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'Verdict' is in on Sarasota festival

By STEVE PERSALL
Published January 21, 2005

"Entertainment used to be that you sat in a seat and watched something," he said. "Through technology, the audience is now the entertainers. It's not stars who entertain us; we entertain ourselves."

It's the Sarasota Film Festival, beginning its seventh year on Jan. 28 but seemingly more culturally assured than the anniversary might suggest. Sarasota's 10-day showcase attracts a respectable level of film industry notice, not only for its tropical setting in the dead of winter, but for an open-door policy to practically anyone with a camera.

Most films are shown at the Regal Hollywood 20, downtown at the corner of Main Street and U.S. 301. The box office begins selling individual screening tickets today for $8, $15 for showcased selections. Go to www.sarasotafilmfestival.com for details.

Some festivals, such as the Sarasota Film Society's CineWorld and Orlando's Florida Film Festival, are built on unveiling the Next Big Things, films that wowed audiences at previous festivals and will likely be distributed. Festivals in posh cities such as Fort Lauderdale and Marco Island are mostly about the stars and parties. Guerrilla festivals such as St. Petersburg's Saints and Sinners are the only venues where many amateur entries will find audiences outside of their creators' living rooms. Retro festivals anywhere believe that important filmmaking ended 30 years ago.

The Sarasota Film Festival is a little bit of everything, having shown a few Next Medium-Sized Things (William H. Macy's Emmy-winning Door to Door), honored its share of celebrities (Richard Dreyfuss, Jon Voight) and drawn attention to countless independently produced and foreign films that, even with distribution deals, never surfaced again. This year, visitors can get nostalgic with revivals ranging from Mary Poppins (free) to F.W. Murnau's 1927 classic Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.

Toss in free seminars nearly each day, children's activities, a world cinema bazaar, continental breakfasts with filmmakers and a transcontinental flavor to the lineup, and the Sarasota Film Festival wins its fight for the right to party. For nominal fees, visitors can join tributes to musicians Barry Gibb, Levon Helm, Bob Mould (who will perform) and David Johansen, or pricier gatherings at Van Wezel Performing Arts Center, the Longboat Key Club and the Ritz-Carlton.

Event schedules, movie descriptions, access packages ($60 to $1,200) and general information about the festival are available online. Tickets are available at the Regal Hollywood 20 box office, by telephone (call toll-free 1-877-733-8491) and online with some additional charges. Advance purchases are strongly suggested, especially for weekend events.

Our Weekend section on Thursday will preview the first few days of the schedule; we'll cover the closing weekend's events in the Feb. 3 issue. By then, I'll have had a chance to preview a few festival entries and make suggestions.

But I've seen one that you need to know about now.

Nearly three years ago, Tampa and Clearwater were briefly used as exterior locales for a film titled Citizen Jury. Most of the filming took place in Cape Town, South Africa, doubling for Tampa because it's cheaper to produce there. You may remember that one of its stars was talk show host Jerry Springer, which didn't raise anyone's hopes that this was going to be another Cocoon.

Well, the "jury" is out of the title and Citizen Verdict is in the Sarasota Film Festival lineup. One reason may be Springer's part-time residence nearby. Another is that the film's production company, Bauer-Martinez Studios, handles distribution - mostly foreign and straight-to-video - for its films from an office in Largo. With Citizen Verdict having reached theaters in France, Germany and Spain, Bauer-Martinez is testing U.S. waters to see if this very American satire can float.

"I'm very anxious to see the reaction in Sarasota," said studio CEO and Citizen Verdict director Philippe Martinez from London, where his production offices are headquartered. "It's the first time it will be screened for an American audience. It really was made for them."

The concept is garishly red, white and blue: Springer plays an unscrupulous TV producer whose new project, Citizen Verdict Florida, allows viewers at home to decide a murder case televised live. Armand Assante plays a world-weary attorney cast to defend the killer of a popular TV celebrity. Roy Scheider co-stars as the Sunshine State's governor supporting the idea. Springer's character stacks the deck for better ratings and a pay-per-view windfall to televise the execution. Capital punishment and reality television; what a frivolous country.

As a "serious film critic," I'm supposed to detest Citizen Verdict for its clunky acting, overzealous camera work and ethical bromides rivaling Springer's final thoughts at the end of his real TV geek show. Maybe it's because I watch that program, but Citizen Verdict was an amusingly bad viewing experience for all the wrong cinematic reasons and the right campy ones.

It's a movie reveling in sordid details and cliches, in which I swear one actor wore sunglasses so she could read cue cards undetected. It opens with kids waving U.S. flags and closes with a dramatic version of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Where else can you hear Over the Rainbow accompanying a death row prisoner's last mile, or see Springer occasionally flashed by a topless starlet? Okay, well, you don't hear Over the Rainbow on his show, at least.

Citizen Verdict is solid junk based on an interesting idea, a description that Martinez didn't deny because he knows it sells somewhere.

"That's what it's supposed to be," he said with a cheery French accent. "That's the purpose of the film."

On the other hand, Springer emphasized the social importance of Citizen Verdict in a telephone interview, adding a dose of bogus grandeur that any enjoyably bad movie needs. There's more to draw viewers to the box office than him.

"Take me out of it and I think it's a very good movie that raises a pertinent point in today's culture," he said, presumably with a straight face. "When people are fearful and go into law-and-order mode, that's fascinating. You apply reality TV to the judicial system, and people aren't voted off the island or out of the house, but off the planet.

No, Jerry, stars still entertain us when they describe movies like Citizen Verdict as socially important. Yet, that's part of the film's perverse appeal; it's the little engine that can't but keeps on puffing. Don't look for anything special and you find a guilty pleasure almost too guilty to repeat.

Trust me: Citizen Verdict will stick out at the Sarasota Film Festival like a sore thumb. Many more selections promise intimate looks at human nature, timeless politics and the spectrum of humanity. This one's just for fun. Try to score a ticket to screenings on Jan. 29 (7:45 p.m.) and Jan. 30 (4:30 p.m.), when Springer is scheduled to attend.

If only to see how much our community resembles Cape Town.

Steve Persall can be reached at 727 893-8365 or persall@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 20, 2005, 08:57:05]