The Gasparilla International Film Festival is reaching new heights. This year has seen more than 600 submissions and more international submissions than in previous years. Numerous films on nature and some with LGBTQ themes are also in the mix.
The film categories are varied, from documentaries to dramas, feature films, and more. Some themes include LGBTQ, Florida, and nature.
The festival runs from March 23 to March 26 and guests can view the films in several locations, including the Tampa Theatre, the University of Tampa, and AMC Westshore. Passes for the festival are already going on sale.
The film selection process
The Gasparilla International Film Festival was founded in 2006. The film festival is run by The Tampa Film Institute, Inc., a local nonprofit. This is a cultural arts institute designed to inspire, educate, and entertain this area’s diverse population. Besides the film festival, The Tampa Film Institute offers year-round events, community outreach and social awareness initiatives.
The institute hopes to foster communication, generate economic impact and to support the film industry in the Tampa region and across Florida. But for now, they are focusing on narrowing down the submissions for the festival.
“The entries range from good to not so good,” said Festival Executive Director Monica Varner. She said that screeners are already busy going through the hundreds of entries. After they watch the screeners, they break them down into categories and decided which films will make the final cut.
“We have a large screening committee that is really involved in watching all the films. They will be broken down into categories, such as documentaries, U.S. narratives, international narratives, documentary shorts, and those with a focus on Florida. And sometimes we will break it down further, such as nature films, films about Florida or Florida directors.”
Meet the Grand Jury
Once the screeners rate all the entries, the board of directors will have a look before they select the final film program that will go before the Grand Jury, then the festival audience.
This year’s Grand Jury for the festival brings in some top industry names.
- Joe Restanio is an award-winning film producer based in Tampa. He is the principal of Hungry Bull Productions and produced Michael Sarnoski’s critically acclaimed film PIG, starring Nicholas Cage. He is currently in post-production on Diane Keaton’s MACK & RITA.
- Cinda Snow is a producer, talent manager and founder/owner of Snow Entertainment, with offices in Tampa and Los Angeles. She also serves as vice president at Capital Pictures with films in pre-production, including FATIMA and IM Mortal.
- Jordan Wall, who grew up in the Tampa area, booked the A&E pilot The Glades, turning a one-episode guest spot into a series for four seasons. He won best actor at the Florida Comedy Film Festival for his lead in the indie project Hialeah. He will feature in the upcoming Netflix limited series Monster.
- Shana Nichols is the executive director of the historic Beach Theatre in St. Pete Beach. She has a diverse background in entertainment and has served as a technical director in numerous Florida film festivals.
- Chris Eaton works in marketing and programming for Green Light Cinema, a new art-house cinema in St. Petersburg. He was responsible for selecting more than 135 films each year for the Sunscreen Film Festival. He is a long-time advocate for the local arts scene.
- Eugenie Bondurant, a SAG actress, model and film coach, just wrapped on the AMC drama Interview With a Vampire and the feature 115 Grains. She also teaches at her acting studio, Station 12 Studio at Green Light Cinema.
- Paul Wilborn is executive director of the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg. His book, Cigar City: Tales From a 1980s Creative Ghetto, won the Gold Medal for fiction from the Florida Books Awards. He expects to release his newest novel, Florida Hustle, in June.
- Tamara Nemirovsky is an international award-winning filmmaker, animator, and educator. She received a scholarship by the Fulbright Commission to pursue an MFA in the United States and is a faculty member at the University of South Florida, the Honors College and The School of Art and Art History.
- Marcus Ovnell directed the award-winning The Break-In, which had its commercial theatrical premier in 2016. Its success landed him commercial gigs for companies such as Ecophon-owned Saint Gobain, NA-KD and others.
