Call it spring break for movie buffs.
Starting Thursday, April 25, the Sunscreen Film Festival begins its 19th season, opening with “Bau, Artist at War,” starring Emile Hirsch (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) and directed by Sean McNamara (“Soul Surfer,” “Reagan.”)
The feature is based on the true story of Joseph and Rebecca Bau, whose wedding took place in the Plaszow concentration camp during World War II, an event memorialized in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List.” It is a war drama, love story, and espionage tale. Using his artistic skills and his sense of humor in the camps, Joseph Bau survives and helps hundreds to escape. He finds love in the midst of despair, a love to last a lifetime.
Another festival highlight: “The Green Flash,” in which 70-year-old Steve Lamb knows everyone in St. Pete Beach, and everyone knows him. As he peddles his memoir, “The Smuggler’s Ghost: When Marijuana Turned a Florida Teen into a Millionaire Fugitive,” viewers learn how he garnered local fame decades ago, and how he intends to keep it.
Longtime Chicago restaurateur and Emmy Award-winning TV personality Billy Dec recently opened Sunda New Asian in Tampa. “Food Roots” follows him as he sets off to his mother’s native Philippines to find his last living relative, learn the recipes of his ancestors, and gain a deeper understanding of his cultural and culinary identity.
A diverse schedule
The festival will present 28 features from the United States and around the world, plus 150 short films across 21 different thematic blocks.
“We’re excited to present a diverse and entertaining group of films for this year,” programming director Doug Tschirhart said. “The 2024 festival has something for everyone: comedy, action, social commentary, love, tragedy, and fun. With so many films to choose from, people of all tastes will find something to enjoy.”
More than half of the 2024 movies were written, directed, or produced by women. The schedule comprises local and Florida-made films, including high school and college shorts, plus a strong selection of works by people of color and those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Drawing Movie Buffs to St. Pete
“Not only is the Sunscreen Film Festival the longest-running and largest mainstream film festival in the Tampa Bay area,” co-founder Tony Armer said, “but it has become globally recognized. This festival has really put the St. Pete-Clearwater area on the film-world map. It’s been amazing to see the thousands of people who have traveled in to attend and the positive effect it’s had on the area over the years.”
The festival is organized and presented by the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Film Society, Inc., with support from the St. Pete/Clearwater Film Commission. It runs April 25-28 at AMC Sundial 12, 151 2nd Ave. N, St. Petersburg. The awards ceremony will be held Saturday, April 27 at The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art located at 150 Central Ave. For information, including a complete schedule, please go to sunscreenfilmfestival.com.
