Something appealing,
something appalling. Something for everyone, a comedy, a tragedy, a
documentary, something you've not seen anywhere else... tonight! Yes,
it's the 33rd Florida Film Festival, Road Trip For Yer Mind edition!
Since In Focus
Magazine has been covering the FFF for the last 33 years, you know how much we
anticipate the next 10 days of sitting in the dark with both strange friends
and friendly strangers, exchanging notes on what we've seen and what's coming
up. Our anticipation probably pales in comparison to that of those
associated with the films, many of whom are having their very first audience
showing here at the FFF.
So here's a brief
guide to some films which we can recommend as you're putting your schedule
together. Many thanks to the Directors, Producers and marketing staff who
reached out and provided advance links to their films.
Fck’n Nuts is 12 minutes of
hysterical gore, brought to you by the disturbed and twisted mind of Sam Fox. With Fck’n Nuts, Fox takes aim at the
‘meet the parents’ genre, but these parents are NOT the in-laws you’ll come to love once you know them! Co-produced by Joe Badon (2023's Blood of the Dinosaur) and Cosmic Family
Films, Fck’n Nuts has already garnered numerous awards worldwide. Tapping into her unique style of cinematic color
oversaturation, Fox gives us much that is cringeworthy, everything a midnight
short should be!
Fuck'n Nuts opens with a
shot of a darkened front porch, one where you expect to find a skulking
Freddy/Jason type. When Dan (Vincent
Stalba) shows up with flowers to profess his undying love to his girl Sandy
(Maddie Nichols), she tries and fails to warn him off, knowing what happened to
her last crop of suitors. Fox tells In
Focus that the film is based on her own childhood, with parents who were
“literally F-ing Nuts”, and that she watches horror to unwind. This takes “write what you know” out of the
parking lot and straight into the waiting room of the insane asylum. Midnight Shorts showings: 4/13 11:59 PM/Enzian
and 4/19 11:59 PM/Regal Winter Park Village.
If God is all
powerful and represents forgiveness and love, why are people forced to bear
horrific illnesses and loss? It’s a
question that’s been the source of debates, most recently in Anthony Hopkin’s 2024
film, Freud’s Last Session and one
which arises again in The Way We Speak, an entry into the
Narrative Features Competition. In this
film, artfully directed by Ian Ebright, the existence or absence of God is
debated by Simon (Patrick Fabian), a pro-science essayist and atheist, and best-selling
Christian author Sarah (Kailey Rhodes). The
very arrogant Simon is married to Claire (Diana Coconubo) a successful surgeon,
who is dying of cancer. Simon is openly angry
at Claire for accepting her fate, because, of course, it’s all about him. Sarah takes an instant dislike to Simon, both
on and off stage, based more on the verbal abuse he doles out to Claire than on
what he says during the debates. Simon also
sees himself as a Don Juan, living under the mistaken idea that all he’s
irresistible to women.
Very quickly, Sarah
begins to get under Simon’s skin and the more that thorn pricks him, the more
he lashes out at everyone around him. We
watch Simon fence with the world as it spins out of control. Especially when he learns Sarah is hiding a
secret that cuts to the heart of one of his closest relationships. Though he is a debater and uses words as
tools, Simon is a failure when it comes to communicating with those closest to
him. Showings: 4/13 12PM Regal Winter
Park, 4/18 6:15PM Enzian.
Water
For Life is a beautifully shot, engrossing documentary
about the fight for water rights in Latin American communities. Encompassing a 12-year period, three
indigenous peoples in Chile, El Salvador and Honduras take up the fight for the
survival of their tribes and towns against corrupt, polluting multi-national
corporations. The corporations fight
them with lies and brutality, both in court and on the ground. Dams, hydroelectric plants and gold mines are
coming to their sacred, native lands, and the development of all three will
poison the water, the land and the people who have lived for generations in their
communities. When we send exploratory
ships to other planets, what’s the first evidence of life we search for? Water.
Yet here on earth, we poison and squander it, as if there’s an endless
supply. Frightening.
In Water For Life, though
winning the support of outside environmental groups aids the people in their struggle
against immense power, it is the overwhelming strength of will exhibited by
each and every community member that will win your heart. The leaders all face tremendous risks, as do
their families. But they persevere
because they know what is at stake. Each
are willing to be beaten, be imprisoned or even die to preserve what they may
lose for eternity. Producer/Director
Will Parrinello tells In Focus that he is “drawn to the stories of individuals
and communities who are actively struggling to protect the earth for all of us,
the earth which they see as sacred.”
Each of us, like Berta Caceres in Honduras, Alberto Curamil in Chile and
Francisco Pineda in El Salvador, can, in fact, be catalysts for change. Part of
the Documentary Features Competition, showings for Water for Life
are 4/14 11AM at Regal Winter Park, 4/19 1:30PM at Enzian.
Are you
a fan of twisty shows like X-Files or Stranger Things? Enjoy reading Stephen King or Richard
Matheson? New Life,
directed by John Rosman and produced by T. Justin Ross is a Festival film you
don’t want to miss. An entrant in the Narrative Features Competition, the first
10 minutes will suck you in. What is
Jessica (Hayley Erin) running from… or running to? Why is she being hunted by a covert organization? Who can she trust? Why
does Elsa (Sonya Walger), the agent hunting Jessica, have Dylan’s “Like A
Rolling Stone” on constant repeat?
Jessica’s life plan was to see the world – will she get that chance? Oh, and there’s a dog. We’re intentionally keeping
it mysterious here! New Life Showings: 4/14 2:15PM Enzian and 4/17
9:30PM Regal Winter Park
Lady Parts,
another entry in the Narrative Features
Competition, is based on personal experiences from writer/producer Bonnie Gross
and director Nancy Boyd. If you read the
film’s description, you may go ‘vaginal surgery? Eh, not for me’, but you’ll definitely
be missing out. This film is filled with
so much laughter and joy that the medical aspect - vaginal health care - really
takes a backseat to the heartfelt, entertaining, family dynamics.
Lady Parts is more about finding yourself, even if it
means you must return to your childhood bedroom to locate what you lost. You’ll adore Paige (Valentina Tammaro) and
her parents, Linda (Amy Lyndon) and Steve (Peter Larney) as well as the men who
support her on her journey to mental, emotional, and physical health. Some of the best scenes take place around the
dinner table and in bathrooms. Lady
Parts is not about sex. It’s not
about malformed body parts. It’s about recognizing
that when a women internalizes mansplaining, it only makes that woman feel less
able to be strong and powerful. And we
are. We definitely are. Showings:
4/14 5PM Enzian, 4/17 7PM Regal Winter Park
And that
wraps up what In Focus Magazine.com has had the opportunity to preview. Thanks to the exceedingly gracious filmmakers
for sharing their work, many of whom will be in attendance at the Festival! For more information, or to purchase tickets,
please visit Floridafilmfestival.com.