Grab your glam squad and get ready to rub elbows with the stars as the Gasparilla International Film Festival rolls out its red carpet for eight days of film screenings, industry panels, master classes, award ceremonies and more. One of Tampa's Top Things to Do is about to hit screens in Ybor City and Downtown Tampa!
The Suncoast Credit Union Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF) has announced the official film lineup and schedule of events for its 11th annual festival on March 2 - 9, 2017, at the Tampa Theatre and AMC Centro Ybor.
With 35 films and over 70 shorts announced, the festival will host international and regional premieres of narrative features, documentaries and short films from around the world.
This is Suncoast Credit Union’s third year as title sponsor with the goal of not only bringing quality entertainment and enrichment to the community but also to support Family Fun Day and the High School Students Film Competition, designed to inspire and encourage arts education.
“Supporting the Gasparilla International Film Festival is a natural fit for the Suncoast Credit Union because, at our core, we work to bring a quality of life to our community,” said Patti Barrow, vice president of marketing at the Suncoast Credit Union. “The festival gives us the opportunity to meet and interact with our Suncoast members, potential new members and to share the credit union difference with the community.”
This year's Opening Night film, ‘Burn Your Maps,’ stars Vera Farmiga, Jacob Tremblay, Virginia Madsen, and Suraj Sharma. While grieving with his parents over the recent loss of his baby sister, a nine-year-old boy becomes obsessed with the idea that he’s a Mongolian goat herder who belongs back home in his small village in Mongolia.
Family Fun Day is scheduled for Sunday, March 5 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. with a free family-friendly screening of Disney’s ‘Zootopia’ at 12:30 p.m. in Centennial Park in Ybor and includes zoo animals, kids’ activities, games, prizes and more.
The Gasparilla International Film Festival Closing Night film, ‘Unleashed,’ stars Justin Chatwin, Steve Howe, Sean Astin, and Kate Micucci. A cosmic event turns Emma's dog and cat into two perfect guys, so she reconsiders her outlook on dating, hilariously working out her trust issues and ultimately learning to love herself.
Below is a full list of the GIFF's screenings. This year’s eight-day schedule of events and screenings is sure to have something for everyone so start practicing your best red-carpet ready poses now!
OPENING NIGHT FILM:
CLOSING NIGHT FILM:
SPOTLIGHT SCREENINGS:
The Last Word: Retired businesswoman Harriet, controlling to the end, writes her own obituary, but the newspaper writer tasked with the piece insists on learning the truth about Harriet’s life and the two become reluctant partners and friends. Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Amanda Seyfried. Directed by Mark Pellington
The Lost City of Z: Based on author David Grann’s nonfiction bestseller, The Lost City of Z tells the incredible true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett. Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson. Directed by James Gray
LATE NIGHT FUN & THRILLS:
Veras Mantel: A successful writer, Veras Martel, is prevented from leaving her house by agoraphobia. Sinister threats from a fan eventually lead her uncovering the secret of her illness. Cast: Lea Fassbender, Nico Zitek, Charlotte Ulrich. Directed by Ronald Unterberger
Women Who Kill: Commitment-phobic Morgan and her ex-girlfriend Jean, hosts of a female serial killer-centric podcast, still show all the signs of being a couple. But everything changes when Morgan falls hard and fast for the mysterious Simone, who may or may not be a killer. Cast: Ingrid Jungermann, Ann Carr, Sheila Vand, Annette O’Toole. Directed by Ingrid Jungermann.
