Each year, the Sarasota Film Festival presents a line-up of independent films that feature significant LGBTQ characters or themes. Although the festival was cancled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SFF has released some films for a virtural festival. SarasotaOUT.com is excited to be teaming up with the Sarasota Film Festival to spotlight these features in our Gay Guide to the Sarasota Film Festival. Below you will find the LGBTQ themed films available to stream during SFF's virtural film festival.
What to Watch:
Transgender Features
Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen★ SarasotOUT.com's Staff Pick!
Disclosure is an unprecedented, eye-opening look at the history and present-day landscape of transgender depictions in film and television, revealing how Hollywood simultaneously reflects and manufactures our deepest anxieties about gender. Leading trans thinkers and creatives — including Laverne Cox, Lilly Wachowski, Yance Ford, Mj Rodriguez, Jamie Clayton, and Chaz Bono — explore how screen stereotypes have penetrated their psyches and shaped self-perceptions over the decades. What emerges is a fascinating story of dynamic interplay between trans representation on screen, society’s beliefs, and the reality of trans lives.
Sat, Mar 28th | 4:00 PM | Hollywood Regal #6
Tue, Mar 31st, 4:00 PM | Hollywood Regal #7 Vertical Divider
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Born to Be★ SarasotOUT.com's Staff Pick!
BORN TO BE follows the work of Dr. Jess Ting at the groundbreaking Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery in New York City-where, for the first time ever, all transgender and gender non-conforming people have access to quality transition-related health and surgical care. With extraordinary access, this feature-length documentary takes an intimate look at how one doctor's work impacts the lives of his patients as well as how his journey from renowned plastic surgeon to pioneering gender-affirming surgeon has led to his own transformation.
Mar 29th | 5:00 pm | Hollywood Regal #4
Apr 1st | 1:15 pm | Hollywood Regal #6 |
What to Watch:
Feature Films
WhirlybirdFlying high above Los Angeles in a whirling news helicopter, Marika Gerrard and Zoey Tur (known then as Bob) captured some of the city’s most epic breaking news stories. The two recount the salacious details of their career as a husband-and-wife journalist team doing whatever it took to catch an unfolding story. Their camera captured the extreme adrenaline of the culture of live news and, as a result, the strain it took on their relationship—and, ultimately, a major life transition for Zoey. A wholly unique take on the story of Los Angeles told through stunning aerial footage and remarkable home videos, Whirlybird reframes many of the city’s pivotal moments of the 1990s, including the O. J. Simpson pursuit and the 1992 riots.
Sat, Mar 28th | 4:00 PM | Hollywood Regal #6
Tue, Mar 31st, 4:00 PM | Hollywood Regal #7 Vertical Divider
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The Carnivores
★ SarasotOUT.com's Staff Pick!
Alice and Bret’s dog is dying, and he’s ruining everything. Bret takes the news especially hard and Alice feels cut out. As the stress on the family takes on increasingly strange shapes, Alice plans to get rid of Harvie to reclaim Bret’s love. But when Alice wakes one night holding an empty leash with no sign of Harvie except his severed ear, she begins to fear she's become a monster. As each woman sets out in search of what's been lost, Alice and Bret find parts of each other they never suspected, hideous and beautiful alike.
Thu, Apr 2nd | 4:15 PM | Hollywood Regal #3
Fri, Apr 3rd | 4:45 PM | Hollywood Regal #3 |
What to Watch:
Documentaries
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Oliver Slacks: His Own LifeOliver Sacks: His Own Life explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact.
Thu, Apr 2nd | 2:00 PM
Fri, Apr 3rd | 11:45 AM Hollywood Regal |
What to Watch:
Short Films
These are the Short films that feature significant LGBTQ characters or themes. Please note these films are being shown with a variety of other short films.
BalloonExploring gender through the lens of the superhero myth, BALLOON questions how we raise boys when our concept of masculinity has become narrow.
For fourteen-year-old Sam, surviving junior high means staying below radar. But that becomes impossible after he becomes the target of the school’s next viral video. He’s pressured to “hit back,” but Sam isn’t so sure—even if he does have super powers. Thu, Apr 2nd | 6:15 PM
Fri, Apr 3rd | 10:45 AM Hollywood Regal #7 |
The ReceptionWhen simmering political division in America turns violent, two men, trapped in a siege on the last day of their lives grieve the loss of their sons and talk about what they should have done differently. The Reception is a powerful exploration of the desire for love in the midst of a nation torn by hate.
Sun, Mar 29th | 12:00 PM
Sat, Apr 4th | 3:00 PM Hollywood Regal #6 |
The ReceptionWhen simmering political division in America turns violent, two men, trapped in a siege on the last day of their lives grieve the loss of their sons and talk about what they should have done differently. The Reception is a powerful exploration of the desire for love in the midst of a nation torn by hate.
Sun, Mar 29th | 12:00 PM
Sat, Apr 4th | 3:00 PM Hollywood Regal #6 Vertical Divider
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AND-1139Lucca, is a lonely man that is beta testing an android, AND-1139, also known as Andy. After an update to Andy's programming, Lucca struggles with his feelings as Andy develops the ability to physically and emotionally feel.
Sat, Mar 28th | 11:30 AM
Sun, Mar 29th | 1:30 PM Municipal Auditorium Vertical Divider
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Her PlaceA modern couple’s reality is disparately narrated with the words of “The Good Wife’s Guide”.
OUT FACT: HER PLACE was filmed in The Umbrella House in Sarasota, Florida, an iconic work of the Sarasota School of Architecture designed by architect Paul Rudolph and built in 1953. Architectural Digest has described the Umbrella House as "One of the five most remarkable houses of the mid-twentieth century". The film also showcases a rendering of the Umbrella House by renowned illustrator John Pirman. Sat, Mar 28th | 11:30 AM
Sun, Mar 29th | 1:30 PM Municipal Auditorium |
What to Watch:
Spotlight on a Locally Made Feature Film
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Pie Car |
★ SarasotOUT.com's Staff Pick!
A vegetarian lion tamer, a trapeze artist madly in love, an aerialist in a tough situation, a brother and sister elephant act in conflict, and a cook who only has one piece of pie left, richly developed characters will leave you wanting more. Filmed in the Circus mecca, Sarasota, on a train car that John Ringling himself used, Pie Car will keep you on the edge of your seat.
FLORIDA SHORTS 1
Mar 28th | 11:30 am
Mar 29th | 1:30 pm
Municipal Auditorium
Mar 28th | 11:30 am
Mar 29th | 1:30 pm
Municipal Auditorium
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