The Sarasota Film Festival (SFF) announced today the initial slate of programming for the milestone 25th anniversary event, including the Closing Day presentation, and selections for the Music Sidebar feature program. Live and in-person screenings and events will take place across Sarasota March 25 through April 2, 2023. The complementary virtual platform will launch on Friday, March 24 offering exclusive, pre-opening access to select titles. On Sunday, April 2, the festival will close with a special presentation of Prime Video’s On a Wing and a Prayer, a film from Sean McNamara and starring Dennis Quaid, Heather Graham, and Jesse Metcalfe, which tells the true story of a pilot who dies unexpectedly while flying and a passenger who’s forced to land the plane safely in order to save his entire family. Producer Roma Downey will also be in attendance to receive the Sarasota Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. During the festival, Downey will also host a book signing and intimate conversation in support of her newest devotional, “Be An Angel”, at Bookstore1 in downtown Sarasota on Saturday, April 1.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same. With great enthusiasm, we are once again welcoming our film-loving community back to the Sarasota Film Festival in celebration of our 25th anniversary,” said Mark Famiglio, SFF Chairman and President. “For this special anniversary edition, it is our privilege to host a number of distinguished storytellers and artists in our idyllic Gulf Coast community. Our 10-day event in beautiful Sarasota will highlight the change-makers of the past 25 years and showcase industry voices that will carry us into the next 25.”

Indigo Girls band members, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, will attend the festival to receive the Sarasota Maestro Award. Ray and Saliers are published authors, community activists and top-selling, Grammy-award winning recording artists. SFF will honor the duo’s decades of contributions to music, social good, and beyond. Past recipients of the award include Kenny G and David Amram. SFF will also screen Alexandria Bombach’s It's Only Life After All, which offers an intimate portrayal of the Indigo Girls, as the festival’s Documentary Centerpiece film. It's Only Life After All will also screen as part of this year’s Music Sidebar program. SFF confirmed the program will include Lisa Cortés’ L:ittle Richard: I am Everything, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and tells the story behind the one of a kind rock 'n' roll icon who shaped the world of music, distributed by Magnolia Pictures; as well as the HBO Documentary Film Love to Love You, Donna Summer, co-directed by Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano (Summer’s daughter), which premiered at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival and is an in-depth look at the iconic artist’s life. Donna Summer was a longtime resident of Manasota Key and received the Keys to the City of Sarasota in 2006. The festival is also proud to welcome back guest programmers, Tom Hall and Holly Herrick. The 25th annual Sarasota Film Festival, which will take place from March 24th through April 2nd, greatly appreciates the support of its personal and corporate sponsors, including the Famiglio Family Foundation, Sack Family Foundation, Wallach Family Fund, CMX CinéBistro, BMW of Sarasota, SRQ Airport, METV, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Stella Artois, Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, Hotel Indigo, Westin, Netwurx, Sarasota Magazine, SRQ Magazine, Sarasota Film Society, Sarasota Out, Visit Sarasota County, Michael’s on East, National Awards, Scene Magazine, Bookstore 1, Sande Caplin & Associates, The Observer Media Group, Sage Restaurant, Art Avenue, Senior Blue Book, Family Beautiful Magazine, Intermedia Studios, Ft. Myers Magazine, The Jazz Club of Sarasota, Westcoast Woman, Venice Art Center, WSLR, and iHeartMedia. The festival is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Council on Arts and Culture, Sarasota County Tourism Development Tax Revenues as well as the Community Foundation of Sarasota.  

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Collecting Confidence: Start Where You Become the Person You Were Meant to Be is the best self-help book I’ve read since Sincero’s You Are a BadAss. And that’s high praise from someone with a high bar when it comes to this genre, having a masters in counseling with a minor in intermittent low confidence! I’ve been immune to lesser well-meaning books due to their dubious notions.

But not Kim Gravel, an authentic woman who matter of factly relays her rise and failure to the Miss America pageant followed by her reality show Kim of Queens (of which I’ve never seen, so no worries to have to study beforehand) and her QVC cosmetic line.

