How to Festival

2003 Florida Film Festival Guide

(A/K/A "How to Spend 10 March Days in Utter Delight")

NextArt: What is the potential of digital media in creating great art? This question led the festival and partner UCF on a search that resulted in NextArt: Dynamic Media and the Future of Entertainment. This 4 day immersion features installations, performances, discussions, and university panels among other events. To get the specifics, turn your festival program upside down and backwards. Now there's technology!

Spotlight Films: What U.S. and international films are going to be big news in a few months? Get an early look at them in the Spotlight program.

International Showcase: Trot the globe without leaving the comfort of your theater seat. This exciting program features a view of the world and its cultures in all its glorious diversity. In addition to the five countries represented in the feature program, visit seven more in the International Shorts program.

Special Screenings: This year's program contains a range of mini-programs guaranteed to please every taste: Family Films, Films from Florida, a Music Films Sidebar, Retro Films, and to top it off, a special feature to celebrate Italian Cinema Night.

American Independent Competition: Narrative features, Short films, and Documentaries from the great minds of American independent filmmaking compete for audience and jury awards. These films have been hand picked from hundreds and hundreds of entries, and many are making their premiere at the festival. More than likely, the filmmaker will be sitting in the audience with you, eager to answer questions after the screening.

Midnight Movies: Some of the more (ahem) extreme and wildly entertaining festival films are in this immensely popular late-night program. Trust us, it is worth staying up late.

Student Works: See what the newest batch of film students in Florida are producing in this free program.

Other festival events not to be missed:
· Festival Forums (free and open to the public) covering topics of interest to filmmakers and film lovers alike.
· Festival Celebrations: From Opening Night (Sterling Salutes the Silver Screen) to the Awards Gala (this year at Universal CityWalk) and many times in between, party opportunities abound.
· Spend a relaxing (and FREE) evening in Central Park enjoying Buster Keaton's classic The General, still one of the best films ever made. Bring a lawn chair, a loved one, and a bottle of wine for an evening sure to be remembered.
· Buy a T-shirt or cap at Festival Headquarters in Downtown Winter Park. Festival merchandise is more audacious than ever (fest undies and temporary tatoos?!?)
· Just hang around between films, strike up a conversation, and make new friends.