2016 Sunscreen Film Festival: What To Know Before You Go

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – St. Petersburg will roll out the red carpet to Hollywood once again for the Sunscreen Film Festival.

Now in its 11th year, the four-day film festival hosted by the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Film Society will feature a variety of feature-length and short films, along with various panels and workshops. Here’s what area residents need to know before they go to the 2016 Sunscreen Film Festival:

Dates and Times

The 2016 Sunscreen Film Festival is scheduled for Thursday, April 28 at 10 a.m. to Sunday, May 1 at 6 p.m.

Film Screening Locations

Film screenings will take place at the following locations:

• April 28: The Palladium, 253 Fifth Ave. N., St. Petersburg
• April 29 to May 1: Muvico Theaters Sundial, 151 Second Ave. N., St. Petersburg
• April 29 to May 1: American Stage, 163 Third St. N, St. Petersburg
• April 30 to May 1: Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Dr. NE, St. Petersburg

Tickets

There are several different price levels for tickets and passes for the 2016 Sunscreen Film Festival:

• VIP Pass -- $150, includes access to all films, parties, workshops and celebrity events from April 28 to May 1.
• Day Pass – $50, One-day access to all films, parties, workshops and celebrity events.
• Tickets to all individual movies and short film blocks: $8

Celebrity Guest Appearances

Actors Gary Busey and Paul Sorvino will be the featured celebrity guests at the 2016 Sunscreen Film Festival. Busey has appeared in more than 150 films, including Point Break and Lethal Weapon. He also has appeared in numerous guest appearances on television. Sorvino is best known for his role as Paul Cicero in the 1990 movie Goodfellas and as a police sergeant on Law & Order.

Film highlights

The following films will be showcased during the Sunscreen Film Festival:

• Spare Parts, Red Carpet and Opening Night Film Premiere: Based on a Wired magazine article, four Hispanic high school students form a robotics team and take on the country’s reigning robotics champion, MIT. Stars George Lopez, Marissa Tomei and Jamie Lee Curtis. Red Carpet events are scheduled to begin Thursday, April 28 at 6:15 p.m. with the movie scheduled for 7 p.m. at The Palladium.
• Naked Lake: Five nudists explain the benefits of the social nudist lifestyle. Filmed at Lake Como in Lutz. Runtime: 6 minutes. Scheduled to show third in the seven-film block of the Documentary Shorts segment on Friday, April 29 from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the American Stage. Filmmaker scheduled to be in attendance.
• Embrace of the Serpent, Latin Feature: Inspired by the journals of two real-life explorers who searched for the sacred Yakruna plant, an Amazonian shaman and the scientists build a 40-year friendship. This black-and-white film has won or been nominated for eight international awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Click here for a full listing of all films.

Entertainment

The following events are scheduled during the 2016 Sunscreen Film Festival:

• Red Carpet – Thursday, April 28, 6:15 to 6:45 p.m. at The Palladium, featuring Gary Busey.
• Opening Night Party – Thursday, April 28, 9 to 11 p.m. at The Palladium
• Digital Caviar Production Services Showcase and Party – Top-of-the-line equipment and filmmaking techniques will be presented by Tampa-based company Digital Caviar on Friday, April 29 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Nova 535, 535 Dr. Martin Luther King (Ninth) St. N. This free event also doubles as the pre-launch party for the feature film Crazy Lake, which premieres Sunday, May 1 at 12:30 p.m. at Sundial Muvico.
• Cocktail Reception – The French-American Business Council and the Sunscreen Film Festival are inviting members of the French-American community in the Tampa Bay area to a cocktail reception honoring Olivier Jahan, director of Les Chateux de Sable (Sand Castles). The event will take place following the screening of the movie Friday, April 29 at 6 p.m. at the Sundial Muvico. Jahan will host a question-and-answer session following the film. The reception will be at Cassis American Brasserie, 170 Beach Drive NE, at 7 p.m. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be served until 8 p.m. and happy hour drink pricing begins at 9. Admission is free to members of FRAMCO and Sunscreen Film Festival badges. General public admission is $10.
• Filmmaker Party – Friday, April 29 from 9 p.m. to midnight at Courtyard by Marriott, 300 Fourth St. N.
• Awards Ceremony and Closing Party – Saturday, April 30 from 8:30 to 11 p.m. at the Princess Martha Historic Hotel Ballroom, 411 First Ave. N.

Workshops

All 2016 Sunscreen Film Festival events will take place in the American Stage Theatre Company conference room, 163 Third St. N., St. Petersburg. Participants must have a Filmmaker, Sponsor, Day, VIP, or Volunteer Pass to attend each day’s workshops or panels.

The schedule is subject to change:

Friday, April 29

• “Distribution” (Panel) – 10 to 11:30 a.m.
• “Film Finance: It’s not called show-art, it’s show business!” (Workshop) – 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• “Virtual Reality: Experience Anything, Anywhere!” (Workshop) – 1:15 to 2:30 p.m.
• “Acting: Finding the Character’s Voice” (Workshop) – 2:45 to 4:15 p.m.
• “Comicon: Character Creation: Create a Compelling Character on the Fly” (Workshop) – 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Saturday, April 30

• “Writing: Pitch Fest!” (Workshop) – 10 to 11:30 a.m.
• “Latino: Film Through A Critical Lens” (Panel) – Noon to 1:30 p.m.
• “Filmmaking: Women in Film” (Panel) – 1:45 to 3 p.m.
• “Writing: Writing the Studio Feature” (Workshop) – 3:15 to 4:45 p.m.
• “Comicon: Creating Stories for Every Medium in the World of Global Storytelling” (Workshop) – 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday, May 1

• “Directing: But, What I really Wanna Do Is Direct” (Panel) – 10 to 11 a.m.
• “Marketing: Hey World, I’ve Got A Movie!” (Panel) – 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
• “Cross Discipline: Creating Characters to Die For” (Panel) – 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
• “Cinematography: Mastering Shadows and Frame” (Workshop) – 1:45 to 2:45 p.m.
• “Film Business: How to Break Into The Business” (Workshop) – 3 to 4 p.m.

For more information, visit www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com.

Images courtesy of Sunscreen Film Festival

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