US NARRATIVE FEATURES:
The Architect: When a couple sets out to build their dream house, they enlist the services of an uncompromising modernist architect, who proceeds to build HIS dream house instead of theirs. Cast: Parker Posey, James Frain, Eric McCormack. Directed by Jonathan Parker
AWOL: A young woman Joey is in search of direction in her small town. A visit to an army recruiting office appears to provide a path, but when she meets and falls in love with Rayna that path diverges in ways that neither woman anticipates. Cast: Lola Kirke, Breeda Wool, Dale Soules, Ted Welch. Directed by Deb Shoval
Carrie Pilby: Carrie is a person of high intelligence who graduated from Harvard at 19, and struggles to make sense of the world as it relates to morality, relationships, sex and leaving her apartment. Cast: Bel Powley, Nathan Lane, Gabriel Byrne, Jason Ritter. Directed by Susan Johnson
Dean: An illustrator falls hard for an LA woman while trying to prevent his father from selling the family home in the wake of his mother’s death. Cast: Demetri Martin, Asif Ali, Jesaiah Baer, Katherine Barnes. Directed by Demetri Martin
Future 38: A 1938 screwball comedy set in the far future year of 2018. Cast: Betty Gilpin, Robert John Burke, Sean Young. Directed by Jamie Greenberg
So B. It: A 12-year-old girl decides to take a cross-country trip by herself, leaving the safety of her home with her mentally-challenged mother and agoraphobic neighbor. Cast: Alfre Woodard, Dash Mihok, Jacin Barrett, John Heard, Cloris Leachman. Directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal
INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURES:
Frantz: In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious Frenchman who visits the fiancé's grave to lay flowers. Cast: Paula Beer, Pierre Niney, Ernst Stotnzer. Directed by Francois Ozon
Handsome Devil: Two opposites, a loner and the top athlete at a rugby-obsessed boarding school, become friends until the authorities test their friendship. Cast: Fionn O’Shea, Nicholas Galitzine, Andrew Scott. Directed by John Butler
Past Life: In the 1970s, two sisters try to solve a wartime mystery that has cast a shadow over their lives. Cast: Nelly Tagar, Joy Rieger, Doron Tavory. Directed by Avi Nesher
Queen of the Desert: A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century. Cast: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis, Robert Pattinson. Directed by Werner Herzog
The Sense of an Ending: A reclusive older man must face the flawed recollections of his younger self and his long-buried secrets. Cast: Jim Broadbent, Michelle Dockery, Emily Mortimer. Directed by Ritesha Batra
DOCUMENTARIES:
Finding Oscar: Feature length documentary about the search for justice in the devastating case of the Dos Erres massacre in Guatemala. That search leads to the trail of two little boys who were plucked from a nightmare and offer the only living evidence that ties the Guatemalan government to the massacre. Directed by Ryan Suffern, Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg
Good Fortune: Homeless, Gang member, Billionaire, Philanthropist; this film reflects "conscious capitalism." Interviewees include Robert Kennedy Jr., Cheech Marin, Dan Akroyd, Arianna Huffington and Danny Trejo. Directed by Josh Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell
Lea and Mira: The film tells the story of two elderly women living in Argentina. As children, they were taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The movie depicts the thoughts of these women who, in the twilight of their lives, transmit their wisdom, their resilience, and their way of looking at life after trauma. Directed by Poli Martinez Kaplun
SCORE: This documentary brings Hollywood's premier composers together to give viewers a privileged look inside the musical challenges and creative secrecy of one the world's most widely known music genre: the film score. Interviewees include Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, John Williams, James Cameron and Quincy Jones. Directed by Matt Schrader
FLORIDA FOCUS: World premiere of independent films made in Florida
King Charles: A shady DEA agent does everything in his power within and outside the law to catch a cocaine kingpin. During a city’s crime investigation the DEA’s partner is gunned down. TC will now stop at nothing to catch his man and what he’s about to do next is pure justice. Cast: Rod Grant, Nicholas Naylor and Buddy Winsett. Directed by Nicholas Taylor
The Lost Digit: After accidentally cutting off his finger, a man can't escape the dire feeling that something important in his life is missing. As a dangerous obsession takes hold of his career and marriage his grasp on reality suffers. The best part of his life gone, he ends up in a nursing home devoid of love and utterly alone. Cast: Christopher Rutherford, George Cassermey, Hillary Pyles, Jim Wicker. Directed by Garrett Brown
Turtle Tale: TURTLE TALE is inspired by events that took place at the George C. McGough Nature Park in Largo, Florida - the story of JR the OWL as witnessed and told by the nature park's first inhabitants, 'THE TURTLES'. The turtles, HANK, RAFI and GOLIATH, and their community live in a beautiful pond with nice clean water, lots of food and are witnesses to all the events of the park as they get ready for another busy summer camp season, never suspecting what is about to happen at the park and to themselves. Cast: Mary Rachel Dudley, Noah Schnacky, Lily Cardone, Isiah McCaffrey. Directed by Luc Campeau
