Garden Theatre Announces StarLite Film Festival
By: Caryn Robbins Feb. 13, 2015
The Garden Theatre is pleased to announce the 2015 StarLite Film Festival, February 26 - March 1, 2015, brought to you by the City of Winter Garden, West Orange Times & Observer, CenturyLink, Odyssey Creative, ProductionHUB and Pilars Martini.
Over the course of four days, the StarLite Film Festival will offer a slate of nine microbudget feature films and 38 student film shorts to be screened at the beautiful historic Garden Theatre in downtown Winter Garden (160 W Plant St). The festival will also offer free panels and workshops and multiple opportunities for cinephiles to mingle with filmmakers and share their love of independent film. The festival kicks off on February 26 with an opening night feature of THE ONE I LOVE (http://imdb.to/1o7oUWQ) followed by an exclusive conversation with the film's screenwriter and UCF alum, Justin Lader. The film premiered and was a breakout hit at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 and is nominated for Best First Screenplay at the upcoming Independent Spirit Awards. The film stars Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men) and Mark Duplass (Zero Dark Thirty, Togetherness and The Lazarus Effect) and tells the story of a couple who takes a weekend to fix a marriage that is on the brink of falling apart and end up facing an unusual dilemma.All-Access Passes will be sold for just $40 for adults or $15 for students with a valid ID. The All-Access Pass includes admission to all movies, workshops and parties. The Adult All Access Pass includes a unique StarLite t-shirt, which can otherwise be purchased for $15. Single event tickets to the opening night screening and party are $15 and admission to the closing ceremony on Sunday is $10 per person. Individual tickets to films screened on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are $6 each for the feature films and $5 for each short films program.
The StarLite Film Festival at the Garden Theatre is a one-of-a-kind juried EXHIBITION for microbudget narrative features that take a closer look at untold stories, investigate fresh perspectives, and magnify unfamiliar faces by highlighting microbudget movies from around the world made for under $200,000 USD. In 2015, the festival expanded to include student short films, which must not exceed a budget of $10,000 USD, providing exposure for up-and-coming filmmakers. Visit starlitefilmfest.com for more information. About the Garden Theatre
Located in the heart of historic downtown Winter Garden on Plant Street, the Garden Theatre is a not-for-profit organization committed to enriching, engaging and entertaining through creative experiences. The 299-seat theatre, which re-opened in 2008, is an historic, atmospheric, professional performing arts venue in a Mediterranean Revival style. The Garden Theatre hosts live plays, concerts, movies and more to the residents of and VISITORS to the city of Winter Garden. It is home to the international StarLite Film Festival as well as the Bluegrass Concert Series each summer. For tickets or additional information, contact the Garden Theatre Box Office at 407-877-GRDN (4736) or visitgardentheatre.org.
StarLite Feature Films
Screened and Judged at the Garden Theatre, February 26 - March 1, 2015 Pembroke Circle
79 minutes, United States. Written & Directed by Max Rousseau. 7pm Friday - Central Florida Premiere
In his award-winning, genre-busting first feature, director Max Rousseau folds a family drama within a psychological thriller bent on uncovering the seedy underbelly of suburban tranquility. Grace (Sarah Sculco) is a typical, American teenager with a "normal" family, but when her father, Leigh (Kenny Babel), invites a timid but attractive Spanish-speaking housekeeper named Mariela (Laura Mejia) into their home, the family's perfect façade begins to crumble and Grace's own repressed horrors come to light. Winner of the Outstanding Debut Feature Award at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Hands Off My Child
90 minutes, Netherlands. Directed by Paul Ruven. 9pm Friday - World Premiere
Inspired by real events, Dutch director Paul Ruven's Hands Off My Child is a puzzling, edge-of-your-seat thriller - like a microbudget Taken - if Liam Neeson's part was recast as a 42-year-old mother on crutches. Actress Saneeke Bos turns in a dazzling performance as Heleen, a divorced lawyer whose TEENAGE daughter Romy (Roos Wiltink) has GONE missing and may have become the victim of a sex trafficking ring. Even with a broken foot and few leads, the resourceful Heleen will stop at nothing to locate and save her daughter from Amsterdam's notorious "loverboys," men who prey on vulnerable young women in order to enslave them in the sex trade. Pretty Good Friends
