Sarasota Film Festival Announces Narrative Films, Documentaries & Shorts Packages

The Sarasota Film Festival celebrates its 10th Anniversary April 4-13th 2008. What began as a three-day festival with a handful of events has grown over a decade into one of the leading regional festivals is North America. As previously announced, this year the festival is thrilled to have as its honorary chairs, Governor Charlie Crist, United Artists CEO Paula Wagner and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Co-Chairman Rick Nicita. They are all expected to attend the 10th Anniversary Ball, where this year’s honorees will include: Actress Charlize Theron (Battle in Seattle, In the Valley of Elah, Monster), Producer and This Is That co-founder, Ted Hope (In The Bedroom, The Savages, Towelhead - written and directed by Sarasota resident Alan Ball), writer, actor, director Stanley Tucci (Blind Date, The Devil Wears Prada) and Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives Of Others).

The spectacular Van Wezel Performing Arts Center perfectly sets the stage for the thrilling opening weekend of the Sarasota Film Festival. Kicking-off the Festival on Friday April 4, 2008, is our Opening Night Film and Gala. This year’s Opening Night film comes to us on the heals of its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. We are proud to present Steven Schachter’s romantic comedy, The Deal, starring Meg Ryan, William H. Macy, Jason Ritter, Elliot Gould and LL Cool J. And as this year’s Centerpiece Film, Blind Date, starring Stanley Tucci, who will also participate in our Conversation Series at the Historic Asolo Theater. The Closing Night Film of the 2008 Sarasota Film Festival will be Battle In Seattle, directed by Stuart Townsend and starring Charlize Theron André Benjamin (aka André 3000 of Outkast), Woody Harrelson, Ray Liotta, Channing Tatum, Michelle Rodriguez and Martin Henderson; Produced by Redwood Palms Pictures.

“This year's lineup of films is one of our strongest and most diverse to date and fully illustrates how far the festival has come from its early beginnings,” states Executive Director Jody Kielbasa.

“As the Sarasota Film Festival heads into our 10th year, it's been amazing to see the growth and development of the festival into one of the largest events in the country,” states Tom Hall, Director of Programming. “It's been a great decade, and we're so grateful that we've been able to bring together artists, whose work continues to surprise and amaze us, with an appreciative audience who know and love the art of cinema.”

