Actors, artists, directors, filmmakers and events in the news May 15-21, 2021

Grouped under headings that include art openings, film, outdoor art fairs and festivals and theater are advances, announcements and articles about the actors, artists, filmmakers and events making news in Southwest Florida this week:

1      FORT MYERS FILM FESTIVAL

The 11th Annual Fort Myers Film Festival runs through May 16

The 11th annual Fort Myers Film Festival runs through May 16, 2021, with venues at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, IMAG History and Science Center and the Laboratory Theater of Florida. It all started with a red carpet gala at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center on May 12, and will end there on Sunday evening with a 6:00 p.m. awards ceremony and after-party at Sidney’s in the new sculpture garden on the roof of the Davis Art Center.

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A FMFF venue, Lab Theater will screen three films on festival’s final day

The 11^th Annual Fort Myers Film Festival returns to the downtown Fort Myers River District May 12-16. While most of the films will screen in the grand atrium of the historic Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, FMFF will show select films at the Alliance for the Arts, Edison Ford Winter Estates, IMAG History & Science Center and the Laboratory Theater of Florida.

Located at 1634 Woodford Ave, the Laboratory Theater of Florida offers fresh, edgy, award-winning theater, as well as theatrical opportunities and education to playwrights & actors of all ages. It will screen three films on the final day of the film festival, which is Sunday, May 16.

You will find the rest of this announcement here.

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‘Bachelors of Broken Hill Farm’ an award-winning LGBTQ historical documentary

One of the films that will be shown by the Fort Myers Film Festival this year is Erika Yeomans’ award-winning LGBTQ historical documentary The Bachelors of Broken Hill Farm, which is based on the lives of Golden Era radio actors and writers Frank Provo and John Pickard. It screens at 4:30 p.m. on May 13 at the Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center and at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 16 at the Laboratory Theater of Florida.

The Bachelors of Broken Hill Farm is the true life soap opera of actors, writers and gentleman farmers Frank Provo and John Pickard. In the early 1930s, they fell in love while working on a radio program in San Francisco and went on to become a successful writing team for various radio and television programs (Wendy Warren and the News, Young Dr. Malone, From These Roots, Love of Life). In this documentary, there are no talking heads. The script is based entirely on letters, interviews and the diaries of Frank, John, their actor friends and family.

Their voices are brought to life by professional actors.

The rest of this preview is here.

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Spotlight on ‘Pose Down’ and ‘Bachelors of Broken Hills Farm’ filmmaker Erika Yeomans

Erika Yeomans has two films in the Fort Myers Film Festival. The first is the  throwback feature Pose Down, a film about accepting your actions and facing your past. The second is The Bachelors of Broken Hill Farm, a stylized archival documentary about forbidden love and a life devoted to the arts.

Over the years, Erika Yeomans has created an extensive body of work in theater, mixed media and film.

The rest of this profile can be found here.

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‘Every Second Counts’ features local actors and locations

One of the strictly local short films in this year’s Fort Myers Film Festival is Jeff Frey’s Every Second Counts. A story about people who become intertwined without being conscious of their connection, on a grand scale the film asks whether a second can change someone’s life forever or we’re destined to fall into the same addictions no matter what.

Frey (2nd image) both wrote and directed the film. It’s his fifth project. His others consist of the 2020 short film The Bartender’s Guide (in which he also plays a bartender), the 2020 drama A Summer to Remember (which he produced and plays the part of Don Jamison), the 2019 short A Related Matter (which he directed and played the role of James Founder) and the 2019 short film Retentissant (which he directed and produced).

Go here for the rest of this advance.

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Cassidy Reyes plays recovering heroin addict in ‘Every Second Counts’ short film

One of the strictly local short films in this year’s Fort Myers Film Festival is Jeff Frey’s Every Second Counts. It’s a story about people who become intertwined without being conscious of their connection. On a grand scale, the film asks whether a second can change someone’s life forever or we’re destined to fall into the same addictions no matter what.

Cassidy Reyes plays the lead. Her character is a recovering heroin addict who is looking for a job as she tries to restore normalcy to her shattered life.

“Usually, I have some kind of life experiences in common with the characters I play,” says Reyes.

Fortunately, she has no first-hand experience with heroin addiction.

“But I was lucky enough to have an assistant director who’s known some recovering addicts and she reached out to them for guidance.”

Go here for the rest of this article.

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Spotlight on ‘Every Second Counts’ actor Jewelissa Gonzalez

Jewelissa Gonzalez is one of the actors in the cast of Jeff Frey’s Every Second Counts. She plays the role of Laura.

Gonzalez is a relative newcomer to the film acting. Although she studied drama in high school at Manhattan’s Graphics Communication Arts, she didn’t land her first role until after she relocated to Southwest Florida. That occurred when local filmmaker Curtis Collins cast her in the part of Rebecca in Hanging Millstone.

Not long after, she got a call from HBO, which was producing an original series called Ballers. While it wasn’t a speaking part, the experience exposed Jewelissa to A-List celebrities and validated her desire to establish a career in film.

Go here for more.

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Isaac Osin film, ’22 Every Day,’ portrays day in the life of combat vet coping with PTSD

One of the short films that will be screened during this year’s Fort Myers Film Festival is Isaac Osin’s 22 Every Day. The movie follows a military combat veteran as he goes about his daily routine, showing how he relives his experiences during the war years later.

With the war in Afghanistan coming to end this Fall, there is renewed interest in how a new generation of combat veterans will deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the aftermath of 20 years of armed conflict. But tens of thousands of Vietnam combat vets are still grappling with PTSD nearly half a century after that war ended.

The rest of this advance is here.

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Chance meeting at the Alliance leads to the filming of ’22 Every Day’

One of the short films that will be screened during this year’s Fort Myers Film Festival is 22 Every Day. The movie follows a military combat veteran as he goes about his daily routine, showing how he still relives his experiences during the war many years later. But for a chance meeting, though, 22 Every Day may have very well have never been made.

“I met Dr. Joe Reyes at the Alliance for the Arts and he mentioned he was president of United Film & Television Artists,” Osin relates.

The rest of this story is here.

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Maryann Connolly sighting

Isaac Osin’s short drama screens during the Fort Myers Film Festival. Drawing attention to the struggles of combat vets coping with PTSD, the film features three former military people, Richard Bowers, Paul Croteau and Pedro De Armas, along with Joann Dinnen and Maryann Connolly.

“Maryann Connolly is a granddaughter of one of the veterans. You only really see her in photographs, and then she makes a phone call,” Osin notes.

“She’s a professional. She’s great.”

Connolly is singer, songwriter, model and stage and film actor. Her stage credits are impressive and growing all the time. She is also no stranger to advocacy and activism. Her cause is bullying. As a Star Champion for the National Organization Champions Against Bullying, Maryann travels across the country promoting her cause to put an end to bullying with her music. In this effort, she has worked on a global project called Fashion Against Bullying or FAB. Maryann was also on the Teen Advisory Board for Make A Wish.

For more on Ms. Connolly, go here.

22 Every Day will actually screen twice during this year’s Fort Myers Film Festival. It is part of Local Shorts Block 1 that begins at noon on Saturday, Mary 15 in the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center (along with Jeff Frey’s Every Second Counts, Prometheus Bound by Maddalena Kingsley, The Knife by Karen Whitaker and J. Bert Davis, and Waiting for Me by Glendalina Ziemba). And it will be shown a second time at the Laboratory Theater of Florida at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 16.

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In ‘Waiting for Me,’ trans woman realizes she’s already the woman she’s waiting to become

Waiting for Me is one of the films that will be screened by the Fort Myers Film Festival during Local Block 1 at noon on Saturday, May 15 in the historic Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. Written and directed by and co-starring Glendalina Ziemba, the 12 minute short revolves around a transgender woman as she meditates on being a woman and envisions a time in her life when she will become a complete woman. Her puppet friend, Diane’s sandwich antics are juxtaposed against the woman’s idleness in prayer leading to the ultimate realization that she is already the woman she’s been waiting to become.

The rest of this preview is here.

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‘Hot Dog Steering Wheel’ about hot dogs, family and the grieving process

The Fort Myers Film Festival is screening Meg Favreau’s film Hot Dog Steering Wheel on Saturday, May 15. Meg describes herself as an absurdist comedian grounded in emotion, and her film is about hot dogs, family and the grieving process as Gwen discovers when her hot dog drive does not go as planned.

“I believe life is both absurdly funny and brutally difficult — often at the same time,” says Meg. “The films that really delight me build surprising, humorous, off-kilter worlds, then tell deeply human stories in those spaces. That was my goal with Hot Dog Steering Wheel — to cross tone and genre to tell a story that’s simultaneously absurd and cathartic.”

The rest of this preview is here.

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‘Now You See Us’ parodies invisibility of ageism in modern-day society

Now You See Us is one of the short films that the Fort Myers Film Festival is screening this year. The film features an all-female cast and crew.

The short opens with a sixty-something actress by the name of Caroline (Caroline Ryburn) repeating her peculiar pre-audition routine for the thousandth time when suddenly the door to the minuscule waiting area opens. In enters not the casting director, but her career-long rival, Barb (Barbara Miluski). The catty hopefuls wait, bicker, rehearse, then bicker some more… Finally they are ushered into an equally dreary and horrendously stuffy casting room.

The rest of this advance is here.

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Spotlight on ‘Now You See Us’ director and editor Romina Schwedler

Now You See Us is one of the short films that the Fort Myers Film Festival is screening this year. Romina Schwedler not only directed and edited the film, she adapted the screenplay from a play titled Boom that was written by one of the film’s stars, Barbara Miluski.

Schwedler read Miluski’s script and fell in love with the story while she was in the final stages of an intensive festival run with The Visit, a psychological short drama starring Academy Award® Nominee June Squibb (Nebraska, Shameless) and Sean Maher (Serenity, Firefly). The Visit not only gained entry into 47 film festivals (among them Oscar® Qualifying HollyShorts, Cinequest, and St. Louis International Film Festival, as well as the SAG-AFTRA Short Film Showcase and Catalina Film Festival), it earned 12 awards, 16 nominations, and 5 special mentions (including the Millie Award for Best Director, Best Short Film, and Best Overall Festival Film).

In fact, the Fort Myers Film Festival was among those 47 festivals for which The Visit became an official selection.

Go here for more on Romina Schwedler’s extensive acting and direction credits.

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Spotlight on ‘Now You See Us’ actor Barbara Miluski

Now You See Us is one of the short films that the Fort Myers Film Festival is screening this year. Romina Schwedler directed, edited and adapted the screenplay from a play titled Boom that was written by one of the film’s stars, Barbara Miluski.

In addition to Now You See Us, Miluski’s film credits include Dr. Fish in the short film Her Favorite Patient (2020), a waitress in the short Sure-Fire (2017), a cook in the short The Foster Portfolio (2017), Wake (2015), Sandy in the short What’s Eating Dad (2014), Vi/South in the short Super Grannies Bridge Club (2013), Babs in the short Walkie Buddies (2013) …. Go here for more on Barbara’s film and other credits.

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Spotlight on ‘Now You See Us’ actor Caroline Ryburn

Now You See Us is one of the short films that the Fort Myers Film Festival is screening this year. It stars Barbara Miluski and Caroline Ryburn.

Caroline Ryburn is known for her work in both theater and film.

Besides Now You See Us, her film and TV credits include the role of Max’s mom in two episodes of the TV Mini-Series Life Sucks (2018), Edweenie in Lords of the Bowery (2018) and Jane Farnsworth in Finding Jane. Caroline will also be seen as Iris in Mouse (a psychological thriller that is expected to be released and begin its film festival run in 2021) and Gisele in the short film Rivka? (which is in post-production). The rest of Caroline’s film and other credits are here.

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‘About Frances’ examines the act of storytelling in face of a slippery truth

Filmmaker and FMFF alum Jordan Axelrod is back. This year the Fort Myers Film Festival screens his latest short, a 20-minute character study titled About Frances that tracks two parallel storylines.

In the first, the ghostwriter of a family matriarch’s memoirs aims to protect the unexpected story she left behind. In the second plotline, a street performer on the other side of the city who is in search of an audience tinkers hopefully with a new song.

Go here for the rest of this advance.

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‘Open House 1-4’ satirizes social class, ethnic profiling

After previewing earlier this year at TGIM (Thank God for Indie Monday), Open House 1-4 returns to the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center’s grand atrium for the big show, the Fort Myers Film Festival itself. It’s a venue in which the film’s snooty realtor (played by Tanya Christiansen) would feel right at home. Shot on location in a swanky million dollar mansion down Tamiami Trail in Naples, Florida, Open House 1-4 satirizes social class, ethnic profiling and making assumptions based solely on the presence (or absence) of the trappings of success.

The rest of this preview is here.

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Spotlight on ‘Open House’ star Tanya Christiansen

One of the short films that the Fort Myers Film Festival will be screening this year is Open House 1-4 by Naples-based screenwriter and director Brad Holloway. It follows a snooty realtor specializing in high-end residential properties who uses a combination of upper class and ethnic profiling to “pre-qualify” the prospective buyers who show up at her open houses. Tanya Christiansen stars in the role of the impertinent realtor.

