Support a worthy cause while enjoying an evening out this weekend when two Bay area film festivals hold fundraising screenings in Pinellas. Gasparilla Film Festival teams up with the Global Film Initiative (GFI) to present Global Lens 2008, a national series that strives to promote cross-cultural understanding via screenings of feature films produced in developing countries. The first selection is the South Africa comedy Bunny Chow. Director John Barker's debut film follows the raucous journey of three aspiring comics as they road trip from Johannesburg to the Oppi Koppi music festival.
In collaboration with Sunscreen Film Festival, Pangea Café and International Market host a night at the pictures. The event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. with a wine, cheese and olive oil tasting and informal viewings of 2008's winning films. An encore screening of The Art of Pain follows at 8 p.m. Winner of the 2008 Audience Award, The Art of Pain is a comedy that finds an uninspired painter terrorized by his ninja-in-training co-worker, who believes that inspiration comes from pain. Bunny Chow, Fri., May 23, 8 p.m., Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg, $8 general/$5 members, 727-895-6620, thestudioat620.com; and The Art of Pain, Sat., May 24, Pangea Café, 34 N. Ft. Harrison Ave., Clearwater, $15 in advance/$20 day of show, 727-443-5040, sunscreenfilmfestival.com.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2008.