wcw APRIL 2024

sarasota film festival continued
as seen through a college sophomore in
the throes of fraternity culture. Featuring
Sarasota native Austin Abrams.
• THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN
Inspired by a true story, The Man in the
White Van dives into the eerie underbelly
of a seemingly idyllic 1974 Florida town
and follows the harrowing experience of
young Annie Williams, whose carefree
existence is turned upside down as she
becomes stalked by an ominous man in a
white van.
DOCUMENTARY
CENTERPIECE FILM
• THIS IS A FILM ABOUT
THE BLACK KEYS
The story of Dan Auerbach and Patrick
Carney’s journey from a basement jamming
session in Akron, Ohio to rock ’n’ roll
super-stardom.
SPOTLIGHT FEATURES
• DAUGHTERS
Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy
Daughter Dance with their incarcerated
fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program
in a Washington, D.C., jail.
• EX-HUSBANDS
This poignant comedy follows a middle
aged man overwhelmed by his pending divorce
and the declining health of his father,
who plans a getaway to Tulum, insistent
he knows nothing of his son’s plans to be
there at the same time for a bachelor party.
• HOW TO COME ALIVE WITH
NORMAN MAILER
The life and times of an American icon, from
his formative years in Brooklyn through his
career as a preeminent cultural voice.
• LIV ULLMANN:
A ROAD LESS TRAVELED
A delightful, engaging portrait of one our
greatest actresses, brimming with intimate
memories and profound reflections on her
hopes, fears, grief, rejections, dreams pursued,
and lessons learned.
• LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH
Luther Vandross
started
his career supporting
David
Bowie, Roberta
Flack, Bette
Midler, and
more. His undeniable
talent
earned platinum
records
and accolades,
but he struggled
to break
out beyond the R&B charts. Intensely driven,
he overcame personal and professional
challenges to secure his place amongst the
greatest vocalists in history.
• MERCHANT IVORY
The story behind the longest running partnership
in the history of cinema that has
produced such classics as Howard’s End,
A Room with a View and The Remains of
the Day.
• TAKING VENICE
This fun caper movie explores the true story
behind the rumors that, at the height of
the Cold War, the U.S. government rigged
the most influential art exhibition, the Venice
Biennale, so that their chosen artist,
Robert Rauschenberg, could win the festival’s
Grand Prize. Told with an extraordinary
cast of experts and insiders from the
art world with extensive archival footage.
Here are some films WCW thought you
might want to know about. Go online
for the full schedule.
NARRATIVE
FEATURE COMPETITION
• GOODBYE JULIA
Amid the social and political upheaval
of Sudan in 2005, two women’s disparate
lives become unexpectedly entangled in
tragedy, friendship and lies in this moving
tale.
• THELMA
When 93-year-old
Thelma Post (June
Squibb) gets duped
by a phone scammer
pretending to
be her grandson,
she sets out on a
treacherous quest
across the city to reclaim
what was taken
from her. A thrilling
and delightful
story exploring aging, family and autonomy.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
COMPETITION
• A HOUSE IS NOT A DISCO
An intimate and
humorous film that
peers into one of
the world’s only
“homo-normative”
communities, the
island “paradise” of
Fire Island Pines,
told through home
video, archival
footage, and eccentric
character portraits
of the vibrant present.
• INTO THE SPOTLIGHT:
THE JAKE ILARDI STORY
An action-packed look at the highs, lows,
and injuries Osprey’s Jake Ilardi endures
on his journey to the US Olympic Skateboard
team, and his mission within his
local community to keep their skatepark
operational and free to the public.
• PORCELAIN WAR
Amidst the chaos
and destruction
of the brutal
Russian invasion
of Ukraine, three
artists defiantly
find inspiration
and beauty as
they defend their
culture and their
country in this
Sundance Grand
Jury Prize winner.
• SUGARCANE
This Sundance award winner is a gripping
investigation where unmarked graves at
an Indian residential school unearth secrets
below and above ground, igniting
a reckoning in the lives of survivors and
their descendants.
INDEPENDENT VISIONS
FEATURE COMPETITION
• CURRY SCENT
A refreshing tale
about a Bradenton-based
Indian
immigrant family
desperately grasping
for the American
Dream by
trying to find their
daughter, Geetha,
a wealthy match
before their visas
run out.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
• LADY LIKE
Enrapturing profile of Rex Wheeler, better
known to the outside world as drag queen
extraordinaire and Ru Paul’s Drag Race finalist
Lady Camden, who works with Rex
to save his inner child after a troubled and
traumatic childhood.
• MAKA
An exploration of
displacement, identity,
and belonging
in following noted
Cameroon-born
author Geneviève
Makaping’s life in
Italy and perilous
migration journey.
A story of a Black
woman reclaiming
the narrative and speaking out against the
media’s representation of immigrants.
• THE MAMMOTH HUNT
The incredible story of Lithuanian theater
director (and now Sarasota resident) Jonas
Jurašas’ leaving his country in 1968 in
the wake of a play banned by the Soviets,
the secret filming of that play and Jurasas’
new life in America and eventual return to
his homeland.
• SOMEONE LIVES HERE
A modern-day David and Goliath story, set
against the backdrop of North America’s
housing crisis, when a carpenter takes it
upon himself to build, and make accessible,
small, life-saving shelters for the unhoused
residents of Toronto during the
pandemic.
• SUSAN FENIGER. FORKED
The wildly entertaining behind-the-scenes
story of award-winning celebrity chef Susan
Feniger on her first solo restaurant and
her passionate struggle and quest to bring
global street food under one roof in the
form of a new L.A. restaurant.
• UNBROKEN
The daughter of a Holocaust survivor embarks
on an international quest to uncover
answers about the plight of her mother
and her six siblings who, as mere children,
escaped Nazi Germany relying solely on
their own youthful bravado and the kindness
of German strangers.
• YOURS IN FREEDOM,
BILL BAIRD
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rebecca
Cammisa gives us a portrait of Bill Baird,
who has been called the devil incarnate,
pervert, CIA agent, saint, the unsung hero
of the birth control battle and whose decades-long
fight for women’s right to abortion
is as relevant as ever.
SFF FOCUS: ENVIRONMENT
• COMMON GROUND
The solution of Regenerative farmers to
bring soil health across the continent and
beyond. 105m
• CONSERVATION ACROSS
CONTINENTS: MADAGASCAR
Lemurs are the most unique and most endangered
primates in the world. This documentary
film discusses the work of Lemur
Conservation Foundation in Madagascar
and Myakka City, Florida.
• NOCTURNES
This uniquely immersive Sundance Award
winner transports us to the mountainous
forest of the eastern Himalayas, where
researchers seek to describe and understand
moth diversity at different elevations
as a way to urge us all to look more
closely at the hidden interconnections of
the natural world.
• WOMEN OF THE WATERSHED
A young woman
journeys to the
source of the Everglades
headwaters
to better understand
the historic
challenges of water
management
and pollution that
now threaten this
fragile ecosystem.
Along the way she
meets a new generation of advocates who
are redefining the balance of women in
conservation.
SARASOTA FILMMAKERS
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
• DEAR TAMPA BAY
Tampa Bay is one of the areas in our nation
most vulnerable to climate change.
But Tampa Bay isn’t alone, communities
across the Gulf coast face similar climate
impacts.
• THE FENTANYL PROJECT
dir. KT Curran (USA), 2024
The Fentanyl Project is a 26 minute, short
documentary about the impact of illegal
fentanyl abuse in Sarasota/Manatee
counties.
For more information, visit: https://www.
sarasotafilmfestival.com/
24 WEST COAST WOMAN APRIL 2024