NARRATIVE FEATURES:
 Alexandra (Russia/France), Director: Aleksandr Sokurov; Cast: Galina Vishnevskaya, Vasily Shevtsov, Raisa Gichaeva. Alexandra, a kind and charming elderly woman, travels to Chechnya to visit her grandson, an officer in a Russian army camp that is occupying a Chechin town.
 Autumn Sonata (France/ West Germany/ Sweden), Director: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, Ingrid Bergman. The story of a psychological battle between Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman), a brilliant pianist in the twilight of her career, and her daughter Eva (Ullmann), a woman who has lived in the shadow of her mother’s demanding presence.
 Battle for Haditha (UK), Director: Nick Broomfield. Broomfield’s take on true events, the massacre of an Iraqi family by American troops in 2005. A remarkably well-told tragedy consisting of a series of terrible mistakes and tragic misunderstandings that are revealed to be the building blocks of conflict and hatred.
 Beaufort (Israel), Director: Joseph Cedar; Cast: Oshri Cohen, Eli Eltonyo, Ohad Knoller. Joseph Cedar’s BEAUFORT chronicles the story of Israeli Defense Force Commander Liraz Librati and his group of IDF soldiers in the final days of the 2000 South Lebanon Conflict.
 Before I Forget (France), Director: Jacques Nolot; Cast: Jacques Nolot, Marc Rioufol. A 58-year-old struggling writer navigates his own sexual appetites with an acute understanding of his physical decline.
 Before the Rains (India/UK/USA), Director: Santosh Sivan; Cast: Rahul Bose, Linus Roache, Jennifer Ehle. Sivan tells the story of Henry Moores (Roache), a colonial entrepreneur seeking to build a road through the Indian jungle in order to expand his spice business.
 Christmas Story (Finland), Director: Juha Wuolijoki; Cast: Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Kari Väänänen, Minna Haapkylä. The tale of the young Santa Claus and his development from orphan to the father of our modern day Christmas, A CHRISTMAS STORY tells a tale of selfless giving and lifelong friendship.
 Cries and Whispers (Sweden), Director: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, Harriet Andersson, Ingrid. The story of three sisters, Maria (Ullmann), Karin (Thulin) and Agnes (Andersson). When Agnes becomes mortally ill, Maria and Karin gather around her deathbed and remember the ways in which their lives as sisters have become haunted by lies, callousness and the guilt of family rivalries.
 Diminished Capacity (USA), Director: Terry Kinney; Cast: Alan Alda, Dylan Baker, Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen. In Terry Kinney’s DIMINSHED CAPACITY Collins (Broderick) has suffered a head injury and lost his short- term memory, but that won’t stop him from caring for his uncle Rollie (Alda) who has memory problems of his own with which to contend; he can’t seem to shut up about a secret fortune just waiting to be cashed in.
 Dragon Hunters (France/Germany/Luxembourg), Director: Guillaume Ivernel, Aurthur Qwak; Cast: Forrest Whitaker, Mary Matilyn Mauser, Rob Paulsen. Zoe (Mouser), an outgoing and precocious little girl who is obsessed with fairy tales, jumps at the chance to stow away with a couple of con men hired to take care of a dragon.
 Face to Face (Sweden), Director: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson. Dr. Jenny Isaksson (Ullmann) is a psychiatrist with a successful practice and a happy marriage, but through the process of self-analysis, succumbs to the haunting impact of her past emotions and experiences.
 Faithless (Sweden/Italy/Germany/Finland/Norway), Director: Liv Ullmann; Cast: Lena Endre, Thomas Hanzen, Krister Henriksson, Erland Josephson. The film tells the story of Mariane (Endre), a theater actress happily married to a symphonic conductor, but when Mariane engages in a romantic tryst with a tortured theater director, the consequences have a devastating effect on the happiness of everyone involved.
 Fugitive Pieces (Canada/Greece), Director: Jeremy Podeswa; Cast: Stephen Dillane, Rade Serbedzija. Adapted from the novel by acclaimed writer Anne Michaels, Jeremy Podewa’s FUGITIVE PIECES is the story of Jakob (Dillane), a Canadian writer who survived the Jewish ghettos of Poland after being rescued by a Greek archaeologist named Athos (Serbedzija).
 Hour of the Wolf (Sweden), Director: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow. Johan Borg (von Sydow) is an artist struggling with his work while living on an isolated island with his wife Alma (Ullmann). When Johan is plagued by nightmares that bring back painful memories, he recounts his memories to Alma during that darkest of times between midnight and dawn, the dreaded “hour of the wolf.”
 I Can No Longer Hear the Guitar (France), Director: Phillip Garrel; Cast: Benoît Régent, Johanna ter Steege, Yann Collette, Mireille Perrier. Based upon the Director’s personal relationship with German actress and singer Nico (and completed three years after her death), the film examines the compromises and losses of the 1968 student generation as they put away their ideals for the comforts of adulthood.
 Jellyfish (France/Israel), Director: Shira Geffen, Etgar Keret; Cast: Sarah Adler, Tsipor Aizen, Shosha Goren. The film is set in a modern-day Tel Aviv full of urban and romantic entanglements, where characters’ lives spin in different directions after attending a wedding reception.
 Mister Lonely (UK/France/Ireland), Director: Harmony Korine; Cast: Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Werner Herzog. When a Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) befriends a Marilyn Monroe (Samantha Morton) impersonator on the streets of Paris, she convinces him to join her and become a member of an isolated community of impersonators. When the impersonators decide to put on a big show, their hopes for fame are put to the test.
 Momma’s Man (USA) Director: Azazel Jacobs; Cast: Matt Boren, Flo Jacobs, Ken Jacobs. Mikey is a 30-something who finds it impossible to go back to his wife and new baby once he has settled into his childhood home.
