[Editor's Note: Please also check out the rest of our festival coverage, including photos, videos and write-ups of festival films.]

The Gasparilla Film Festival arrived in Ybor City this weekend with glitz, glamour and plenty of local films to feast your eyes on. I had the opportunity to spend an evening at the festival soaking up the culture and all the excitement local films brought to the area.

The great thing about having a festival screening in Ybor City is there is never a shortage of people or alcohol, and I definitely enjoyed my share of both. As we made our way to the theater, it was amazing to see how excited everyone was to meet the filmmakers and see the movies that were shot in our own backyard. The movies I saw had a bit of a theme, with three out of the four involving combat.

This article appears in Mar 24-30, 2010.