The Tennessee native began her acting career on stage doing local theater. Following her graduation from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Consumer Sciences, she landed an on-air job as host for a home shopping channel selling everything from jewelry to exercise equipment and clothing. Christiansen credits the job with not only making her comfortable in front of the camera, but giving her the opportunity to fine-tune her improvisational skills.

National commercials, television pilots, and feature films soon followed.

The rest of Tanya Christiansen’s spotlight is here.

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Spotlight on ‘Open House’ actor Chellie Garcia

One of the short films that the Fort Myers Film Festival will be screening this year is Open House 1-4 by Naples-based screenwriter and director Brad Holloway. It follows a snooty realtor who specializes in high-end residential properties who uses a combination of upper class and ethnic profiling to “pre-qualify” the prospective buyers who show up at her open houses. So when a Cubano couple arrive, music blaring, in sedan with no hubcaps, Ms. Pretentious cannot get rid of them fast enough. Chellie Garcia plays the Latina wife.

Garcia is a Cuban-American actor, singer and songwriter. Chellie started performing live shows at age five, fronting bands made-up of some of Miami’s best professional musicians. Introduced to theatre at eleven, she fell in love and quickly began performing across New York City with a local drama company. Before she knew it, Chellie found herself hanging out on television show sets such as NBCs Third Watch and Whoopi.

Chellie has played a diverse range of characters, effortlessly, landing roles in a number of music videos, TV pilots (such as David Rush Firm (2020)) and commercials.

The rest of this spotlight is here.

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Spotlight on ‘Open House’ actor Donna Rae Allen

One of the short films that the Fort Myers Film Festival will be screening this year is Open House 1-4 by Naples-based screenwriter and director Brad Holloway. It follows a snooty realtor specializing in high-end residential properties who uses a combination of upper class and ethnic profiling to “pre-qualify” the prospective buyers who show up at her open houses. One of the characters who makes the grade is the Wealthy Wife, played by Donna Rae Allen.

Allen has enjoyed a successful career in the entertainment business, working in movies, television, industrial films, and commercials in the 1980s-1990s. She was most noted for her role as Winona Donnelly in Dick Wolf’s television series South Beach (1992). Donna was also cast as a principal in several national advertising campaigns, including Proctor & Gamble’s Febreze, Lipton mini-meals, Royal Caribbean, Sea-Doo and Norwegian Cruise Lines.

The rest of Donna Rae Allen’s profile is here.

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‘The Wild Divide’ underscores need for large-scale habitat connectivity

Each year, the Florida Film Festival features documentaries that explore environmental themes and educate its audiences on a range of ecological issues. The Wild Divide is one such film. It is characterized by breathtaking macro and micro cinematography, exceptional production value and considered and thought-provoking content.

The Lake Wales Ridge is an ancient ribbon of sand dunes that is a hotspot for biodiversity found nowhere else in the world. It is also a place steeped in a long tradition of ranching and agriculture. Both are threatened by the rapid pace of development in Florida’s interior, which is facilitated by U.S. 27, a highway that bisects and is pushing the Florida Wildlife Corridor to the breaking point.

You will find the rest of this preview here.

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Spotlight on ‘The Wild Divide’ filmmakers Eric Bendick and Danny Schmidt

The Fort Myers Film Festival will screen The Wild Divide in the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center during Local Block 2 beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 15. Directed by Eric Bendick and Danny Schmidt, The Wild Divide is denoted by exceptional production value (including breathtaking macro and micro cinematography and crystal clear studio-quality sound) and considered, thought-provoking content that makes a strong argument for preserving and protecting the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Eric Bendick is an Emmy-winning writer, director and series producer. He has led filming expeditions in the Florida Everglades, the Grand Canyon, the Great Bear Rainforest, the Alaska Range, and to the most remote spot in Yellowstone National Park.

The rest of this spotlight is here.

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‘Pose Down’ deals with issues shared by women struggling for independence and identity

Erika Yeomans’ first indie feature Pose Down was shot in Fort Myers in 2006 with a mostly local cast. It is being shown as one of this year’s throwback indies at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 15 in the historic Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center.

Pose Down is a dark comedy set in Southwest Florida that revolves around three former high school classmates, a bodybuilder, a good ol’ boy and the homecoming queen. Years later, their lives become unexpectedly entangled after a tabloid news program is aired.

Go here for the rest of this preview.