 Numb (Canada/USA), Director: Harris Goldberg; Cast: Lynn Collins, Matthew Perry, Kevin Pollack, Mary Steenburgen. When a good-time bachelor (Perry), who loses his ability to feel anything for the world around him, meets Sarah (Collins), an executive who understands and appreciates him, he aggressively tries to cure his condition and save his relationship.
 Passion of Anna (Sweden), Director: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson. When the divorced Andreas (von Sydow) falls in love with a widow named Anna (Ullmann) and surreptitiously uncovers a secret from her past, their relationship is destined to take a seemingly predetermined course.
 Persona (Sweden), Director: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson. The story of Elisabeth Vogler (Ullmann), a stage actress who has stopped talking after performing the role of Electra. As she is tended to by a young nurse named Alma (Andersson), the two women grow closer, until the lines between their personalities are erased by their shared experience.
 Phoebe In Wonderland (USA), Director: Daniel Barnz; Cast: Patricia Clarkson, Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman. Phoebe (Fanning) is diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, much to the dismay of her struggling mother, Hillary (Huffman). Adult after adult fails to provide Phoebe the help and inspiration she needs until she finally meets a drama teacher (Clarkson) who may have the answer; the lead role in a school production of Alice In Wonderland.
 Priceless (France), Director: Pierre Salvadori; Cast: Gad Elmaleh, Audrey Tatou. Iréne (Tatou) is a woman on the prowl for rich men of all stripes, but when she mistakes a tuxedoed bartender named Jean (Elmaleh) for a wealthy target, he goes along with the mistake until romance collides with crushed expectations.
 Private Confessions (Sweden), Director: Liv Ullmann; Cast: Pernilla August, Max von Sydow, Thomas Hanzon. The story of Anna (August), a wife and mother who confesses her infidelities in a series of private conversations to a minister named Jacob (von Sydow).
 Saraband (Sweden/Italy/Germany/Finland/Denmark/Austria), Directors: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson. Ingmar Bergman’s sequel to his popular 1973 film SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE, is the master Director’s final film and is the conclusion to the story of the relationship between Marianne (Ullmann) and Johan (Josephson), the formerly married couple who are reunited at Johan’s summer home.
 Savage Grace (Spain/USA), Director: Tom Kalin; Cast: Stephen Dillane, Julianne Moore, Eddie Redmayne. Tom Kalin’s SAVAGE GRACE is a languid fantasia based upon the true story of the death of Barbara Bakeland (Moore), the matriarch of the Bakelite plastics fortune whose 1972 murder shook-up American and European society.
 A Marriage (Sweden), Director: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson. An epic story of a disintegrating marriage, Ingmar Bergman’s SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE is the story of Marianne (Ullmann) and Johan (Josephson), a married couple facing the challenges of sustaining their failing relationship.
 The Serpent’s Egg (USA/West Germany), Director: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, David Carradine. Abel (Carradine) is an American circus performer who travels to Weimar Berlin to meet up with his sister-in-law Manuela (Ullmann) after the suicide of his brother.
 Shame (Sweden), Director: Ingmar Bergman; Cast: Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow. The absurdity and cruelty of war provides the backdrop for Ingmar Bergman’s SHAME, the story of a couple, Eva (Ullmann) and Jan (von Sydow), who are trapped in the crossfire of a civil war.
 Special People (UK), Director: Justin Edgar; Cast: Dominic Coleman, Robyn Frampton, Sasha Hardway. Jaspar is a filmmaker on the verge of a nervous breakdown whose last hopes of making a great cinematic masterpiece lie with a group of disabled teenagers at a rundown community centre.
 Take (USA), Director: Charles Oliver; Cast: Minnie Driver, Jeremy Renner, Bobby Coleman. Ana (Driver) is a single mother struggling to make ends meet for her son Jesse (Coleman) when her life collides with that of Saul (Renner), a gambling addict whose desperate attempts to pay off a debt leads to terrible consequences.
 The Visitor (USA), Director: Thomas McCarthy; Cast: Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Jekesai Gurira. Walter Vale (Jenkins) is a college professor whose academic routine has left him an outside observer of his own experience. When he travels to New York City to attend an academic conference, he discovers a young couple living in his apartment.
 Waterlilies (France), Director: Céline Sciamma; Cast: Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachère, Adèle Haenel. WATERLILIES is a gutsy and atypical coming-of-age story about three teenage girls struggling to balance their conflicting needs for individuality and acceptance
 When Did You Last See Your Father? (UK/Ireland), Director: Anand Tucker; Cast: Jim Broadbent, Colin Firth. It’s 1989 and Blake (Firth) is confronting the bad news that Arthur (Broadbent), his blustering father, is ill.
 With Your Permission (Denmark/Sweden), Director: Paprika Steen; Cast: Lars Brygmann, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Søren Pilmark, Rasmus Bjerg, Nikolaj Kopernikus. Jans (Brygmann) is a witless, obsessively anal waiter who suffers daily beatings from his creatively stunted would-be-opera-singer wife. When his boss forces him to seek help for the abuse he is embarrassed to admit suffering, he decides to take drastic measures, which soon comically backfire.
 XXY (Argentina/Spain/France), Director: Lucia Puenzo; Cast: Inés Efron, Martín Piroyansky, Ricardo Darin, Valeria Beruccelli, Germán Palacios. Young intersex Alex (Efron) grapples with the isolation of her lone adolescent experience and the pending decision that she must make in regards to her own body and gender.

