Save the date for SFF 2013: April 5-14!

In the film Moulin Rouge the extraordinary stage show meant to top all that had come before was called the SPECTACULAR SPECTACULAR! For me, that was this year at the festival. A dazzling high wire act complete with pyrotechnics as the Flying Wallenda Family performed at our Cinema Tropicale celebration at the glorious Sarasota Yacht Club (followed by an encore at our President's Dinner inside the Sarasota Opera House)! Amazing breakdancing "robots" tearing it up at our opening night party at the Van Wezel in honor of the truly amazing ROBOT & FRANK. WWE Superstar wrestlers Rey Mysterio and Kelly Kelly walking the red carpet for THE DAY (did you see the little boy dressed like Rey, complete with mask and championship belt?) Frank Langella signing books and kissing babies at Bookstore1 as if he were running for office. (And you know what I've been saying from day one of the festival, I think he will be competing early next year in the Oscar race for his incredibly nuanced and touching performance in Robot & Frank, just like Christopher Plummer who was here with Beginners then went on to take the award! We had Dominic Monaghan from LOST and LORD OF THE RINGS, Ashley Bell, Jena Malone, Jess Weixler, the wonderful and gracious Jordan Gelber (star of Todd Solondz's Dark Horse)... the list goes on and on.

The most spectacular aspect of all from this year's festival was the emphasis on FILMS and FILMMAKERS. With over 235 films to choose from

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Ellie P. Campbell Photography

Some of your favorite documentaries from SFF 2011 are now available on DVD, Blu-ray, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video (and other platforms). So what are you waiting for? Whether you saw these incredible releases at SFF or have heard about them from friends who attended, now's your chance to see them again and own them for yourself. Such a deal!

PAGE ONE: A YEAR INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES

Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times was last year's opening night film and it was a stunning and thoroughly arresting look at the changing nature of print journalism in the wake of social media and online journalism plus a piercing portrayal of legendary journalists like David Carr and Brian Stelter (who came to support the film and to participate in a riveting and fun Q&A afterward). If you love documentaries that give you inside access to institutions you might never glimpse otherwise, this is the movie for you!

Just some of the platforms available:

Magnolia Pictures VOD

Amazon Instant Video # DVD # Blu-ray # Netflix

TABLOID

Academy Awarding winning director Errol Morris brings us the strange, twisted and utterly fascinating story of Joyce McKinney, a former beauty queen who landed in the center of a Mormon missionary kidnapping case and later emerged as the owner of the world's first commercially cloned dog. (And both Joyce and her dog made a surprise appearance at SFF). Anyhoo, it's a tumultuous tabloid tale from the

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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

THE OREGONIAN is a harrowing and challenging film filled with hypnotic and disturbing imagery sure to haunt audience members for a good long time after viewing. I had the pleasure of chatting with director Calvin Lee Reeder twice at our Filmmakers Tribute event, first in the courtyard before the ceremony, then after his big win. (Fun aside, loved being part of a chat between the directors of HOW TO DIE IN OREGON and THE OREGONIAN. Only at SFF! 

Calvin’s film won the Special Jury Prize Independent Visions Award at SFF 2011. Listen up for a chat with this young and very talented director!

Photo by Becky Boletti

I am–THE INSIDER—wanted by motion picture executives for revealing industry secrets to a public with the Right to Know, “The Insider” has spent over 15 years working behind the scenes in almost every aspect of “The Biz” developing a secret network of contacts, spies, moles, and highly trained counter-intelligence operatives and movie ninjas whose only goal is to inform and entertain you—and help you make this the best year of the Sarasota Film Festival ever!