Charlotte County Florida Weekly

A critic’s look at the Sarasota Film Festival lineup





 

 

Film festivals are so frustratingly wonderful.

You peruse the schedules, reading the various descriptions, and you want to see everything.

Which, of course, is impossible.

The Sarasota Film Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, or, as they like to put it, 1.5 decades.

The festival opens on April 5 with “Blackfish,” a documentary film by Gabriela Cowperthwaite that looks at the lives of orca whales and what happens to them when they are forced to live in captivity.

The closing night film on April 13 is “Frances Ha,” directed by Noah Baumbach, known for films such as “The Squid and the Whale,” “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Life Aquatic.”

“Twenty Feet From Stardom”

“Twenty Feet From Stardom”

Some of the festival’s highlights include “Pasadena,” a family comedy starring Peter Bogdanovich; “The Discoverers,” starring Griffin Dunne and “The Cold Lands” starring Lili Taylor. (The three stars are being honored at the festival.)

Here’s a quick look at four films that look interesting to this critic — and deal with arts and entertainment:

‘Twenty Feet From Stardom’

Directed by Morgan Neville, “Twenty Feet From Stardom” looks at those who sing back-up for rock icons such as Mick Jagger, Tina Turner and Bruce Springsteen, focusing on belters including Merry Clayton, Darlene Love and Lisa Fischer. The movie features interviews with Mr. Jagger, Mr. Springsteen, Sting, Bette Middler and Sheryl Crow, who herself sang back-up for Michael Jackson. “Twenty Feet From Stardom” will be presented at 7:45 p.m. Saturday, April 13 at Regal Hollywood 20. The showing is available by standby only.

“Casting By”

“Casting By”

‘Casting By’

This documentary directed by Tom Donahue examines the history of casting directors, focusing on pioneer Marion Doughterty, who worked from 1949 to 2000. She’s credited with casting some of film’s most iconic movies, including “Midnight Cowboy” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Ms. Doughtery had the intuition and vision to cast the right people for the right parts and discovered actors such as Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall. The documentary includes interviews with Al Pacino, Robert Redford, Woody Allen, Robert DeNiro and others. “Casting By” will be shown at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 6 and at 2:15 p.m. Sunday, April 7 at Regal Hollywood 20, theater 8 — 1993 Main Street, Sarasota.

“Shepard & Dark”

“Shepard & Dark”

‘Musicwood’

“Musicwood,” by director Maxine Trump, follows a group of guitar makers who visit the largest coastal temperate rain forest in Southeast Alaska. The group includes Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars, Chris Martin of Martin Guitars and Dave Berryman of Gibson Guitars. The documentary looks at the conflict between these CEOs, Native American loggers and Greenpeace. “Musicwood” shows at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 7 at Regal Hollywood 20, theaters 8 and 11, respectively — 1993 Main Street, Sarasota.

‘Shepard & Dark’

This Treva Wurmfeld documentary looks at the decades-long friendship between American playwright and actor Sam Shepard and writer Johnny Dark. The two plan to publish their correspondence. “Shepard & Dark” examines the dilemma of what happens between friends when one enjoys much more success; Mr. Shepard’s career has taken off and he is better known than Mr. Dark. “Shepard & Dark” shows at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, April 11 and 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 12 at Regal Hollywood 20, theaters 12 and 9 respectively — 1993 Main Street, Sarasota. ¦


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *