Planning a film festival like the Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF) — which is celebrating its eighth year of screenings, workshops and parties this week at theaters around Tampa — is a year-round undertaking. Festival President Joe Restaino says planning for the 2014 edition of GIFF began while last year’s edition was still underway.
“It’s a continuous journey to curate a program that resonates with Tampa and continues to push GIFF’s reputation higher on the festival circuit,” he says.
That journey includes plenty of travel. Since becoming involved with GIFF, Restaino has traveled to Sundance four times, and taken in events in Austin, New Orleans, Dallas, Santa Barbara and New Jersey along the way.
“From October through April, I hit about five to seven festivals trying to spread the word and bring back some of the best films on the indie circuit,” he says.
Getting people in the industry to take note of the festival has been something of an uphill battle. Restaino recalls the 2011 Sundance Festival, when his Gasparilla boosterism was met with confusion.
“People even commented they thought it was a city in Spain,” he adds. But GIFF has been growing rapidly of late, both in terms of submissions (600 this year, versus 250 for the 2013 festival) and industry consciousness (the fest has now nabbed back-to-back spots on Movie Maker magazine’s list of the Top 25 Film Festivals).
So what’s all the buzz about? Start with the movies.
GIFF prides itself on bringing in movies that are playing the state for the first time. Long an underdog against the more established Sarasota Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival near Orlando, this year’s festival will feature 11 world premieres, two U.S. premieres and 15 Florida premieres. Ten of the films will be debuting at GIFF before moving on to play other Florida fests in the coming months.
Opening night film There’s Always Woodstock is one such world premiere (its star, Anna Anissimova, won this year’s Rising Star award, a prize claimed last year by Ryan O’Nan, the creative force behind GIFF favorite Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best). The highly touted The Boys of Abu Ghraib will be making its world premiere at GIFF, while Enemy with Jake Gyllenhaal will make its Florida debut.
Other films worth getting excited over include: The comedy Obvious Child, which stars Jenny Slate, Gaby Hoffmann, David Cross and old TV favorite Richard Kind; Copenhagen, which won this year’s audience award at Slamdance; Hank and Asha, another hot indie with buzz coming out of Slamdance; and The Black Tape, a smart, original horror film that Restaino admits still freaks him out every time he watches it.
The closing night film, Chu and Blossom, was shot entirely in the Bay area, and represents something of a coup for GIFF. It’s the first film to play GIFF before playing both the Sarasota Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival.
But there’s more — oh, so much more. Film festivals are known for their workshops, talk-back sessions and after-parties, all of which allow attendees to rub elbows with the filmmakers. GIFF’s got them all. Some workshop highlights include “Behind the Scenes: Realities of the Casting Process” (Sat., 11 a.m., Muvico Centro Ybor), “Power Women in the Biz” (12:15 p.m., HCC Ybor) and “Sell your film” (Sat., 2:15 HCC Ybor), all offering the promise of wisdom to the aspiring filmmaker.
As for parties, GIFF has something going on every night of the festival, including Friday and Saturday night after-parties at CL Space in Ybor Square and a closing night party at the Ritz Ybor, which organizers promise will feature some eye-popping visual effects.
GIFF Executive Director Monica Varner says there was an organizing principle behind the schedule. “This year, we really focused on keeping the festival in Ybor as much as possible during the weekend to keep that film festival village vibe going,” she says. “We are excited to see people walking all over Ybor with GIFF credentials on.”
Varner’s advice for festival attendees: be prepared. “Have a plan and get your tickets early. Chances are the most popular films will sell out,” she advises.
As for Restaino, he takes a more high-energy approach to festival-going and tries to see as many films in competition as possible. “See some of each, and stay for the discussions after the films. These filmmakers most of the time put their life into the film, so stay and listen to their story.” Restaino even has a job for you. “Be a part of their journey, ask questions. If you see one in the lobby of a theater, go up to them and introduce yourself. Filmmakers want to talk and meet you. Most have never been to Tampa, so be an ambassador for the city.”