The 27th annual Sarasota Film Festival (SFF) will spotlight the highly anticipated fourth season of Godfather of Harlem, starring Forest Whitaker. The first two episodes of the MGM+ series will debut at the festival as its centerpiece screening. In addition, co-creator Chris Brancato will be honored with the Innovation in Television Award, while cast member Rome Flynn will receive the SFF Rising Star Award.
Held in Sarasota, Florida, the 10-day festival kicks off on April 4, featuring a lineup of 20 documentary features, 17 narrative features, and 41 short films. SFF will open with Peter Miller’s documentary Marcella, which chronicles the life of culinary icon Marcella Hazan. Taylor McFadden’s Lovers, a drama about two women returning to their hometown for a friend’s funeral, will serve as the closing night event.
Sundance Selections and Spotlight Presentations
Several acclaimed documentaries from Sundance 2025 will be featured at SFF, including Tony Benna’s Andre Is an Idiot, Shoshannah Stern’s Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, Cristina Costantini’s Sally, and Kim A. Snyder’s The Librarians.
This year’s festival also highlights three notable documentaries in its Spotlight series: Wendy Lobel’s Anxiety Club, a humorous look at anxiety through the lens of comedians; Jill Campbell’s Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell’s Swimsuit Issue, which explores the editor’s groundbreaking career; and One to One: John & Yoko, directed by Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards, detailing John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s time in Greenwich Village in the early 1970s.
Among the festival’s narrative Spotlight selections are Jessica Palud’s Being Maria, a biopic on actress Maria Schneider, and Charlie McDowell’s The Summer Book, featuring Glenn Close as a grandmother nearing the end of her life, alongside her nine-year-old grandson.
Feature Competitions and Special Screenings
The narrative feature competition will include films such as David Fortune’s Color Book, William Shockley’s Long Shadows, Taylor McFadden’s Lovers, Charlie McDowell’s The Summer Book, and Ricardo Montreuil’s Mistura.
The documentary feature competition boasts a strong lineup, including Stern’s Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, Costantini’s Sally, Amor Aditya’s On The Frontlines of Hunger, Ilana Trachtman’s Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round, Karen Day’s Aria, Gary Hockman’s Deadly Deception at Sobibor, and Miles Larsen’s The Light They Cast, among others.
SFF will also screen all 2024 Oscar-nominated animated short films during its second weekend. A post-screening discussion will be hosted by Patrick Harrison, a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Festival Chairman on Florida’s Rising Film Industry
“I could not be more happy about the exceptional films featured in this year’s lineup for the 27th annual Sarasota Film Festival,” said SFF chairman and board president Mark Famiglio. “With Hollywood taking notice of the state’s new production incentives and more filmmakers setting their sights on Florida, it’s clear that our state is becoming a destination for storytelling, innovation, and opportunity. As always, we’re committed to advancing film education and fostering creativity, while also boosting local tourism through our valuable partnership with New College of Florida.”
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