Shorter Gasparilla film fest packed with diversity

If the goal of the Gasparilla International Film Festival is to broaden the area's cinematic horizons, this year's program is appropriately diverse. There are films about martial arts and weeping widowers, self-involved hipsters and struggling immigrants, innocent children and Jerry Springer.

In fact, although the four-day event, which runs from March 18 through 21, is significantly shorter than last year's 10-day festival (a result of the shifting terrain of corporate sponsorships), it will still offer about 60 films thanks to the increased number of venues participating.

"We're showing a lot of films," says festival president Chad Moore, 39, a lawyer by day who got involved with the organization after moving back to the Tampa Bay area from Chicago, where independent film was available in high quantity year-round.

Organizers wanted the festival to have an even stronger focus on local talent in its fourth year, Moore says.

"We have a number of films - really strong films - that were created right here in Tampa," he says.

He singles out Tampa brothers Peter and Paul Guzzo, whose dramatic short "Caged Dreams" about mixed martial arts fighting will air Saturday night with "Bout that Bout," a documentary about a group of high school kids in Seffner who start a fight club.

"Those two filmmakers show a lot of promise," Moore says.

At the less testosterone-heavy end of the spectrum is "Hope for a Thorn," an intergenerational family drama directed by Erin Kitzinger, who grew up in St. Petersburg. Kitzinger recently won best director honors at the LA Femme Festival in Los Angeles.

Other locally connected titles include "Endure," a thriller out of Lakeland starring Judd Nelson, Tom Arnold and Joey Lauren Adams, and "Breaking News, Breaking Down," a documentary directed by former WFLA, News Channel 8, anchor Mike Walter and featuring Kelly Ring of WTVT.

There are also plenty of exotic offerings, from a documentary about illegal immigrants in Italy ("Pane Amaro") to the Peruvian film "Dioses," the animated feature "Sita Sing the Blues" about the Hindu goddess and, in what may be one of the festival's more topical offerings, "Poto Mitan," a documentary about the lives of five Haitian women, which the director is scheduled to attend.

Also attending the festival will be director Kelly King and the cast of his film "Prime of Your Life," which is making its world premiere. The dramedy about a slacker girl who meets a dashing rebel at a funeral is one of several featured movies about the extended post-adolescent years, a category that includes opening night selection "happythankyoumoreplease," about a group of friends struggling to grow up. Written and directed by Josh Radnor of "How I Met Your Mother" fame, it stars Radnor alongside rising stars Kate Mara, Zoe Kazan and Malin Akerman, among others, and was the winner of the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival.

Celebrities who will attend the Gasparilla festival include Arielle Kebbel, a central Florida native whose credits range from "Gilmore Girls" (she was Lindsay, Dean's ill-fated wife) to the recent horror film "The Uninvited." Kebbel is the recipient of this year's Rising Star award. Character actor Raymond Barry, who stars in festival selection "Charlie Valentine," will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Fans of the "The Office" will want to check out Melora Hardin (a.k.a. the infamous Jan Levinson-Gould), who will be there in person to talk about her film "You," which she directed from a script by her husband, Gildart Jackson. Both of their daughters also appear in the film.

Since a shorter festival means fewer repeat screenings, lovers of independent film may want to buy their tickets early. "We had about 10,000 people go through our turnstiles" at the 2009 event, Moore says. "This year, we expect a similar big crowd."

For tickets or information, visit www.gasparillafilmfestival.com.