76 minutes, Australia. Directed by Sophie Townsend. 2pm Saturday - World Premiere
In director Sophie Townsend's light and charming Australian mumblecore film, Pretty Good Friends, Jules (Jenni Townsend, no relation) returns to her home city of Melbourne, Victoria, in hopes of reinventing herself in time for her twenty-fifth birthday. She moves in with her childhood friend, Sam (Rain Fuller), and Sam's boyfriend Alex (Nathan Barillaro, who also co-wrote the script). Jules soon discovers an unexpected kinship with Alex, but her friendship with Sam has become strained. Confronting the awkwardness of a stale friendship as an exciting new one emerges tests the boundaries of the living situation and puts Jules in a dangerous position. Seahorses
94 minutes, United States. Written & Directed by Jason Kartalian. 5pm Saturday - Florida Premiere
In this multiple award-winning and darkly romantic fever-dream, director Jason Kartalian introduces us to Martin (Ian Hutton), an intense and lonely weirdo who, after a first date, awkwardly invites the even weirder yet captivating Lauren (Justine Wachsberger) into his apartment. When she almost immediately locks herself in his bathroom and refuses to come out, things go from awkward to comically bizarre. Seahorses reminds us that sometimes a strange night of unexpected connections can change your life forever. A Jury Prize winner at the Toronto Indie Film Festival and SoCal Independent Film Festival. Additional festival awards in screenwriting, cinematography, and acting. Bonobo
102 minutes, UK. Written & Directed by Mark Withers. 7pm Saturday - Florida Premiere
In this grittier take on the Indecent Proposal premise, a happily married but financially troubled UK couple, Sarah (Freya Berry) and Alec (Christopher Hatherall), must carefully evaluate the boundaries of their relationship when Sarah is offered a large sum of money to sleep with a wealthy man. While the basic story framework is familiar, director Mark Withers's treatment feels fresh because it eschews Hollywood fantasy to delve more bluntly into issues of marital sex, mistrust, and paranoia, and Berry and Hatherall perform their characters as complicated individuals who escape easy assignments of blame or sympathy. Interior
80 minutes, United States. Written & Directed by Zachary Beckler. 9pm Saturday
"A man alone inside a haunted house over the course of one night." This is how first-time feature director Zachary Beckler pitches his instant horror classic, Interior. But Interior is much more than just a terrifying (and award-winning) genre flick; it is also, perhaps, one of the best films ever made about digital filmmaking. In playfully leading the audience through multiple camera perspectives and screens within screens, Beckler reminds us that, in the digital age, all images are manipulations. They remain always, in some sense, both true and untrue at the same time. Having placed the audience in such a state of perpetual insecurity and self-doubt, he then masterfully orchestrates our own fears against us, until we have no other option but to scream. Winner of the Best Thriller Feature Award at the Atlanta Horror Film Festival and the Best Florida Feature at the Freak Show Horror Film Festival. Indigo
92 minutes, United States. Written & Directed by John Smith. 1pm Sunday - Florida Premiere
In director John Smith's award-winning debut feature, Skyler Pinkerton stars as Eli Casey, an up-and-coming photographer and recovering heroin addict, who implodes after his son is kidnapped. After separating from his wife, Eli stops working altogether until he begrudgingly agrees to shoot a wedding as a favor for his agent. At the reception, Eli photographs a suspicious couple that attempts to bribe him into deleting some of the wedding photos. After he refuses, Eli discovers that the flower girl at the wedding has disappeared, and it is up to him to conquer his demons and save the girl. With nods to Blowup and Chinatown, Indigo is a study of helplessness in the face of evil, a character-driven thriller for the digital age. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Amsterdam Film Festival and Best Narrative Feature at the Trenton Film Festival. The Decorruption
76 minutes, Ecuador. Directed by Maria Emilia Garcia. 4:15pm Sunday - World Premiere
Ecuadorian director Maria Emilia Garcia premieres her first feature, a dark political thriller with satirical edges. In a fictional Latin American country plagued by bureaucratic corruption, a rebellious government employee, known as Comrade 31X, refuses to comply with the system. When a new government regime enters with promises of change but ultimately fails to follow through, she comes up with a solution of her own: kill corrupt officials and purge the system.
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