Movie Buffs To Spend Weekend With Gasparilla Film Festival

TAMPA, FL — While the party crowd enjoys their green beer, film buffs will spend this weekend in darkened movie theaters as the 15th annual Gasparilla International Film Festival continues through Sunday after a successful VIP reception at the opening night celebration at The Vault and a screening of the period crime drama, "Boon."

This year, film lovers will be among to see first screenings of a large selection of films and shorts from directors around the world.

Friday's screening of "Framing Agnes" and 20 shorts will take place at the Charlene A. Gordon Theater at the University of Tampa, where a Spotlight Reception mix and mingle is also planned.

Film lovers can screen "The Outfit" at 8:30 p.m. at the University of Tampa Ferman Black Box Theater, 214 North Boulevard, Tampa.

On Saturday at 1 p.m., there will be a screening of a collection of short films featuring Iranian filmmakers at the AMC Westshore 6 theater, 210 Westshore Plaza, Tampa, and a series of animated shorts at 2:15 p.m. at the AMC Westshore 5 theater.

At 2:45 p.m., film buffs can watch "Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis" at AMC Westshore 6 followed by a documentary shorts program at 3:30 p.m.

The film, "29 Years - A Second Chance of Life," will be shown at 4:45 p.m. at AMC Westshore 5 followed by "Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl" at 5 p.m. at AMC Westshore 6 and "Marvelous & The Black Hole" at 6 p.m. at AMC Westshore 5.

The film, "One Pint at a Time," will be screened Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at AMC Westshore 6, "Relatives" will be shown at 7:30 p.m. at AMC Westshore 5, "The Disappearance of Toby Blackwood" will be shown at 9:15 p.m. at AMC Westshore 6 and "Hatching" will be shown at 9:30 p.m. at AMC Westshore 5.

The movie magic continues Sunday when the film festival hosts a panel on "Voices of Diversity" at noon in the University of Tampa third-floor classroom.

Then "Hot Dog Party: The Documentary" will be show at 12:30 p.m. at the Ferman Black Box Theater.

Guests are invited to arrive early to grab a spot on the lawn and enjoy an afternoon of film, activities, beer samplings and food vendors for the free screening of "Tampa Beer: Crafting the Bay," set to begin at 1 p.m. at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, 600 N Ashley St., downtown Tampa, during the River O' Green Fest.

The Tampa Bay High School Film Competition will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Charlene A. Gordon Theater at UT, followed by a panel on "Florida on Film" at 2 p.m. in the UT third-floor classroom.

The film narrated by Andy Garcia, "Voices from Cuba," will be shown at 2:15 p.m. at the University of Tampa Black Box Theater while "The Conductor" will be shown at 3:30 p.m. in the Charlene A. Gordon Theater.

A series of shorts made by female filmmakers in Florida will be shown Sunday at 3:45 p.m. at the Ferman Black Box Theater followed by a panel on "Story to Screenplay" at 4 p.m. in the UT third-floor classroom.

The Gasparilla International Film Festival will wrap up with an awards presentation and closing night film, "Old Henry," at 7 p.m. at the Tampa Theatre, 711 N Franklin St., Tampa, followed by a closing night wrap party at 9 p.m. at The Vault, 611 N Franklin St., Tampa, featuring complimentary beer, wine, specialty cocktails, late-night snacks and music by DJ Fresh.

For a full list of films and short films and show times, click here.

The nonprofit Tampa Film Institute, founded in 2006, hosted its first Gasparilla International Film Festival in 2007.