Science, sustainability and celebrity will soon blast across Sarasota movie screens. The Sarasota Film Festival released its full program Monday evening, and in addition to bring such star filmmakers as Diane Lane, Aisha Tylor and Rory Kennedy to town, programmers announced documentaries on the space program and environmental protection along with films celebrating cultures around the globe. “It’s important to take films from all over the world and create comprehensive programming that makes sense and that will showcase the most original and innovative,” says Larisa Apan, senior programmer.

The annual festival, now the biggest regional film festival in the Southeast United States, held its press kickoff at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, releasing its program booklet for the first time and offering insight into the programming choices and themes driving this year’s cinematic celebration. SFF President Mark Famiglio cheered a programming team for putting together a relevant and enticing line-up for the festival, which runs this year from March 31 through April 9. 

“The group of five people who have curated this film festival managed it in a fashion I am in awe of,” Famiglio says. “Programming is more than slapping films together and rejecting films.” The festival will see world premieres for three films, including actress Aisha Tylor’s directorial debut Axis, which competes in the Independent Visions competition this year. The festival also has hopes of bringing in some of the NASA employees who worked during the Apollo moon missions for the documentary Mission Control.

Jedediah Shoemaker, SFF associate director, says he sees the program as a celebration of heroism, coming at a time when culture desperately needs figures to look up toward. A sports sidebar, including a showing of the documentary Mr. Chibbs and related youth workshops with film subject and retired NBA player Kenny Anderson, also play into that theme, Shoemaker says. And Education and Outreach Director Shakira Refos expects diversity to be celebrated with special panels, including an LGBTQ and blacks in film discussion that will include filmmakers behind the Academy Award-winning Florida film Moonlight. 

Last week, the festival announced the festival would open with documentarian Rory Kennedy’s Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton and close with the Eleanor Cooper-directed Paris Can Wait. Star Diane Lane will attend the festival to promote the film, and Famiglio teased the festival has invited male lead Alec Baldwin if he can step away from his President Trump impersonation on Saturday Night Live for the weekend.

SFF members today will be able to purchase tickets, and the general public can buy tickets at the box office this Friday. 

Photo by Wyatt Kostygan: SFF's Mark Famiglio and Jedediah Shoemaker; top: Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton

See the entire 2017 Sarasota Film Festival line-up at SRQ Backlot.

Get excited, spring officially begins in one week. Embrace the season with the most springy, sprightly, peppy brand out there—you guessed it: Lilly Pulitzer. Throw on the easy, breezy Del Lago tunic dress in the pink splash colorway named (get this) "multi never been betta." It's just the right amount of femininity with flouncy sleeves and swingin' tassels, combined with a dash of extreme wearability. Pair with just about anything else in your closet: beachy flip-flops, sky-high espadrilles, a floppy hat, even a lightweight cardigan for chilly offices.  

Photo courtesy of Lilly Pulitzer

Lilly Pulitzer, 443A John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, 941-388-3091.

Foxy Lady will be hosting an exciting shopping event on March 17 for Lisette L Montreal, a Canadian-based label that has developed quite a following over the past six years. The brand counts Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb as fans, known for the incredible fit and styles that work for all generations and figures. In attendance will be Lisette Limoges, creative director of Lisette L Montreal and Sarah Gerrish, Redbook magazine fashion editor to offer styling tips and be available to help choose the right fit made just for you. The event runs from 11am–4pm and will have a raffle for Lisette L Montreal and Redbook magazine prizes, small bites from Morton's Gourmet Market and complimentary wine and sparkling water. 

Foxy Lady, St. Armands Circle, 481 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, 941-388-5239.

The application for the Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s 2017 Gulf Coast Leadership Institute (GCLI) is now available. GCLI is a leadership-training initiative designed to identify, develop and connect a diverse group of aspiring and experienced leaders throughout the region. Gulf Coast will select up to 25 individuals for this year’s class. The program consists of seven in-depth training sessions from May to July. Attendance at all sessions is required to ensure the most valuable experience for participants. To view this year's class schedule and learn more about GCLI, download the overview form from the GCCF website. Class members will be selected to represent the diversity of the region’s public, private and independent sectors. Selection criteria include leadership potential and participation in community and professional organizations. Volunteers of all ages as well as professionals are encouraged to apply. The deadline to apply for this year’s GCLI class is 11:59pm on March 24. All applicants will be notified of their status by mid-April. 

Gulf Coast Leadership Institute Application

Leadership Sarasota County will host Celebrate Outstanding Leadership Awards on April 18 at Michael’s On East, where it will honor three influential graduates of the Leadership Sarasota County program in three categories: Lifetime of Leadership, Impact In Action and Leadership Sarasota Dedication. From the Leadership Class of 2002, Kathy Lehner of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty will be honored with the Lifetime of Leadership Award. Lehner has demonstrated her commitment to the community as board chair of the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce, board president of the Venice Main Street and president of the Sertoma Club of Venice. From the 2014 Leadership Class, Tim Self of Insignia Bank is the honoree for the Impact In Action Award. Self has served on the boards of several organizations including Women’s Resource Center, Designing Women Boutique, Community Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Sertoma Club of Greater Sarasota and Sertoma, Inc., where he played a key role in growing and developing the Sertoma Kids program. Monica Van Buskirk of the Van Wezel Foundation was a member of the 2003 Leadership Sarasota Class and has been a passionate volunteer for the program ever since. She served on the Leadership Sarasota Steering Committee for a several years and co-chaired the Celebrate Outstanding Leadership luncheon in 2012.  Because of her legacy of commitment, Van Buskirk will be honored with the Leadership Sarasota Dedication Award. 

Leadership Sarasota County

Michael Saunders & Company has stepped up to the plate with continued support of Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles as part of a multi-year commitment announced last year. The partnership is an exclusive multi-platform marketing strategy to augment the visitor experience while athletes, families and fans stay in the Sarasota area for spring training. Since the Orioles officially moved Major League training operations to Sarasota in 2010, more than 640,000 fans have attended spring training events at Ed Smith Stadium. The Orioles, whose spring training season extends through March 30, began their Florida residency by operating an athletic training center at Twin Lakes Park in 1991. With more visitors from the Baltimore-Washington area traveling to Sarasota for spring training each year, the partnership between the Orioles and Michael Saunders & Company provides an opportunity to have a team of local real estate experts help visitors learn more about properties in Southwest Florida. It also allows the organizations to team up to sponsor baseball and non-baseball events that benefit the greater Sarasota area. 

Michael Saunders & Company