Documentary Features:
 14 Women (USA), Director: Mary Lambert; Cast: Barbara Boxer, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, Kay Bailey Hutchison. In Mary Lambert’s 14 WOMEN, the historic role of women in politics is examined against the day-to-day reality of being one of the most powerful women in America.
 All God’s Children (USA), Directors: Scott Solary & Luci Westphal. In the late 1950’s, the evangelical organization Christian and Missionary Alliance established Mamou, a boarding school in West Africa for the children of American missionaries serving all over the continent. In ALL GOD’S CHILDREN, Scott Solary and Luci Westphal talk to former students of the school who suffered abuse at the hands of the Mamou staff.
 Beautiful Losers (USA), Directors: Aaron Rose & Joshua Leonard. In this brightly visual and entertaining look at the 1990’s youth movement in the downtown NYC art scene, directors Aaron Rose and Joshua Leonard examine the loose collective of DIY artists whose influence unexpectedly spiraled outward and left an indelible footprint on mainstream culture.
 The Black List: Volume One (USA), Director:Timothy Greenfield-Sanders; Cast: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sean Combs, Bill T. Jones, Toni Morrison, Colin Powell, Chris Rock, Al Sharpton. Writer Elvis Mitchell interviews a diverse array of talented, passionate leaders whose stories of struggle and triumph, when taken en toto, provide a wide-ranging cross-section of Black experience.
 Certifiably Jonathan (USA), Director: Jim Pasternak; Cast: Jonathan Winters, Robin Williams, Robert Klein & Nora Dunn (who is expected to attend). Jim Pasternak’s CERTIFIABLY JONATHAN follows Winters, a talented painter and visual artist, on a quest to hang his paintings in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. All he needs to do is create three new paintings for the show, but Jonathan claims he has lost his sense of humor and can’t finish the new paintings for his big opening.
 Children of All Ages (USA), Director: Scott Galloway & Brent Pierson. Scott Galloway and Brent Pierson take their audience behind the scenes at some of Sarasota’s most famous institutions, including The PAL Sailor Circus and The Ringling Circus Museum, while showing us the lives of circus performers and fans whose lives were forever changed by their happy days spent under the Big Top.
 Chris & Don: A Love Story (USA), Director: Tina Mascara & Guido Santi. Recounts the unexpected relationship between British writer, Christopher Isherwood (whose book THE BERLIN STORIES inspired the musical and film CABARET) and Don Bachardy, a young Californian who blossomed into one of America’s finest portrait artists.
 Constantine’s Sword (USA), Director:Oren Jacoby; Cast: James Carroll. Based on the book by former Catholic priest James Carroll (who appears in and narrates the film) CONSTANTINE’S SWORD takes audiences all over Europe and The Middle East, recounting the pogroms and forced conversions, the battles and accusations that reached their apotheosis in the Nazi Holocaust.
 The Consultation (France), Director: Hélène de Crecy. De Crecy’s camera deftly observes the daily consultations inside the office of a small town general physician in France, who cares for every ailment and sees virtually every conceivable human health concern from pregnancy to hypochondria.
 Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About his Father (USA), Director: Kurt Kuenne. In this blood-curdling true-crime documentary, director Kurt Kuenne tells the story of his best friend Andrew Bagby who was intentionally shot and killed in Pennsylvania by a crazed ex-girlfriend, Shirley Turner.
 The Dhanna Brothers (USA), Director: Jenny Phillips, Andrew Kukura, Anne Marie Stein. Donaldson Correctional Facility, situated just southwest of Birmingham, Alabama, is home to 1500 of the State’s most dangerous criminals. But in January 2002, the prison became the first maximum-security prison in North America to institute a Vipassana retreat, an emotionally and physically demanding 10-day course of silent meditation.
 Durakovo: Village of Fools (France), Director: Nino Kirtadze. Inside the closed commune of Durakovo, a kind of totalitarian training camp, members of Russia’s extreme right wing have set up their ideal version of society.
 Encounters at the End of the World (USA), Director: Werner Herzog. In this pristinely beautiful character-focused documentary by master director Werner Herzog, we travel to the unspeakably extraordinary wilderness of Antarctica to meet a cast of fascinating characters, each a conquistador with his or her own adventure story.
