Story Spectacular: The Sarasota Film Festival Returns

By Gus Mollasis | May 2021

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Years ago I was standing in the lobby of the Hollywood 20 movie theater at U.S. 301 and Main Street, amid the bustle of the Sarasota Film Festival, waiting to interview the incomparable Rita Moreno. 

There was only one problem—my cameraman didn’t show up.

What was I to do? Give up on the interview? 

Never.

Instead, I improvised and grabbed a backup camera out of my bag to try and speak with the legendary EGOT winner. 

EGOT, in case you don’t know, is someone who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. Only 16 people in history have won an EGOT. 

It’s a rare club. Members include Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols and Whoopi Goldberg. 

And Rita Moreno is in it.

I wasn’t about to give up on my chance to interview this EGOT winner face-to-face. But what she did next was a gesture I shall never forget as long as I live, one that placed this entertainer in an even rarer club.

Seeing that I was struggling with the camera and knowing I wanted to capture a two shot—of her, the star, with me, the reporter—she offered a solution.

“My husband can take the shot,” she said, as she handed the camera to him.

Stunned, I sat with the legendary performer in a lobby alive with film goers and enthusiasts who were rushing in from the Florida sunshine to darkened theaters, eager to experience the magic and dreams achieved on the silver screen. 

They hardly noticed us. Me and Rita Moreno. 

But I did. 

An EGOT winner for sure. But in my book–she’s even bigger than that. A kind human being, a pursuer of dreams, and a cultivator of dreamers who want to tell their stories. 

In our short but spirited interview, this legendary performer inspired me. And when I asked her best advice to filmmakers and other artists pursuing their dreams, she shared this important lesson. 

“Never give up,” she said. “I was one Puerto Rican broad that was never going to give up.”

Never quit. Ms. Moreno sure didn’t. 

Perhaps it’s fitting that amid the many challenges of a pandemic, her documentary, Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It is scheduled to open the 23rd annual Sarasota Film Festival on April 30, 2021. 

Underwater Wonders

This year’s festival takes place from April 30th to May 9th with virtual and in-person events. A hybrid format combines outdoor public and virtual screenings, plus events including the popular live Q&As and conversations. 

Ticket holders will appreciate the “In Conversation With…” series featuring two Oscar nominees: James Reed and Pippa Ehrlich, co-directors of My Octopus Teacher. By the time this article appears, Reed and Ehrlich will know if they’ve won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Whatever the outcome, we can all cheer My Octopus Teacher as this year’s SFF Centerpiece Film and recipient of a special honor.

“We are excited to honor James Reed and Pippa Ehrlich with this year’s Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking Award, and to applaud their work with the Academy Award-nominated My Octopus Teacher whose maritime themes and messages are important to the Sarasota community,” says Mark Famiglio, Chairman and President of the Sarasota Film Festival.  “We are thrilled to program such engaging and intriguing films that are sure to delight our audiences.”

I’ve never begged anyone in print not to miss an event—so this is a first. Please, I’m begging you, go and see My Octopus Teacher, the Netflix gem, even if you watched it on the big screen. You will thank me later. 

This beautiful and moving work documents filmmaker Craig Foster as he forms an inspiring and unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest. As their relationship unfolds, he learns lessons from an animal who shares the mysteries of her world. 

A masterpiece in filmmaking! 

Local and Noteworthy

I can’t wait to see all the films and get lost in the dark, as artists’ dreams are brought to light. 

Local filmmakers grace the stage this year with Dangerous Ladies – Voices of the Suffragists—a spotlight film in this year’s festival. Many of this impressive film’s scenes were filmed at Sarasota’s Florida Studio Theatre and adroitly utilize historical photos, dramatic monologues, and even song to look back on the suffragists and their precursors, whose courage ultimately led to women being given the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

Dangerous Ladies is directed by FST’s sublime Kate Alexander and the hardest working man from film festivals past, MeTV’s Charles Clapsaddle, who also produces.

“Even with the COVID pandemic trampling our endeavors, I watched the performers sing from empty rooms, play from their heart and dance when no audience was watching,” said Alexander “I was moved beyond tears to witness these silent artistic sentinels perform in honor of their ancient sisters who struggled for 70 years to get the opportunity to have a voice and a vote.” 

One of the featured actors, Katherine Michelle Tanner, reflected on her experience, “By echoing their exact words 100 years later, I give voice to their struggle, strength, and ultimate success. I feel I am marching with them shoulder to shoulder.”

The festival wraps on closing night, May 8, 2021, with Dream Horse starring Academy Award® nominee and Emmy Award® winner Toni Collette and Emmy Award® winner Damian Lewis. Dream Horse, directed by Euros Lyn, tells the true story of Jan Vokes, a Welsh cleaner and bartender who decides to breed and rear a race horse. 

I am thrilled to get lost in all these stories and the stories of filmmakers who heeded Moreno’s sage advice. To tell their stories in spite of obstacles. Stories of protagonists and antagonists to admire and despise. Dreams brought to life.

And this year, her advice has added weight for us all: to not give up on our own story—until it is well told and told well. 

For more information visit www.sarasotafilmfestival.com