SFF is proud to have shown "Windfall" the riveting and powerful documentary by Laura Israel from First Run Features, a film that tackles the complex issue of wind power as alternative energy and its dangerous impact on communities. The film is now available on Snagfilms VOD through many Comcast and Verizon providers and it opens today at New York's Quad Cinema and at Facets in Chicago (among others). Take a look at the trailer for this incredible documentary and be sure to seek it out on VOD.

"Chilling!" -- The New York Times

"Fascinating, insightful." -- Huffington Post

"Gripping." -- Salon.com

"Could take the sails out of wind power." -- Wall Street Journal

Winner Grand Prize DOC NYC

Today we continue getting you up to speed on the big screen, big budget happenings with some of your favorite SFF alums—including this guy, who's about to be seen as Caesar Flickerman in "Hunger Games". Sounds like a fairy tale come true, don't ya think?

Speaking of fairy tales, when you think of Hansel and Gretel, should you think A) 'trail of bread crumbs', B) 'uh, let's pass on desert, evil witch', or C) 'Sarasota Film Festival'? The answer is C, of course! But wait, how do we leap from SFF to a big screen version of a classic fairy tale? Sound like an impossible mission (hint, hint)? The answers await you in this installment of Six Degrees of SFF!

Ever since a little film called "Alice in Wonderland 3D" by Tim Burton made one beeeelion dollars (no lie, that was it's worldwide gross) movie studios have been scrambling to develop big-budgeted lavishly-produced high-concept renderings or re-imaginings of classic fairy tales. And many of them star or feature SFF alums. Starting with...

 "Jack the Giant Killer". Yup, that's right, beanstalk and all, I kid you not. And featured in the film is SFF alum (and Oscar nominee) Stanley Tucci as Lord Roderick. Playing Jack is Nicholas Hoult from BBC's "Skins," Tom Ford's "A Single Man," and "X-Men: First Class" where he got blue and furry as Beast... another fairy tale reference! Ewan McGregor (from SFF's "Beginners"), Bill Nighy and Ian McShane help round out the cast under the direction of Bryan Singer ("The Usual Suspects",

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Want to know what some of SFF's most amazing alums are up to these days? Read on for updates about Kevin Kline, the fabulous Duplass Brothers, and SFF Independent Visions Award Winners Lena Dunham and Calvin Reader!

First up, Hollywood loves a good shaggy dog story (no, I'm not talking about Scoobie and the van, Shaggy was the... oh, nevermind.) Anyhoo, one particular shaggy dog story caught the attention of SFF's very own Kevin Kline. It's called "Darling Companion" and it tells the story of Beth Winter (played by Diane Keaton) a lonely woman whose husband (that Kline fellow) barely gives her the time of day. Her situation changes when she adopts a rescue dog that fills her heart with love—until her self-involved husband loses it. The film's examines the relationships of everyone searching for the missing dog, including Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss, Sam Shepard, Diane Wiest and actor/producer Mark Duplass (a name that should be very familiar to regular SFF attendees! More on him and his brother Jay in just a bit.

The film is directed by Lawrence Kasdan, he of "The Big Chill," "Body Heat," and "Silverado" fame. (He also wrote the script for some little-seen indie flick called "The Empire Strikes Back." I think it had something to do with ticked off cereal manufacturers...) This is Kline's sixth collaboration with Kasdan so expect their usual magic. And remember, Kasdan directed Geena Davis, who graced SFF 2011 with her charm, wit and brilliance, to an Oscar win for "The

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Isn't it wonderful? Over the last few months we've worked hard to review, reorganize and refresh our entire online presence, bringing you the streamlined version you see here. We sincerely hope you will find it easy to use, navigate and engage wtih us. Click around and explore, or read on for more about the functionality.

Overall, we really wanted to simplify both the site's look and its architecture. Thus the basic black and white with SFF-themed accent colors setting off the really important stuff: our films, events and outreach programs.

Check out the new navigation at the top of the page, too. To the far left you'll find general info under the "About SFF" drop-down menu. Want to know more about this year's Festival including the films and events to be featured? Chose the "2012 Festival" drop-down for lots of options related to our annual festivites in April. The "Outreach" menu has info on our education department and community partners and the "News" tab holds info for press as well as the link to our in-house blog, a great source of constant updates on all things SFF. If you want to donate to, volunteer for, or sponsor The SFF, you'll find all those options under the "Support SFF" tab. Feel free to contact us to learn more about anything if browsing the site still leaves you wanting more.

In addition to the new design and navigation setup, our web solutions team, Destiny Group, built our new site using a content management solution called Joomla that gives us the

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We certainly think you could be. To know for sure, we need you to come one, come all to our inaugural Town Hall from 5:30 to 7:30pm. on Wed., Feb. 8 at the Selby Public Library (1331 First St., downtown Sarasota). Let your voice be heard. If you have a question about SFF, ask it! If you've got an opinion, raise it! Heck, if you've got some rabble, rouse it!

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