 The First Basket (USA), Director: David Vyorst. The film explores the history of the relationship between Jewish immigrants and the game of basketball, detailing the forgotten history and the impact of Jewish players on the game.
 Frontrunners (USA), Directors: Caroline Suh. The campaign for student body president at Stuyvesant, the most prestigious public high school in the country, is almost as sophisticated as any presidential election; candidates must choose running mates, navigate primaries, perform in televised debates, and win newspaper endorsements.
 A Portriat of Philip in Twelve Parts (Austria/USA), Director: Scott Hicks; Cast: Philip Glass. Examining the composer’s day-to-day work, his music and his creative process, Hicks avoids a valedictory sensibility in order to instead capture a vibrant, vital artist working in the prime of his career.
 Greensboro: Closer to the Truth (USA), Director: Adam Zucker. In 2004 (and for the first time ever in the United States) a truth and reconciliation commission was formed to address the devastating wounds left by the Greensboro Massacre, one of recent history’s most atrocious racist attacks and judicial failures.
 Guardians of the Gulf (USA), Director: Susan Sember. Susan Sember talks to local scientists and public officials to get to the bottom of the Red Tide problem, and in the process illuminates the real causes and impacts of this prolific bacteria.
 Hair: Let the Sunshine In (USA/France), Director: Wolfgang Held & Pola Rappaport. Wolfgang Held and Pola Rappaport explore the fascinating story behind the hit play, Hair, examining both the creative process and the impact the play had on a society on the brink of profound changes.
 The Hebrew Lesson (Israel), Directors: David Ofek, Elinor Kowarsky, Ron Rotem. Students from a wide-variety of nations (China, Germany, Russia, Peru and many more) are united by their desire to live in Israel and their relative inability to communicate in Hebrew.
 Intimidad (Mexico), Director: David Redmon & Ashley Sabin. A beautiful tale of love and dedication, INTIMIDAD is the rare story of an incredible family whose intimacy and care for one another keep their dreams alive.
 Johnny Berlin 2: Notes from the Dumpster (USA), Director: Dominic DeJoseph; Cast: Jon Hyrns. When we last left Johnny, a train porter with dreams of writing the great American novel, he was headed to Southeast Asia in search of deeper truths.
 JUMP! (USA), Director: Helen Hood Scheer. Combining speed, agility, and gymnastics, jump roping is a competitive team sport like any other.
 Living with the Tudors (UK), Director: Karen Guthrie & Nina Pope. Immersing themselves for several years in a months-long historical recreation of Tudor England on the grounds of a real Tudor estate, the Directors were finally allowed to film life among the twenty first century people who, for various and fascinating reasons, decide to spend their summers pretending to live historically accurate lives on the grounds of a 16th Century estate.
 Making Trouble (USA), Directors: Rachel Talbot. MAKING TROUBLE profiles six Jewish female comedians who struggled and sacrificed for their fame.
 My Brother (Israel/Denmark), Director: Yulie Cohen Gerstel. The third film in Yulie Cohen Gerstel’s autobiographical trilogy about her life in Israel, MY BROTHER describes the director’s attempts to reconnect with her Orthodox Jewish brother, who she hasn’t spoken to in years.
 Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie (USA), Director: Jay Delaney. Instead of presenting conspiracy theories and trying to verify the existence of the mythical creature, Delaney’s film, shot on location in rural Ohio, is focused squarely on the lives of the hunters themselves, men whose friendship is intertwined with their quest for the creature that continues to elude them.
 Of All the Things (USA), Director: Jody Lambert. The story of Dennis Lambert, a Boca Raton real estate agent who was once one of the most diverse songwriter/producers of the ‘70s and ‘80s, with hits like “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got),” “Rhinestone Cowboy,” and “Nightshift.”
 One Minute to Nine (USA), Director: Tommy Davis. Davis tells the unbelievable story of the cycle of abuse that led one woman to the ultimate crime in order to save the lives of her children.
 A Portable Tribe (USA), Directors: Tom Murray. Murray travels to New York, Florida, Michigan, California and Nevada, interviewing more than 34 men who celebrate their sexuality and connections in part by spending time together in the great outdoors.
 Praying with Lior (UK/USA), Director:Ilana Trachtman; Cast: Lior Liebling. The movie tells the story of Lior Liebling, the son of a Pennsylvania rabbi who, despite being born with Down Syndrome, spends his days preparing diligently for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah.
