‘Spare Parts’ with George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis kicks off Sunscreen Film Festival
The Sunscreen Film Festival – the longest running mainstream film festival in Tampa Bay – has officially announced its selection of films for the 2016 event, which returns to St. Petersburg Thursday, April 28 through Sunday, May 1.
Presented by the St. Petersburg Clearwater Film Commission, the 11th annual festival will feature more than 100 films in the following categories:
- Documentary Features
- Narrative Features
- Latin Features (including several award winners)
- Sci-Fi Dramas
- Comedy Shorts
- Animated Shorts
- Drama Shorts
- Florida Shorts
- Web Series
- Latin Shorts
- French Shorts
- Student Films
- University of Tampa Shorts
Highlights include:
Spare Parts: The Opening Night selection, Spare Parts – based on a true story; is a drama starring George Lopez, Marisa Tomei and Jamie Lee Curtis and directed by Sean McNamara – follows four Hispanic high school students with no experience or real funding as their rag-tag team builds a robotics program from the ground up, eventually taking on the country’s reigning robotics champion: MIT.
The Narrative Feature will kick off the 11th Annual Sunscreen Film Festival, with a screening on April 28 at 7 p.m., following a star-studded red carpet event.
Embrace of the Serpent: The first of two 2016 Oscar-nominated films selected, the Latin Feature Film (original title: El abrazo de la serpiente) will be screened on Friday, April 29 at 7 p.m. Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, the Embrace the Serpent is based on real events and is directed by Ciro Guerra, starring Nilbio Torres, Jan Bijvoet and Antonio Bolivar. The film depicts the story of an Amazonian shaman (and last remaining survivor of his people) and two scientists, exploring their relationship over the course of 40 years spent in search of a sacred healing plant.
Ave Maria: The French Short – nominated for a 2016 Oscar for Best Short Film, Live Action – follows the story of five nuns living in the West Bank wilderness whose silent routine is disrupted when an Israeli family breaks down outside the convent walls as Sabbath begins. The film is directed by Basil Khalil and stars Huda Al Imam, Ruth Farhi and Maya Koren.
“Each year we are blown away by the hundreds of submissions received and the talent behind each,” said Dwight Cenac, Sunscreen Film Festival director. “We are thrilled with the final group of films selected; we look forward to sharing them with festival goers and working with our filmmakers, stars and top industry professionals to make the 2016 festival the best yet.”
A complete list of selected films can be found here and follows. Single day passes, VIP passes and single film showing tickets are available for purchase here.
In addition to film screenings, Sunscreen Film Festival will once again offer attendees the opportunity to develop their own craft by participating in educational workshops taught by film industry experts. The Festival also features evening parties and events, including a celebrity meet and greet, an Opening Night party, VIP events and more.
