Media Contact:
Laura Newhook
(727) 366-5001

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 18, 2011

 

Global Lens 2011 Brings Independent Foreign Films to Tampa

What: The Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF) is excited to once again collaborate with Global Film Initiative and the Tampa Museum of Art to bring the best independent foreign films to the Tampa Bay area. Global Lens 2011 is a prestigious series of films, which supports unique and critically acclaimed cinematic works of independent filmmakers from all over the globe. For more information on the series and the Global Film Initiative, please visit GlobalFilm.org.

Come join us on the second Friday of every month for these upcoming films:

• March 4 – “Dooman River” writer-director Zhang Lu tells the story of two boys on opposite sides of the Chinese-Korean boarder who form a friendship that is put to the test when suspicions mount against the North Korean immigrants after a series of thefts in the Chinese town.
  
  
• April 8 – “The White Meadows (Keshtzar Haye Sepid)” is a poetic and dreamlike film that follows a boatman as he navigates through the dark waters, collecting the tears and heartache that come from the resident’s hopes of appeasing the gods.
  
  
• May 13 – “The Light Thief (Svet-Ake)” follows a humble electrician’s dream of supplying electricity to his neighbors, but when he strikes up a deal with a corrupt politician, his ambitions of building windmills for his village is threatened.
  
  
• June 10 – In the Indian film “Soul of Sand (Pairon Talle)” a watchman living in an abandoned mine, reluctantly helps his landlord’s daughter and her lower-caste lover run away and escape a masked killer.

July 8 – “Belevedere” is the story of a former refugee widow who is attempting to rebuild her life with her troubled extended family, while also searching for her husband and son’s remains, fifteen years after the ethnic cleansing of the Bosnian Muslims during the Balkan conflict.

• August 12 – Brazilian director Sergio Bianchi’s “The Tenants (Os Inquilinos)” follows the life of a working-class family and the impact caused by the mounting violence that has descended upon their town after three mysterious men move into the Sao Paulo suburb.
  
  
• September 9 – “A Useful Life (LaVida Util)” shows the story of a devoted cinema employee that is forced to discover a new passion and see the world outside the lens once his beloved arthouse cinema closes after 25 years.
  
  
• October 14 – “The Invisible Eye (La Mirada Invisible)” is set against the backdrop of Argentina’s mid-80s military regime and follows a young lonely teacher who develops an unhealthy obsession with one of her students after she is told to keep watch on the goings-on of the elite Buenos Aires private school.  

 

Who: General admission is $8 and there is a special $5 price for seniors, students, and members of the Tampa Museum of Art.  Admission is free for GIFF members.

When: The second Friday of every month at 7 p.m. (with the exception of March 11th, this showing will be on March 4th).

Where: Tampa Museum of Art
120 W. Gasparilla Plaza
Tampa, FL  33602

ABOUT THE GASPARILLA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
First launched in the summer of 2006, the Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF) has grown into an entertaining and educational year-round entity in Tampa Bay. Well-known for its annual film festival, GIFF is operated by the 501(c) 3 non-profit Tampa Film Institute and continually upholds its mission to provide year-long support for film screening, production, and education throughout Tampa Bay and the region. For more information on GIFF including sponsor and volunteer opportunities visit, www.gasparillafilmfestival.com.

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