 Running the Sahara (USA), Director: James Moll; Cast: Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab, Kevin Lin, Matt Damon (Narrator). A document of the incredible quest to overcome pain, heat and geo-political barriers and accomplish what no other men had ever accomplished before; a complete trans-Saharan run.
 Souvenirs (Israel), Director: Shahar Cohen & Halil Efrat. The officers of Jewish Army Brigade of World War II would joke about leaving “souvenirs,” the flesh and blood kind, with their European girlfriends before returning to Israel. When his father won’t give him a straight answer about any “souvenirs” he may have left in the wombs of old girlfriends, Shahar decides to take his father on an eventful road trip to seek his half-siblings.
 Special O’Laughics (USA), Director: Ken Sons. McCurdy’s Comedy Club is a local institution, but few Sarasotans may know about a very special class run by founder Les McCurdy that teaches stand-up comedy to mentally challenged adults.
 Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (USA), Director: Jeffery Schwarz; Cast: William Castle, John Landis, John Waters. . In his loving portrait of the filmmaker and showman, Jeffrey Schwarz shows how Castle’s energy and flamboyant showmanship masked his desire to become a respectable director.
 A Divided America (USA), Director: Kelly Nyks. Tired of the divisiveness and personal animosity that arose every time he wanted to talk about politics, Nyks hit the road on a cross-country journey to find the causes of and solutions to the great political divide.
 A Table in Heaven (USA), Directors: Andrew Rossi. After the decline and eventual closing of Le Cirque, Maccioni’s sons decide to take it upon themselves to open a new, updated downtown restaurant, dreaming of 4 stars and becoming the celebrity hotspot that Le Cirque once was.
 They Turned our Desert into Fire (USA), Director: Mark Brecke. With images and first-hand accounts, war photographer Mark Brecke shares his experiences of the Darfur Crisis with Amtrak passengers during a journey to Washington D.C. to give his presentation to Congress.
 Throw Down Your Heart (USA), Director: Sascha Paladino. When American banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck discovered his instrument’s African roots, he decided to travel across western and central Africa to meet musicians and attempt to reconnect the modern instrument and his own musicianship with the banjo’s African folk roots.
 To the Limit (Germany/Austria), Director: Pepe Danquart. In his thrilling look at the Hubers’ attempt to set the record for the fastest climb of El Capitan peak in Yosemite National Park, Director Pepe Danquart puts audiences right in the middle of the death-defying action.
 Today the Hawk Takes One Chick (USA), Director: Jane Gillooly. TODAY THE HAWK TAKES ONE CHICK weaves together the day-to-day lives of three African grandmothers in Swaziland, a country overshadowed by HIV/AIDS.
 Two Days in April (USA), Director: Don Argott. Don Argott’s TWO DAYS IN APRIL takes audiences behind the scenes at IMG Academy, where players prepare for the draft and work to make the dreams of playing in the NFL a reality.
 Up the Yangtze (Canada/China), Director: Yung Chang. Through the eyes of one peasant family and the small farm that the river will soon swallow, UP THE YANGTZE tells a captivating tale of progress and it’s effects on culture.
 Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (USA), Director: Matt Wolf. Director Matt Wolf’s examination of the life and career of the New York City avant-garde cellist, performance artist, and disco music producer who, before his untimely death from AIDS in 1992, prolifically created music that spanned both pop and the transcendent possibilities of abstract art.
 Who is Norman Lloyd? (USA), Director: Matthew Sussman; Cast: Norman Lloyd, Michael Badalucco, Cameron Diaz. The life of the legendary Hollywood actor is examined in detail, from his explosive role in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1942 classic SABOTEUR through to his 2005 role opposite Cameron Diaz in IN HER SHOES, Lloyd has navigated the Hollywood system for over fifty years and has distinguished himself as one of American cinema’s finest actors.
 Young @ Heart (USA/UK), Directors: Stephen Walker; Cast: Young@Heart Chorus, Bob Climan. In his moving tribute to the enduring spirit of the chorus, Young @ Heart, Director Stephen Walker shows us the hard work and dedication of the singers as they prepare for a concert in their hometown.

