The Gasparilla Film Festival is back and looks to be just as successful as last year. The festival, which premiered in 2007, now boasts nearly 3,000 participants and features local, national, and international films.
The gem of the festival comes from Executive Producer Jeff Balis, a Tampa native.
Director Scott Predergast stars alongside Lisa Kudrow (Friends), Chris Parnell (SNL), and Christine Taylor (Dodgeball) in “Kabluey,” a comedy about a man whose financial troubles cause him to take a miserably embarrassing job as a giant blue corporate mascot while helping his sister-in-law with her terrible-two toddlers for the time his brother is away in Iraq. Heartwarming, sentimental, and hilarious, the film will be nothing short of a Tampa favorite.
See “Kabluey” on Wednesday, February 27, 8 p.m. at downtown’s Tampa Theatre.
American Fork looks to be an upcoming, tragicomic cult hit. Already winning Best of Show and Audience Choice awards at festivals around the country, American Fork stars its writer Hubbel Palmer as a dreamer, poet, and stockboy at a local grocery store.
As a start of the liberation from his droll existence, Tracy Orbison (Palmer) decides to enroll in an acting class with a forgotten, has-been instructor (William Baldwin) that then propels him into a series of awkwardly amusing events.
Check out “American Fork” on Friday Feb. 29, 5:45 p.m. at Channelside Cinema.
“Big Rig,” a portrait of American life and the country itself through the eyes of longhaul truckers, is the festival’s documentary stand-out. It screens Friday Feb. 29, 7:30 p.m. at Channelside Cinema and Saturday March 1, 5 p.m. at Channelside Cinema.
The most intriguing international film is “Brazil ‘ iacute;s O Cheiro do Ralo,” the story of an affectionless second-hand shop owner whose grim vision of the world allows him to relate to other people only through the miscellaneous things they barter for.
See “O Cheiro do Ralo” on Sunday March 2, 2:20 p.m. at Channelside Cinema.
Other highlights of the festival include two free nights featuring screenings of selected short films (Thursday February 28, 5:15 p.m. and Sunday March 2, 2:35 p.m. both at Channelside Cinema), the Young Filmmakers Series showing work from filmmakers enrolled in high school or college (Sunday March 2, 12:30 p.m at Channelside Cinema), and a Horror Double Feature scheduled for Saturday March 1, 8 p.m. at Channelside Cinema.
Visit Gasparilla Film Festival for a full schedule of screenings and events.
Check each film’s website for trailers, cast listings, and other special features: Kabluey, American Fork, Big Rig and O Cheiro do Ralo
To keep updated on film screenings, festivals, guest speakers, and events see the UT Underground Film Society’s group page on Facebook.