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‘The Knife’ is a ‘strictly local’ Fort Myers Film Festival ‘throwback’

The Fort Myers Film Festival has added a new category of films this year. The festival is featuring a number of “Throwbacks,” such as The Knife, a 2011 short film written, directed and produced by Karen Whitaker and J. Bert Davis whose sequel once removed, Ring, was FMFF’s “Audience Favorite Film” in 2016.

In The Knife, Stephanie thinks her husband is cheating on her with her bestie, Karen. That night, Stephanie and Terry attend a party at Karen’s house.

The rest of this post is here.

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‘The Knife’ may have inspired Stephanie Davis to go into directing

When Karen Whitaker and Bert Davis decided to make their first film, they made the tactical decision to only invite friends who had no acting experience whatsoever to be part of the cast. “We’re so bad that we’re good” was their governing mantra. But they made on important exception. They brought in the Downtown Diva, to anchor their cast. By 2011, the ineffable Stephanie Davis had already left her imprint on the local theater scene.

The fact that Davis would make any impact in theater here, or anywhere, seems in retrospect to be highly unlikely. After all, she never made it past the eighth grade.

The rest of this story is here.

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Terry Tincher’s role in ‘The Knife’ presaged Ghostbird stage appearances

There’s a reunion coming to the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center on Saturday, May 15. At 10:00 p.m., the Fort Myers Film Festival is bringing back The Knife, the seminal short film by which Karen Whitaker and J. Bert Davis cut their filmmaking teeth. And one of the stars of that flick was Terry Tincher, who plays a husband who may be stepping out on his wife, played by Diva Diaries’ Stephanie Davis.

Tincher has been a fixture in Southwest Florida art circles for more than 30 years. Besides representing collectors on both sides of the sales transaction, Terry founded Tincture Art Gallery and Space 39, unquestionably the coolest art bar in downtown Fort Myers.

The rest of this article is here.

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‘The New Abolitionists’ more than a passion project for filmmaker Christina Zorich

Actor/director Christina Zorich’s sex trafficking documentary, The New Abolitionists, screens at the Fort Myers Film Festival at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 16. It’s an important film that tracks the efforts of four ministries and related NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to rescue children and teens who have been entrapped and enslaved in the sex trade in Cambodia and Thailand. With over 11 million sex slaves, Asia is considered the most trafficked region in the world.

The documentary puts boots on the ground in spite of the risk to both the filmmakers and the members of the NGOs they followed. In fact, Zorich’s mother, Olympia Dukakis, warned her at the outset of the project to protect herself.

You will find the rest of this advance here.

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Spotlight on ‘The New Abolitionists’ filmmaker Christina Zorich

Actor/director Christina Zorich’s sex trafficking documentary, The New Abolitionists, screens at the Fort Myers Film Festival at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 16. It’s an important film that tracks the efforts of four ministries and related NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to rescue children and teens who have been entrapped and enslaved in the sex trade in Cambodia and Thailand.

The rest of Christina’s spotlight is here.

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Numerous SWFL groups battling human trafficking

Actor/director Christina Zorich’s sex trafficking documentary, The New Abolitionists, screens at the Fort Myers Film Festival at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 16. It’s an important film that tracks the efforts of four ministries and related NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to rescue children and teens who have been entrapped and enslaved in the sex trade in Cambodia and Thailand.

But human trafficking is a global phenomenon, and trafficking of all forms, including but not limited to labor and sex, is present in great numbers here in Florida.

In fact, last year Florida ranked third nationally when it comes to human trafficking cases.

Go here for the balance of this expose.

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FMFF announces ‘Lost Film of Nuremberg’ documentary as closing film

On November 20, 1945, an international military tribunal was convened for the purpose of putting more than 20 high Nazi officials, including 4 members of the Armed Forces High Command, on trial for war crimes and crimes against peace and humanity. Today, it is known as “the Nuremberg trial” and it represented the first time in history that film and photographs were employed as evidence against defendants. At the same time, the lead prosecutor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, wanted a film made documenting the trial in order to show the German public that their leaders had been given a fair trial and had, essentially, convicted themselves. He also envisioned that the film would provide an enduring lesson for posterity. But the United States War Department suppressed the film’s U.S. release, presumably because it would undermine public support for rebuilding Germany and combatting Soviet expansionism. That film has now been restored and will be shown for the very first time in the United States on the closing day of this year’s Fort Myers Film Festival.

Please go here for the rest of this advance.