2008 SARASOTA FILM FESTIVAL SHORTS PACKAGES

¬Shorts I: World Views
Apple (Sweden), Director: Jonas Rudström; No Part of the Pig is Wasted (France), Director: Emma Perret; Odin’s Shield Maiden (Canada), Director: Guy Maddin; Peace Talk (Sweden), Director: Jenifer Malmqvist; Ah Ma (Grandma) (Singapore), Director: Anthony Chen; Un Certain Regard (France), Director: Geraldine Maillet;
Alexandra (Romania), Director: Radu Jude.

Shorts II: Animated Films
Run (USA), Director: Melanie Mandl; Sleeping Betty (Canada), Director: Claude Cloutier; Octave (USA), Director: Emily Hubley; Shmetamorphosis (Australia), Directors: Jack Feldstein; Beton (Israel), Director: Michael Faust & Ariel Belinco; Looking Glass (Sweden), Director: Erik Rosenlund; Conte De Quartier (Canada), Director: Florence Miaihe; Madame Tutli Putli (Canada), Director: Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski.

Shorts III: Place to Place (Documentaries)
The Frozen City (Canada/USA), Director: Alex Perez; Salim Baba (India), Director: Tim Sternberg; We Saw Such Things (USA), Director: Amy Seimetz & James Ponsoldt; 34X25X36 (USA), Director: Jesse Epstein; Ashes (UK), Director: Magda Segal; Launch (USA), Director: Brian Doyle.

Shorts IV: Life Stories (Documentaries)
Kids + Money (USA), Director: Lauren Greenfield; The Last Butcher in Italy (USA), Director: Laura Terruso; The Guarantee (USA), Director: Jesse Epstein; La Corona (USA), Director: Amanda Micheli & Isabel Vega.

Shorts V: Films from Florida Universities
Life to Go (University of Central Florida), Director: Erin Kitzinger; Mia (Florida State University), Director: Catherine Rehwinkle; Penguin: The Musical (Florida State University), Director: David William Metzger; Bismallah: In the Name of Allah (University of Florida’s Documentary Institute), Director: Jolene Pinder & Sarah Zaman.

Shorts VI: 21st Century Dilemmas
By Modern Measure (USA), Director: Matthew Lessner; Still Birth Chicken (USA), Directors: Byron Karabatsos; The Adventure (USA), Director: Mike Brune; Crustväska (USA/Germany), Director: Benjamin Kasulke; Make room for Phyllis (USA), Director: Madaleine Olneik; The Back of Her Head (USA), Director: Josh Safdie.

Shorts VII: Learning Experiences
Odd Shoe (UK), Director: Paul Cotter; Lloyd Neck (USA), Directors: Benedict Campbell; The Acquaintances of a Lonely John (USA), Director: Benny Safdie; A Catalog of Anticipations (USA), Director: David Lowery; Man (USA), Director: Myna Joseph; The Bottom (USA), Director: Winn Coslick.

Shorts VIII: Chance Encounters
All Saints’ Day (USA), Director: Will Frears; Merrily, Merrily (USA), Directors: James Jahnston; The Heist (Australia), Director: Ben Peters; Ten to Two (USA), Director: Spencer Susser; The Wall (USA), Director: Michael Lloyd Green; Cosmos (USA), Director: Clayton Hable; The Anniversary Present (Canada), Director: Doug Karr.

Shorts IX: Midnight Madness!
Spider (Australia), Director: Nash Edgerton; The Clinic (Australia), Directors: Ben Peters; Frog Jesus (Australia), Director: Ben Peters; I Love Sarah Jane (Netherlands), Director: Mathijs Geijskes; Psyco Hillbilly Cabin Massacre! (USA), Director: Robert Cosnahan; Princess (USA), Director: Ethan Clarke; The Rambler (USA), Director: Calvin Reeder; Shut Eye Hotel (USA), Director: Bill Plympton; Heartburn (USA), Director: Jesse Barksdale.

Shorts X: Music + Video
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Pattie Smith, Directed by Jem Cohen; Terminally Ambivalent Over You by (The Real) Tuesday Weld, Directed by Aleksey Budovsky; Heart it Races by Architecture In Helsinki, Di