Kim’s childhood began in Lilburn, Georgia and her colloquialisms are both comforting and funny. One of my favorite passages from Collecting Confidence is this adage: “Life is hard, God is good, and people are crazy (me included).” Obviously by that mantra, Kim’s Christian roots are visible in Collecting Confidence, but not in a preachy way, rather as biblical quotes used sparingly for their inherent wisdom and guidance.

I found myself copying the handful of pages with larger quotes to give to women I know, who also struggle with being undervalued and consequently self-limiting. Her slogans were not only catchy, but deeply effective due to their provocative deep thought resonance.

Collecting Confidence is available for pre-order at www.sarasotabooks.com and in store on April 25, at BookStore1 Sarasota 117 S. Pineapple Avenue Sarasota, FL 34236. 

The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) announced the culmination of this year’s Hermitage @ Booker Series with a program featuring Tony Award Nominee, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and Hermitage alumnus Craig Lucas, who was also the inaugural recipient of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize in 2009. Elevating the Hermitage mission by enriching the community through unique and inspirational educational experiences, the Hermitage @ Booker Series provides classroom visits with world-renowned artists. The program combines classroom visits tailored to students with free performances and community events open to the public. Previous Hermitage @ Booker programs have featured Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Paula Vogel, internationally acclaimed folk musician Reggie Harris, and award-winning jazz bassist and improviser Luke Stewart, among others. 

Pictured: Tony Award Nominee, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and Hermitage Alumnus Craig Lucas. Photo provided courtesy of Hermitage Artist Retreat.

On Friday, March 10th, Sarasota Performing Arts Center Foundation (formerly Van Wezel Foundation) will host its 21st annual Inspiration Gala at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, with a special guest performance by Kenny Loggins. The annual gala will celebrate the 35-year relationship between the Foundation and the Van Wezel Hall, and the countless performances and top-tier educational programming they have delivered to the people of Sarasota, including students, families, and educators. The evening’s proceeds will support the Foundation’s education and community engagement programs and planning for the new Sarasota Performing Arts Center. Chaired by Kathy Martella and Susan Travers, the festivities will commence with a 5 p.m. cocktail hour by the Bay, followed by the Inspiration Dinner and a special performance by music legend Kenny Loggins - the kickoff for his “This is It” final tour. The evening will conclude with a dance afterparty.  

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Florida Studio Theatre (FST) presents the World Premiere of Paralyzed by Etan Frankel, a striking story of guilt, personal responsibility, and the power of forgiveness. In this thrilling new play, the discovery of a mysterious suicide note in a Georgia hotel bathroom sets two strangers’ lives in unforeseen directions. Paralyzed was originally scheduled to bring FST’s 2020 Stage III Series to a close, but the production never opened due to the arrival of COVID-19. Now, after three years, FST will finally share this dramatic two-hander with its audience. Paralyzed begins playing March 29 in FST’s Bowne’s Lab. Single tickets range from $18-39 and are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or 941.366.9000. This World Premiere follows Leigh and Lee, two strangers who have little in common besides their names. Leigh is a brilliant, Type-A statistician who tries to maintain control over her invariably changing life. Lee is a driven former football player who is ill-equipped to live a life that does not revolve around athletics. Pain, shame, and mercy set their lives on unexpected paths that go anywhere but according to plan. Playwright Etan Frankel is best known for his work as a writer and producer for Shameless, Friday Night Lights, Animal Kingdom, Get Shorty, and Joe vs. Carole. Returning to FST to play Leigh and Lee, respectively, are the original cast members, FST Associate Artist Rachel Moulton and Alexander Stuart. The pair first met performing in FST’s hit Mainstage production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2019). Stuart played the main character, a teenager named Christopher Boone, and Moulton played Christopher’s mother, Judy. The production’s creative team includes Clint Wright (Scenic Design), Erin Barnett (Costume Design), Andrew Gray (Lighting Design), and Louis Vetter Torres (Sound Design). FST’s production of Paralyzed is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The production is also supported by The Shubert Foundation and Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax Revenues.

A FINAL TOUR | Grammy Award-winning music legend Kenny Loggins will be kicking off his final concert tour with a performance at the Van Wezel Foundation's 2023 Inspiration Gala, March 2023. 

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