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Saga of Schulberg and Zigman’s Nuremberg trial documentary

The 1948 film Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today will be screened for the very first time in the United States at the Fort Myers Film Festival. Although Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson expected the film to provide an enduring lesson for posterity, the U.S. War Department suppressed the film’s release. Now, 73 years later, cineastes attending the final day of this year’s FMFF will finally get to see the film that documented the prosecution of more than 20 high Nazi officials (including four members of the Nazi High Command) using original footage compiled by Joseph Goebbels’ Reich Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment documenting the rise of the National Socialist Party as well as the concentration camps created to exterminate Jews, homosexuals and others deemed undesirable by the Reich.

The rest of this preview is here.

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The Nuremberg Trial defendants

On Sunday, May 16, the Fort Myers Film Festival will screen Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today. Made between 1946 and 1948, the documentary chronicles the 11-month-long Nuremberg trial that ended October 1, 1946.

Memories fade with the passage of time, so it is worthwhile recalling who the defendants were and why they were on trial. Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler were not among those under indictment. They had committed suicide in the waning days of World War II. But more than 20 high-level Nazi officials sat in the Nuremberg courtroom. These were the most notorious of the defendants:

• Hermann Goering
• Ernst Kaltenbrunner
• Alfred Rosenberg
• Joachim Von Ribbentrop
• Hans Frank
• Rudolf Hess
• Albert Speer

Go here to learn more.

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SWFL filmmaker KC Schulberg to receive lifetime achievement award at FMFF

The Fort Myers Film Festival will award Southwest Florida filmmaker KC Schulberg with a lifetime achievement award on the final day of this year’s festival during the awards ceremony that will follow the screening of The Lost Film of Nuremberg and the ensuing filmmakers’ panel discussion about the importance of film in the Nuremberg trials and its relevance today.

Schulberg got his start in film at the age of five when he appeared as an extra in his father’s and uncle’s 1958 movie Wind Across the Everglades (which was shot in Chokoloskee). Eleven years later, he got his start in social activism as the youngest (16-year-old) marshal serving the Poor People’s Campaign & March on Washington in 1968.

Go here for the rest of this announcement.

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FMFF announces panelists for final day of discussion about importance of film

This year’s Fort Myers Film Festival opens May 12 with a red carpet gala and the screening of the Caytha Jentis comedy Pooling to Paradise and closes with an awards ceremony on Sunday, May 16 that takes place in the grand atrium of the historic Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. Before the awards ceremony there will be a panel, free to the public, that has been organized to discuss the importance and power of filmmaking in addition to truth in storytelling and media coverage.

The panelists will include:

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FMFF confers ‘best of’ awards in seven categories

The 11^th Annual Fort Myers Film Festival concluded Sunday night (May 16) with an awards ceremony and after-party that was held in the new sculptural garden atop the historic Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center.

In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated shut-downs and quarantines, Director Eric Raddatz, Producer Melissa DeHaven and Programming Director Leslie Cimino received, watched and evaluated more than 400 submissions, jurying 60 outstanding local, national and international films into this year’s festival. While every film and filmmaker who made it into the festival is a winner just by virtue of being screened, the Fort Myers Film Festival awarded “best of” in several categories, as follows:

Go here to see who won.

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2       BONITA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Bonita International Film Festival takes place May 21-23, 2021

The Bonita International Film Festival (BIFF) opens Friday, May 21 with Paint, a dramedy about three friends from art school who are struggling to start their careers in the bizarre New York City art world while trying to figure themselves out and get by economically. Written and directed by Michael Walker, the film stars Josh Caras (The Highwaymen, The Glass Castle), Olivia Luccardi (Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block, It Follows) and Paul Cooper (The Gifted, Westworld).

Over the next two days, BIFF will present more than 60 carefully-curated narrative, documentary, animation and short films from around the world.

The rest of this announcement is here.

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BIFF 2021 opens May 21 with ‘Paint’ and NightBird

The Bonita International Film Festival (BIFF) opens Friday, May 21 with Paint, a dramedy about three friends from art school who are struggling to start their careers in the bizarre New York City art world while trying to figure themselves out and get by economically. Written and directed by Michael Walker, the film stars Josh Caras (The Highwaymen, The Glass Castle), Olivia Luccardi (Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block, It Follows) and Paul Cooper (The Gifted, Westworld).

Prior to the screening, there will be a cocktail reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres beginning at 5:00 p.m. Then NightBird takes the stage at 8:00 p.m. to regale filmmakers, cineastes, art lovers and those who just love soulful rock ‘n roll with covers from Steve Nicks ranging from her early career with Fleetwood Mac into anthology as a solo artist.

Go here for more.

