30 reasons to sit inside, even in splendid weather
Madstone Theater and Burns Court Cinemas offer a smorgasbord of films and documentaries.
By PHILIP BOOTH
Published April 1, 2004
Consider it an encouraging sign for bay area film aficionados: Two notable film festivals kick in this weekend - the second annual Tampa International Film Festival, at Madstone Theater in Tampa, and a version of North Carolina's Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, at Burns Court Cinemas in Sarasota.
Crimson Gold, a tragic drama from acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (The White Balloon, The Mirror), is a highlight of this year's TIFF, which will feature 20 films from around the globe in a program titled "Cinema for a New World."
Also on the bill for the festival, founded and directed by University of Tampa professor and filmmaker Rob Tregenza, are Canada's Luck; Hungary's Hukkle; Japan's Dolls, directed by Takeshi Kitano (Brother); and releases from France, Italy, Turkey, Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Russia, Cuba and Sweden.
Full Frame, based in Durham, N.C., the largest and most influential documentary festival in the United States, is hitting the road for its seventh annual edition. The fest is offering 10 of the more than 65 films from its competition section to five off-campus locations, one of which is Sarasota.
The concept is "simultaneous syndication," made possible through an alliance with Emerging Pictures, a New York digital exhibition initiative: Each film is digitized and loaded on cinema servers, which are shipped to the theaters. A cinema server is then plugged into each theater's projection system.
"It's a very cutting-edge idea," said Nancy Buirski, founder and director of Full Frame. "I think documentary has always had had a home on various platforms, sometimes more so than fiction films. People are used to seeing it on a small screen or video-streamed on the Internet. This marries very much with the concept of documentary not being just something you see on television."
Home of the Brave, one of the highlights, centers on the life, death and legacy of Viola Liuzzo, a middle-class white woman from Detroit murdered by the Klan because of her support of the civil rights movement. Also notable are Citizen King, detailing the last five years of the life of Martin Luther King Jr.; Farmingville, about migrant workers on Long Island; and Music From the Inside Out, a behind-the-scenes examination of classical musicians in Philadelphia.
PREVIEW:
Tampa International Film Festival, Friday through April 10 at Madstone Theaters, 1609 W Swann Ave., Tampa. Tickets, $7, $5 for students and seniors, or $50 for a 10-day pass. Call 813 253-3333, ext. 3425, or visit www.tampafilmfest.org
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, today through Sunday at Burns Court Cinemas, 506 Burns Lane, Sarasota. Tickets are $6 for matinees before 4 p.m.; $7.50 for evenings. Call (941) 364-8662 or go to www.filmsociety.org
