My Experience at the 2018 Gasparilla Film Festival

Gasparilla Film Festival at AMC Centro Ybor

This was the second year in a row that I volunteered and attended the Gasparilla Film Festival, one of the biggest festivals in the Tampa Bay Area. While I didn’t get to see Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero, I did see Eric Stoltz from a short distance and met several other filmmakers. It was a busy week, with six days of volunteering and/or watching films. Last year, I was only able to see three films, but this year, I planned ahead and saw all of or most of ten films, three narrative and seven documentary, and I saw them using passes I earned through volunteering or watched during volunteer shifts. Since this year the festival was partnered with the Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival, four of the films I saw were technically for that festival instead. Here are my thoughts on the films I saw at the 2018 festival.

Tampa Theatre after Opening Night Film, Stuck

Stuck - The opening night film, this was by far my favorite narrative film that I saw. Based on a Broadway show, the musical has a very indie feel to it but is a moving, well-acted and surprisingly short experience that really makes you look at strangers in a slightly different way. Very enjoyable and features a story-within-the-story that I would love to see as its own movie. I highly recommend this if you can see it. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3696610/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_12)

Stuck Q&A

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamar Story - A touching and informative documentary about Hedy Lamar, an actress I knew virtually nothing about (except for the season 3 Legends of Tomorrow episode, “Helen Hunt”). You really feel for her and all the struggles and discriminations she had to face. This one is showing on PBS later this year, so I definitely recommend you check it out. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6752848/?ref_=nv_sr_1) Pick of the Litter - A film that will definitely produce a lot of “aws,” especially in the first half-hour, this was a very enjoyable documentary that really makes you appreciate guide dogs and what they have to go through to graduate from training. It was very emotional and I was crying by the end. Highly recommend this film. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5644050/?ref_=nv_sr_1) Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas - An interesting, informative film about the contribution of Jewish composers to secular Christmas. While enjoyable, it does tend to drag a little during the performances of the different songs discussed throughout the film, and the difference in aspect ratio for these sequences was a little jarring. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6877088/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival at the Bryan Glazer Family JCC

Itzhak - I saw Itzhak Perlman in college and as a violinist myself, I really enjoyed this film. It’s more of a glimpse into his everyday life. It’s very funny and one thing I liked is that it identifies every piece performed in the film. I do wish it had spent a little more time on Itzhak’s past, especially since that was highlighted in the trailer, but that’s just my opinion. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6186232/?ref_=nv_sr_1) Stop the Presses - This is a very educational and important film about the importance of newspapers and why we need them. The film shows the day in the life of a newspaper, then shows the sudden and tragic demise of the 121-year old Tampa Tribune. It really makes you appreciate all the work it takes to be a journalist and to make a newspaper. It’s a very important subject that especially hits close to home for the city of Tampa and for me personally. My mother interned for the Tampa Times, the old afternoon paper of the Tribune, years ago, and I interned at WFLA, which was right next door. I just wished the film more directly addressed the newspaper’s decline in quality (which led to my family switching to the Tampa Bay Times), but it does show how they were short on staff and how stressful that was for them. (http://stopthepressesmovie.com)

People reading the "Final Edition" of the Tampa Tribune before the Stop the Presses screening

Films I Saw Most of: You Can’t Say No - I walked into this about a half-hour in and wasn't sure what to expect since I hadn't seen the trailer or any footage before hand and only the basic premise. It's an enjoyable film with some geniunely funny scenes, though it was a little too raunchy for my personal taste (though there was no nudity that I saw). (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5848986/?ref_=nv_sr_1) Madame - This is a romantic comedy that attracted me mostly because of the star power, featuring the likes of Toni Collette and Harvey Keitel. I mostly enjoyed it, but I’ll admit that, being a fan of the genre, it wasn’t romantic enough for me, and the open-ended conclusion seemed very abrupt. I’ll give it props for trying to avoid cliches, but I felt it didn’t provide much of an alternative and I found myself wanting some of these cliches to actually happen. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6045466/?ref_=nv_sr_1) Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me - I had never heard of Sammy Davis Jr., but after seeing most of this film, I now want to learn more about him. This was a very entertaining documentary and I was very sad to have to leave early to fulfill my duties as a volunteer. I’ll definitely try to see it again as soon as I can. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7215006/?ref_=nv_sr_2) The China Hustle - I walked into this film a half-hour late but was quickly able to pick up on all that was going on. I found this film very enjoyable, and covers a very important topic that every American should know about. One of the most remarkable things about it was that it did a good job of explaining the complex financial ideas. I’m not a financial-minded person, but I understand everything enough that if needed, I could explain the basics to someone else. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7215388/?ref_=nv_sr_1) Between Waves, Rock Steady Row, and Back to Burgundy - I only saw very short excerpts of these, but they looked interesting, especially the latter two, and I hope to see them someday in full. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4265500/?ref_=nv_sr_1, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6095486/?ref_=nv_sr_1, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5247704/?ref_=nv_sr_1) So that was my experience at the 2018 Gasparilla Film Festival. It was a busy six days, but I enjoyed it very much. In addition to films, I also went to a couple panels that were very informative. Through volunteering, I won raffled tickets to the closing night party, which was filled with food, drinks, and music for dancing (though the music choice in general wasn’t my taste and was a little too loud). The party was fun, but in my opinion not worth the price of an individual ticket, so I recommend going only if you have a badge that lets you in anyway. I hope I can go again next year, hopefully with a film in the festival. I think it’ll be cool if they can partner with the Jewish Film Festival again, but I just hope it’s not the same weekend as the Pride Parade in Ybor again, because the traffic on Saturday was insane.