semiannual fringe-film festival. Borscht brings attention to filmmakers who go beyond the usual rich/sunny/superficial tropes that invade a lot of what’s shot in its home city, and its featured filmmakers often tell their stories in startling, even visionary new ways. Representatives of the festival will be on hand at the screening, Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Sample Music Theater.
Much closer to home, GIFF features Curtis Graham, a St. Petersburg native and director with many industry credits — and his own ’Burg-based production company, Greyhouse Films. Graham is at the festival repping the eye-opening fact-based drama Oloibiri, which tells the story of the first oil well drilled in Nigeria, on the film’s namesake island, and how that single event begat social, civil and environmental changes that came to affect the entire region. Oloibiri screens at 1 p.m. Friday in the Lieser Skaff Alexander Theater.
At the other end of the filmmaking spectrum are shorts made by college students, and even on that level GIFF is keeping it local. In addition to a juried competition featuring shorts by high school and college students from around the country, there is also a program of shorts created by University of Tampa students showing in the Sample Music Theater at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Looking for even more local and state-bred talent? Much of the atypical thriller Illusions, which involves a woman suffering from mental illness and the crimes she may or may not have committed, was shot in the Bay area, with locals among the principal cast and crew (Thursday, 11 p.m., 360 Realty Theater). Odessa, a short about a woman’s struggle to save her child in oil-starved post-apocalyptic Texas, was produced in part by Tampa-bred, LA-based Grace Santos Feeney, and features Tampa actor Ricky Wayne (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Sample Music Theater). Featured in the same block of shorts as Odessa, steampunk 15-minute sci-fi/fantasy short The Skyship Chronicles was produced by St. Pete’s own Litewave Media (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Sample Music Theater). 15 to Life: Kenneth’s Story looks at a young African American man from Florida who, at the age of 15, was tried as an adult for his role in a series of armed robberies and received four consecutive life sentences. (Friday, 2:45 p.m., 360 Realty Theater). And Record Man, a documentary on late Miami music producer Henry Stone, was made by Mark Moorman, who hails from St. Pete, lives in Hollywood (Florida), and will also be on hand for his screening (Saturday, 5 p.m., Lieser Skaff Alexander Theater). There’s even a panel devoted to film in Florida, called, naturally, “Film in Florida,” which discusses aspects of making movies in the Sunshine State and features several of the folks mentioned above, as well as representatives of Film Florida and the Hillsborough Film Commission (Sunday, 11 a.m., Film Tampa Bay Theater).
That’s a lot of Florida filmage, with a goodly chunk of it representing the Bay area itself. The point is, there’s plenty of great stuff going on right here in our own backyard, movie-wise, and despite its growth and successes, the Gasparilla International Film Festival seems commited to celebrating local and regional filmmaking alongside its higher-profile fare.
Maybe you should get in on that, too.
The full Gasparilla International Film Festival schedule is here.
Tue., March 24-Sun., March 29, Channelside Bay Plaza & Tampa Theatre, Tampa.
Various times and theaters throughout the length of the festival. Most individual film ticket prices $10 student/$12 general admission.
Unlimited Screening Pass, $100; All Access Pass $250.
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2015.