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‘Paint’ follows three aspiring Brooklyn artists who dare to dream

The Bonita International Film Festival (BIFF) opens Friday, May 21 with a 5:00 p.m. cocktail part, Paint and a concert by the Stevie Nicks concert band NightBird.

Paint is a character-driven dramedy about three young artists living in Brooklyn. A year out of art school, they are not only trying to make it in the art world, they’re trying to figure out who they are and what they need and want.

Each aspiring artist has their heart set on achieving success in the New York art world. (Cue up Old Blue Eyes …. Because if “I can make it there, I can make it anywhere, New York, New York”).But their trajectory is as unexpected and distinct as a Bob Rauschenberg Combine or Warhol silkscreen.

You will find the rest of this preview here.

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Spotlight on ‘Paint’ actor Olivia Luccardi

The Bonita International Film Festival (BIFF) opens Friday, May 21 with a 5:00 p.m. cocktail part, Paint and a concert by the Stevie Nicks concert band NightBird.

Paint is a dramedy about three friends from art school who are struggling to start their careers in the bizarre New York City art world while trying to figure themselves out and get by economically. Written and directed by Michael Walker, the film stars Josh Caras (The Highwaymen, The Glass Castle), Paul Cooper (The Gifted, Westworld) and Olivia Luccardi.

The rest of Olivia’s spotlight is here.

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Spotlight on ‘Paint’ actor Josh Caras

The Bonita International Film Festival (BIFF) opens Friday, May 21 with a 5:00 p.m. cocktail part, Paint and a concert by the Stevie Nicks concert band NightBird.

Paint is a dramedy about three friends from art school who are struggling to start their careers in the bizarre New York City art world while trying to figure themselves out and get by economically. Written and directed by Michael Walker, the film stars Paul Cooper (The Gifted, Westworld), Olivia Luccardi (Money Monster, Orange is the New Black) and Josh Caras, who plays the part of Dan Pierson.

More on Josh Caras can be found here.

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Spotlight on ‘Paint’ actor Paul Cooper

The Bonita International Film Festival (BIFF) opens Friday, May 21 with a 5:00 p.m. cocktail part, Paint and a concert by the Stevie Nicks concert band NightBird.

Paint is a dramedy about three friends from art school who are struggling to start their careers in the bizarre New York City art world while trying to figure themselves out and get by economically. Written and directed by Michael Walker, the film stars Josh Caras (Good Boys, The Highwayman, The Glass Castle), Olivia Luccardi (Money Monster, Orange is the New Black) and Paul Cooper, who plays the part of Quinn Donahue. He also played that role in the eponymous TV movie too.

Go here for the rest of this spotlight.

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Spotlight on ‘Paint’ actor Amy Hargreaves

The Bonita International Film Festival (BIFF) opens Friday, May 21 with a 5:00 p.m. cocktail part, Paint and a concert by the Stevie Nicks concert band NightBird.

Paint is a dramedy about three friends from art school who are struggling to start their careers in the bizarre New York City art world while trying to figure themselves out and get by economically. Written and directed by Michael Walker, the film stars Josh Caras (Good Boys, The Highwayman, The Glass Castle), Olivia Luccardi (Money Monster, Orange is the New Black), Paul Cooper and Amy Hargreaves.

Go here for the rest of this spotlight.

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‘Dating Amber’ refreshing take on fears of being different, being judged, coming out

Dating Amber (originally titled Beards) is an Irish dramedy directed by David Freyne. The 92-minute film features two closeted teens in 1990s Ireland who decide to fake a straight relationship in order to fit in. It will be screened by the Bonita International Film Festival on Saturday, May 22 at 12:30 p.m.

The film explores what it was like to be a gay teenager in Ireland in the mid-90s. While the movie is most relatable to the LGBT community, it captures the feelings many have during adolescence – the feeling of being different, the fear of being judged. The comedy follows Eddie (Fionn O’Shea), a closeted gay teen training for a cadet exam to join the army and follow in his father’s footsteps. The rest of this preview is here.

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‘Dating Amber’ actor Fionn O’Shea in the frame

Dating Amber (originally titled Beards) is an Irish dramedy directed by David Freyne. The 92-minute film follows Eddie, a closeted gay teen training for a cadet exam to join the army and follow in his father’s footsteps. After homophobic taunting from his small town classmates leads to a disastrous attempt at proving his heterosexuality, Eddie is approached by Amber,  a fellow closeted outcast who is also tired of being tormented at school. Fionn O’Shea plays the role of Eddie.

