PROGRAMMERS FOR THE SARASOTA FILM FESTIVALwere on a tight schedule this year, having to pull together a complete slate of hot movies to screen and revered talent to fly into Southwest Florida, and to do it all between the January 31 end of the Sundance Film Festival and the April 1 opening of the Sarasota Film Festival.

Sophia Loren attends the Two Days, One Night premiere during the 67th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2014. Photo by Andrea Raffin.

SOPHIA LOREN ATTENDS THE TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT PREMIERE DURING THE 67TH CANNES FILM FESTIVAL ON MAY 20, 2014. PHOTO BY ANDREA RAFFIN.

The result was a brimming program with such screen legends as Sophia Loren and visionary filmmakers as D.A. Pennebaker drawn to this coast for an annual celebration of film. New awards designed to send thrills through the entire documentary world once again have the film universe buzzing, but the event also promises Sarasota cinephiles can anticipate brushes with glamour and fanfare. “All the films we have are great and all the ones we are still chasing are great,” said Programming Director Michael Dunaway.

The chase proved bountiful this year, with Sarasota landing some grand prize winners from Sundance for screenings in Sarasota. Other People, a film starring Molly Shannon and Bradley Whitford that earned rave reviews at Sundance, will open this year’s festival at an April 1 event, while The Congressman, a movie penned by sitting U.S. Rep. Robert Mrazek, will help close the festival the following weekend. The latter film brings with it stars George Hamilton and Treat Williams. But Dunaway was especially excited at how the festival will spotlight talent. Oscar-winner Loren will be honored at a special March 31 event at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, where she will receive the 2016 Legend Award and participate in a lengthy on-stage conversation with Entertainment Weekly writer Bill Harris. Actress Rosie Perez, in town with Narrative Centerpiece Five Nights in Maine, will participate in another In Conversation event, and actor Matthew Modine, who narrates the Closing Weekend Documentary The Brainwashing of my Dad, will attend a special screening of the war classic Full Metal Jacket.  An especially important honor to Dunaway, who in his second life as a filmmaker earned raves for last year’s documentary 21 Years: Richard Linklater, the festival for 2016 will unveil a new nonfiction honor, the D.A. Pennebaker/Chris Hegedus Award. “These are some of the greatest living documentary filmmakers,” Dunaway says. The two will be in attendance with the Documentary Centerpiece Unlocking The Cage, which follows an attorney’s efforts to give trapped animals personhood rights. And beloved documentarian Barbara Kopple will come to town to present the pair with their namesake award.

Kate Plays Christine.

KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE.

Raiders, Rappers and one SadWeiner

Embers.

EMBERS.

Sarasota Film Festival program includes hot docs and stories close to home. 

WITH ONLY SO MANY SLOTS FOR COMPETITION FILMS, Spotlight events and Centerpiece showcases, the festival had nearly twice as many movies to choose from as it has prestigious honors to bestow. “In the universe of films, this is an especially strong year for documentaries,” programming Director Michael Dunaway laments sessions, here are a few favorites that will screen this year.

Sonita  A tale of a female rapper from Afghanistan, Sonita Alizadeh, who makes a name for herself protesting such practices as forced marriage and violence against women. “She becomes persona non grata with the government,” Dunaway says. The film won a grand jury award at the Sundance Film Festival and Dunaway has high expectations here. 

 

Weiner  A must for political junkies, this documentary about disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner, filmed by a former chief
of staff and originally envisioned as the story of a politician’s comeback through a New York mayoral campaign, ends up recording for posterity a campaign destroyed in real time by a stunningly familiar sexting scandal.

 

Raiders!  A work of fan-art turned into an insanely entertaining documentary premise, this film follows some high school friends who started a shot-by-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark in the 1980s and came back years later to finish the film. 

 

Embers  A post-apocalyptic thriller about an amnesia-stricken couple. Picture 50 First Dates meets Mad Max. “It’s a really interesting vision of the world,” Dunaway says of the film, which this year earned a showcase spot at the Slamdance Film Festival. 

 

First Girl I Loved  One of Dunaway’s favorite films out of Sundance, this movie about a teenage girl struggling with her sexual identity could be a star-making turn for actress Dylan Gelula. “I’ve never been a high school lesbian, or a high school gay male for that matter,” Dunaway says, “but this film taps into all the feelings we all have at some point of not fitting in or being able to articulate why we are different.”