A fire ant named Redd ends up separated from her colony inside a huge glass bowl called the Ecosphere. She befriends a group of local bugs who help her get back home, but is that really where she belongs?
Screened as part of the Foreign 2 section.
Two silly old farts – Fredric Lehne and Reed Birney – have coffee at Ida’s diner, like they do every morning, when unexpected events compel them to confront the past, their lifelong rivalry, and the memory of the gal who broke both their hearts, while still giving hope for the future.
Screened as part of the Feel Good section.
A twenty-first century ouroboros. It’s burgers all the way down.
Screened as part of the Narrative Shorts section.
In a post-biological revolution dystopia, Theseus, a young fighter with an unwavering sense of his father’s values, confronts a moral crossroads. As he battles cybernetically enhanced opponents in underground fights, he must decide whether to preserve his humanity or embrace technological augmentation for power. With power dynamics shifting, Theseus grapples with identity, sacrifice, and the blurred line between man and machine, making a choice that will redefine his destiny in a world on the brink of transformation.
Screened as part of the Sarasota Filmmakers Narrative section.
Wren, fourteen, insecure, and tasked with watching her sister for the summer, is forced to spend her days at the community pool. Plagued by bikini-clad bodies surrounding her, Wren is sick of feeling inadequate and is intrigued when presented with the opportunity to finally become perfect.
Screened as part of the Sarasota Filmmakers Narrative section.
A fast paced display of the Tesla car.
Screened as part of the Ringling section.
After meeting online, a BOY and GIRL are out on their first date. It rapidly devolves into the BOY vomiting out his life in a Howl that ultimately encompasses the entire universe.
Screened as part of the Narrative Shorts section.
Chole, a victim of domestic violence is caught between trusting the police force that has so far proven unreliable in truly protecting her and her abuser’s campaign of threats and manipulation.
Screened as part of the Deeply Poignant section.
A woman is awakened in the middle of the night by her husband at the front door. When she tries to tell him he can’t be there
anymore, he ignores her words.
Screened as part of the Hitchcockian section.
Across the country, video calls are interrupted when hackers break into a widely used chat application and broadcast a message using AI to all users that will change their lives forever.
Screened as part of the Sarasota Filmmakers Narrative section.
At once a celebration and playful subversion of the action genre and a soulful exploration of aging and autonomy, Sundance hit Thelma is a showcase for our oldest generation, those rarely centered in life let alone on-screen. When 93-year-old Thelma Post (June Squibb) gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city, with the help of her good friend Ben (the late Richard Roundtree) to reclaim what she lost. The path to the perpetrator is anything but straight as Thelma must make an important stop or two and she encounters complications along the way. For first-time feature writer/director Josh Margolin, the film serves as a love letter to the exploits of his real-life grandmother. And after 70+ years of acting (perhaps most memorably as the henpecking wife in Nebraska) Thelma gives June Squibb, in a memorable performance, her first starring role to become the year’s oldest action hero.
In Attendance: Josh Margolin, Director; Zoë Worth, Co-Producer (April 7 only)
Roommates and so-called friends make a small bet that turns into a high stakes battle through movie genres to decide who is the better storyteller.
Screened as part of the Ringling section.
Film photographer, Tanner Pletzke, captures the essence of his surroundings, weaving a deeply personal narrative through mesmerizing panoramic collages that blur the line between art and photographic memory. Pushing the boundaries even further, he brings his collages to life as awe-inspiring physical installations, inviting viewers to step into a captivating world where complex emotions and hidden stories await.
Screened as part of the Narrative Shorts section.
Spare Me tells the story of “Trey Compton” a young African American man confronting his past to overcome changing a flat tire. Throughout the story, the viewer is shown flashbacks to showcase what connection Trey has to this certain location which is a sundown town, and why changing a tire is no easy task for him to undertake. This is also a period piece, so the Production design, costumes, and props will
reflect a southern state during the early 1930s/40s, and have a focus on sundown towns during that time period.
Screened as part of the Narrative Shorts section.
The community leader and artist Yoleidy Rosario-Hernandez explores the connections between art and ancestry in the journey to find zirself.
Screened as part of the Ringling section.
Florida Premiere. When celebrity chef Susan Feniger decides to open her own restaurant without her longtime business partner Mary Sue Milliken, the task is daunting. With no support from their co-owned restaurant kitchens and staff, Feniger must use her home to test brand new recipes, figure out design and construction, gather the team, and basically start over like a “newbie.” Her dream is to open a new Los Angeles restaurant serving global street food: Susan Feniger’s STREET. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and Feniger’s spouse Liz Lachman, a constant companion on her journey, follows Feniger across the globe tasting street food and bonding with the street stand owners, and all the way back home where she tackles the logistics of the opening. In this wildly entertaining film, Lachman covers Feniger’s passions and struggles in a business where often it’s not about IF one fails…but HOW.
The Fentanyl Project is a 26 minute, short documentary about the impact of illegal fentanyl abuse in Sarasota/Manatee counties.
London-born, ballet-trained, San Francisco-based Rex Wheeler, known to the world as drag queen Lady Camden, is catapulted into the spotlight when he becomes a contestant on season 14 of RuPual’s Drag Race. As Rex/Lady struggles to manage the demands of newfound fame, he must come to terms with a traumatic childhood in Camden that drove him to seek joy, fantasy, and escape through the performing arts. Tracing the journey from local San Francisco queen to international celebrity, this inventive and heartfelt film explores how Lady Camden helped Rex deal with his past traumas and embrace the joys of life.
Highlighting the art of drag as a tool for hope, purpose and healing for so many in the queer community, Lady Like is a fitting celebration of an artist who, no matter how hard the fall, they’ll always pick themselves back up.