Los Angeles Times Digital Editor Tracy Brown raved about his performance, writing that he was especially adept at “preserving Eddie’s humanity even as he lashes out in pent-up self-loathing to keep the audience’s sympathies on his side.” [Go here for the rest of this spotlight.]

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‘Dating Amber’ actor Lola Petticrew in the frame

Dating Amber (originally titled Beards) is an Irish dramedy directed by David Freyne. The 92-minute film follows Eddie, a closeted gay teen training for a cadet exam to join the army and follow in his father’s footsteps. After homophobic taunting from his small town classmates leads to a disastrous attempt at proving his heterosexuality, Eddie is approached by Amber, a fellow closeted outcast who is also tired of being tormented at school. Lola Petticrew plays the part of Amber. The rest of this spotlight is here.

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Kathryn Parks returns to BIFF with award-winning ‘Her Place’

In 2019, Kathryn Parks and Mark Palmer brought 50 Words to Southwest Florida. The 28-minute film was an official selection of the Fort Myers Beach International Film Festival and was selected by the Bonita Springs International Film Festival as Best Florida Film in the Adult Category. This year Parks returns to the Bonita International Film Festival with another indie film that’s already garnered all kinds of awards.

Go here to preview Her Place.

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Meet ‘Her Place’ co-producer Elise Rodriguez

StThe Bonita International Film Festival will screen two blocks of short films this year. Leading off Shorts Block 1 at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 22 is Kathryn Parks’ Her Place. It’s a film that turns the idea of a 1950s instructional video (the kind that taught “homemakers” how to throw the perfect party or cook the perfect Thanksgiving Day turkey) on its head and explores the irony in 1950’s nostalgia compared to today’s modern world.

Go here for the rest of this spotlight.

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‘State of Rodeo’ explores 500-year history of rodeo in Florida

In 1521, Ponce de Leon introduced a small herd of cattle and horses to the shores of La Florida. Centuries later, rodeos evolved from impromptu contests that were held during cattle roundups and Mexican fiestas. (In fact, the word “rodeo” comes from the Spanish rodear, which means “go around” otherwise known as “round up.”) Having corralled their herds for branding and sorting, cowboys (sometimes called Florida crackers) used the occasion to exhibit their skills in riding, roping and bulldogging. Competitions sprung up naturally among top hands as their fellow cowboys looked on.

Go here for the rest of this preview.

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’22 Every Day’ depicts day in the life of combat vet coping with PTSD

22 Every Day will be screened during Shorts Block 2 during this year’s Bonita International Film Festival. The movie follows a combat veteran as he goes about his daily routine, illustrating how he relives his experiences during the war years later.

With the war in Afghanistan coming to end this Fall, there is renewed interest in how a new generation of combat veterans will deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the wake of 20 years of armed conflict. But tens of thousands of combat vets from the war in Vietnam are still grappling with PTSD nearly half a century after that war ended.

The rest of this preview is here.

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You can see Maryann Connolly in ’22 Every Day’ – sort of

Isaac Osin’s short drama screens during the Bonita International Film Festival. Drawing attention to the struggles of combat vets coping with PTSD, the film features three former military people, Richard Bowers, Paul Croteau and Pedro De Armas, along with Joann Dinnen and Maryann Connolly.

“Maryann Connolly is a granddaughter of one of the veterans. You only really see her in photographs, and then she makes a phone call,” Osin notes.

The rest of this spotlight is here.

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‘The Wild Divide’ underscores need for large-scale habitat connectivity

This year’s Bonita International Film Festival (BIFF) will screen two packages of short films. One of the films included in Shorts Package 2 is The Wild Divide, a documentary produced by Florida Wildlife Corridor about the importance of maintaining effective wildlife corridors along the Lake Wales Ridge.

The Lake Wales Ridge is an ancient ribbon of sand dunes that is a hotspot for biodiversity found nowhere else in the world. It is also a place steeped in a long tradition of ranching and agriculture.

The rest of this preview is here.

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Meet ‘Wild Divide’ filmmakers Bendick and Schmidt

The Bonita International Film Festival will screen The Wild Divide in the Hinman Auditorium during Shorts Block 2 beginning at 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 23. Directed by Eric Bendick and Danny Schmidt, The Wild Divide is denoted by exceptional production value (including breathtaking macro and micro cinematography and crystal clear studio-quality sound) and considered, thought-provoking content that makes a strong argument for preserving and protecting the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Eric Bendick is an Emmy-winning writer, director and series producer.

The rest of this spotlight is here.