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Film

The show goes on for area movie fans

There is still plenty to do and see in the final few days of the ninth annual Sarasota Film Festival.

By Steve Persall
Published April 19, 2007

A man loving his horses too much, a mother loving her child too little and the documentary Beyond Hatred are celluloid highlights as the ninth annual Sarasota Film Festival sails into its closing weekend.

Robinson Devor's shock-documentary Zoo will be shown today (7:45 p.m.) and Saturday (6:30 p.m.) at Regal Hollywood 20. The film details the true story of a Seattle farmer killed by having sex with a horse and exposes an unsavory subculture. Not for the squeamish or judgmental, Zoo will certainly raise the festival's taboo quotient.

On the other end of the sensitivity spectrum, Joseph Greco's Canvas stars Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden as a mother battling schizophrenia. Her husband (Joe Pantoliano) and son (Devon Gearhart) can't do much about it, in a story Greco based on his similar childhood experience.

Canvas will screen at 7:15 p.m. Friday and 4:45 p.m. Saturday with Harden, Pantoliano and Greco answering questions after both shows.

Olivier Meyrou's Beyond Hatred (5 p.m. today) chronicles the 2002 murder by skinheads of young, gay Francois Chenu. Beyond Hatred exemplifies the festival's international spirit, with many of the 208 selections coming from abroad.

Also of note: Geoffrey Wright's gritty, graphic reshaping of Macbeth into a contemporary Australian crime drama. Sam Worthington delivers a powerful performance in the title role, shown tonight at 9:30.

Two showings Sunday of Chad Lowe's coming-of-age drama Beautiful Ohio sold out weeks ago. However, the same idea is handled with subversive humor in Chris Bowman's American Fork (6 p.m. Friday and 12:15 p.m. Sunday) and tickets may remain.

Don't risk being disappointed; visit the festival's Web site to check ticket availability and to buy tickets.

More than movies

There are plenty of things to do outside the theater.

Harden and Pantoliano join the "A Conversation With . . ." series at Asolo Theater at 7 tonight, and acclaimed director Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck) discusses his career there at 1 p.m. Saturday ($20 for each).

Minxx Nightclub, 7111 S Tamiami Trail, hosts tonight's Independent Visions gathering of ambitious filmmakers at 8 ($20). And the festival presents free panel discussions on women in cinema (today), marketing challenges for foreign films (Friday) and film design trends and documentary strategies (Saturday). Each begins at 11:30 a.m. at Metro Coffee & Wine near the theater.

Everybody who's anybody at the festival (and still in town) will attend Friday's Night of a Thousand Stars at Michael's On East restaurant, beginning at 9:30 p.m. It's pricey ($150) but a great place to stargaze and graze. Saturday's Filmmakers' Tribute Dinner ($300) is a formal event where director Jewison will receive a career achievement award.

See Friday's Floridian for an interview with Jewison.

If you go

Sarasota Film Festival

The festival, which continues today through Sunday, features screenings at Hollywood 20, 1993 Main St., and special events throughout Sarasota. Movie tickets are $8, available at the box office. Special events prices range from free to $300 for Saturday's Filmmakers' Tribute Dinner at Longboat Key Club & Resort. For more information and ticket availability, visit the festival Web site: www.sarasotafilmfestival. com.

[Last modified April 18, 2007, 11:33:33]