Florida Premiere. U.S. Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival. Amidst the chaos and destruction of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, three artists defiantly find inspiration and beauty as they defend their culture and their country. In a war waged by professional soldiers against ordinary civilians, Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko, and Andrey Stefanov choose to stay behind, armed with their art, their cameras, and, for the first time in their lives, their guns. Despite daily shelling, Anya finds resistance and purpose in her art, Andrey takes the dangerous journey to get his young family to safety abroad, and Slava becomes a weapons instructor for ordinary people who have become unlikely soldiers. As the war intensifies, Andrey picks up his camera to film their story, and with tiny porcelain figurines, Anya and Slava capture their idyllic past, uncertain present, and hope for the future.
2022 marked the hundred-year anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s first feature. A century on, Hitchcock remains one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. But how does his vast body of work and legacy hold up in today’s society? Mark Cousins, the award-winning filmmaker behind The Story Of Film: An Odyssey, The Eyes of Orson Welles and The Story of Film: A New Generation tackles this question. Armed with clips from Hitchcock’s biggest hits as well as his rarely-screened features, Cousins’s one-of-a-kind mischievous documentary allows “the director himself” (with the help of actor-impersonator Alistair McGowan) to take the viewer on an entertaining journey through his favorite narrative and stylistic tricks. As Hitchcock rewatches his films and reflects on them in all his sardonic humor and tongue-in-cheek pomposity, we are taken on an educational, entertaining odyssey through his vast career – his vivid silent films, the legendary films of the 1950s and 60s and his later works – in playful and revealing ways.
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World Premiere. Curry Scent is a fresh tale of a young immigrant family that comes to Florida in search of the American Dream. As they navigate the pitfalls of their new life abroad, doing menial jobs that many new immigrants find themselves forced to do, they still find humor and an overriding desire to succeed in their new life. The story focuses on Geetha, the young daughter and center of her eight-member family as she navigates the dating world in hopes of finding a suitable match to legitimize her visa. In her journey she encounters the forces it takes to understand what she loves about her country and at what price she is willing to forsake it. Told with uplifting humor and a variety of situations, from their cramped living quarters to her various excursions on which the entire family seems to participate, Curry Scent is a genuinely feel-good story about a serious topic that will resonate with people of all ages and backgrounds.
East Coast Premiere. Puddysticks is a dark, joyously twisted comedy following Liz (Megan Seely), a workaholic at Braindead, a brutal, elite gaming company with the chance to be recruited by her gaming hero only if she’s the best at her job. One day she collapses from overwork and, despite the doctor’s warnings to take it easy, she chooses instead to join Puddysticks — a secret society that increases stamina and creativity, promising to make her the best at her work. She joins seeking a quick fix for work and instead revolutionizes her life but when she finally gains the courage to share her own deep-rooted shame, things don’t go as anticipated. Fresh, funny and smart, Puddysticks traces the odyssey of a young woman whose world turns upside down and who must find her own way to free herself of her past.
In Attendance: Megan Seely, Director
At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government is determined to fight Communism with culture. The Venice Biennale, the world’s most influential art exhibition, becomes a proving ground for them in 1964. Alice Denney, Washington insider and friend of the Kennedys, recommends Alan Solomon, an ambitious curator making waves with trailblazing art, to organize the U.S. entry. Together with Leo Castelli, a powerful New York art dealer, they embark on a daring plan to make emerging artist Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the Grand Prize. The artist is yet to be taken seriously with his combinations of junk off the street and images from pop culture, but he has the potential to dazzle. Deftly pulling off maneuvers that could have come from a Hollywood thriller, the American team leaves the international press crying foul and Rauschenberg questioning the politics of nationalism that sent him there. Rumors about this “plot” have swirled for decades; Taking Venice lays it all out in thrilling fashion.
Florida Premiere. Norman Mailer is routinely valorized as one of the preeminent writers of the 20th century, but the brash, swaggering persona he cultivated and the controversies he invited stood in stark opposition to his upbringing. Born in Brooklyn to a typical middle-class Jewish family, Mailer was accepted into Harvard at age 16 where he discovered his talent as a writer. Drafted into the army during WWII, his experience as an insecure rifleman would form the basis for his first best-selling book, “The Naked and the Dead.” At 25, Mailer was hailed as the new Tolstoy and catapulted onto the world stage. A tumultuous series of personal and professional events follow, including an involuntary commitment to Bellevue after stabbing his second wife, winning Pulitzer Prizes and National Book Awards, and even having an unsuccessful bid for Mayor of New York. Gunning for the Hollywood success that had always eluded him, his antagonism results in an infamous event involving Rip Torn and a hammer on the set of his film Maidstone. Zimbalist’s deft documentary portrait of Mailer connects his story to many aspects of the current discourse around cancel culture, censorship, and free speech, finding new relevancy in his work for our current times. A bounty of interviews including Oliver Stone, John Waters, and ex-wives provides insightful new context while previously unseen footage and candid interviews with Mailer himself present the notorious literary lion in all of his complicated duality.
Florida Premiere. Nestled amongst the falling feathers of a chicken factory in industrial North Wales—and featuring the perennially uplifting music of Neil Diamond, Janis Ian, and Minnie Riperton—Chuck Chuck Baby follows Helen (Louise Brealey), a thirty-something woman packaging poultry by night and caring for her dying ex-mother-in-law by day. Her mundane routine is jolted when Joanne (Annabel Scholey), her secret childhood crush, returns home. As they reconnect, their romance begins to flourish, but can they move on from the weight of their pasts? With plenty of heart, director Janis Pugh delivers a joyful, honest story about finding the courage to let go and allow love to prevail.
