The 25th Anniversary edition of the Sarasota Film Festival celebrated its Closing Day of screenings and festivities on Sunday, April 2, after an exciting festival featuring diverse and unique films, inspiring panels, educational outreach, and more.
The 2023 festival concluded with a screening of Prime Video’s ON A WING AND A PRAYER, directed by Sean McNamara at the Sarasota Opera House. At the Closing Day celebrations, Emmy-nominated actress-producer Roma Downey was honored with the Sarasota Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. Downey also produced ON A WING AND A PRAYER. Downey and McNamara were joined on stage by real-life subject Kari Sorenson for a post-screening conversation moderated by Variety’s Addie Morfoot.
During the festival, SFF also honored Emmy Award-winning comedian and television host Jay Leno with the festival’s Career Achievement Award; and Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of Grammy Award-winning folk-rock duo Indigo Girls with the Sarasota Maestro Award.
During the Closing Day ceremony, the festival announced this year’s Jury and Audience Award winners.
OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN directed by Rebecca Zlotowski takes home this year’s Narrative Feature Jury prize. Through this film, Zlotowski shows a bold portrayal of mid-life female subjectivity — a portrait of the many varied ways maternal love and loss can express itself — rooted in a level of specificity to place, culture, and relationships. Virginie Efira delivers a performance that leaves a startling, unforgettable impression with her subtle command of the screen. The film also captures Paris’s beauty without resorting to familiar tropes. Any adult watching OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN will recognize these characters and wonder why they are not depicted more often. This film feels like an instant classic.
The Narrative Feature Jury also recognized KT Curran’s BRIDGE TO THE OTHER SIDE with a Special Jury Mention. One of the surprisingly rare movies to deal with the lingering emotional fallout of the pandemic, BRIDGE TO THE OTHER SIDE tells a unique, almost episodic drama about a crisis stabilization and behavioral health mobile response team. Made locally and capturing both the beauty and the challenges of Gulf Coast life, Curran’s film is a model of regional, independent filmmaking that should be inspirational — and hopefully will spur more films about the individual and collective processing of the trauma of the last few years.
INVISIBLE BEAUTY directed by Bethann Hardison & Frédéric Tcheng was the Documentary Feature Jury prize winner. The film is beautifully crafted and features exquisite archival footage. Both cinematic and intimate, it offers a unique look at Bethann Hardison through past stories from she, and those she has worked so hard to champion. The film’s narrative elegantly captures the subjects’ resilience and ability to overcome adversity, and fight for what they deserve — a place on the runway. The film’s archival material envelopes you in that world, and serves as a time capsule to a moment in time that so sadly feels completely relevant today.
The Documentary Feature Jury also recognized Maxim Pozdorovkin’s THE CONSPIRACY with a Special Jury Mention for its incredible animation and special effects, and attention to the human costs of conspiracy. Featuring seamless recreation throughout the entire film with engrossing attention to detail, THE CONSPIRACY invites the viewer to sit with the tragic history of antisemitism, and the realization that the same forces are on the rise around the world.
The festival’s Independent Visions Award went to LATE BLOOMERS directed by Lisa Steen. As part of the prize, the winning filmmakers will receive a complimentary half-day use of the audio sweetening facility at Ringling College, and will work with Nick Palladino, an award-winning and internationally recognized sound designer and the founder of NPALL Audio.
The Sarasota Film Festival awarded INÉS UNFORTUNATELY, directed by Anna Salinas, Best US Narrative Short; HIDDEN GEMS, directed by Marquis Dawsey, Best Documentary Short; and ASTROMAN, directed by Alistair Simpson, Best International Short.
Festival patrons also awarded KT Curran’s BRIDGE TO THE OTHER SIDE with the Local Audience Award, recognizing local productions from Gulf Coast filmmakers, and Bethann Hardison & Frédéric Tcheng’s INVISIBLE BEAUTY with the Industry Audience Award.
“I am honored to close the milestone 25th anniversary edition of the Sarasota Film Festival by recognizing the incredible, dynamic films we screened at this year’s event. We wish the warmest of congratulations to our award winners, and the brilliantly talented filmmakers behind these projects. Thank you to this year’s Jury members for taking the time to highlight these films,” said Mark Famiglio, President and Chairman of the Board of the Sarasota Film Festival. “It is valuable to pause and reflect on why we do this festival on the 25th anniversary. We do it for the community — for the right of individuals, across all backgrounds, to express themselves cinematically, to educate others to their points of view, political leanings, thoughts, analytical arguments; the beautiful expression that only film can provide. Thank you to all our supporters and everyone who continues to make this event possible each year.”
Congratulations to the 2023 winners of The Sarasota Film Festival Awards:
Jury Awards
Narrative Feature Competition Winner
“Other People’s Children” Director: Rebecca Zlotowski
Documentary Feature Competition Winner
“Invisible Beauty”
Directors: Bethann Hardison & Frédéric Tcheng
Narrative Feature Jury Special Mention
“Bridge to the Other Side” Director: KT Curran
Documentary Feature Jury Special Mention
“The Conspiracy”
Director: Maxim Pozdorovkin
Independent Visions Competition Winner
“Late Bloomers” Director: Lisa Steen
US Narrative Short Competition Winner
“Inés Unfortunately” Director: Anna Salinas
Documentary Short Competition Winner
“Hidden Gems”
Director: Marquis Dawsey
International Short Competition Winner
“Astroman”
Director: Alistair Simpson
Audience Awards
Local Audience Award Winner
“Bridge to the Other Side” Director: KT Curran
Industry Audience Award Winner
“Invisible Beauty”
Directors: Bethann Hardison & Frédéric Tcheng
2023 Sarasota Film Festival Jury
Narrative Feature Jury
Alexandria Bombach, Documentary Filmmaker Christian Blauvelt, Executive Managing Editor, IndieWire Victoria Cook, Partner, Frankfurt Kurnit
Documentary Feature Jury
Anne Chaisson, Executive Director, HamptonsFilm Katie Martin Kelley, Veteran PR Executive
The Sarasota Film Festival took place across Sarasota March 25 through April 2, 2023, with complementary virtual programming, and greatly appreciates the support of its personal and corporate sponsors, including the Famiglio Family Foundation, Sack Family Foundation, Wallack 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, Molinari Models & Talent, Gurley & Associates, LJ Event Production, The Realm Restaurant Group, Bijou Garden Cafe, Rosemary & Thyme, Tamiami Tap, Sarasota Orchestra, Siesta Sand, 530 Burns Gallery and others. 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.
