(By Kim Ryan) I had the pleasure of visiting the Beach Theater for the first time (and it won’t be the last) on Wednesday to view some of the amazing offerings presented at the 16th Annual Fort Myers Beach International Film Festival.
The festival invites movie-goers to screen quality independent films which cater to a wide range of tastes and ages and span several genres. The shows run from 3PM-10:45 which can accommodate any schedule.
Besides great films there are also opportunities to attend coffee meet and greets with the filmmakers and screenwriter through Sunday at 12 PM.
You can also participate in an acting and directing workshop on Saturday, April 30 at 12 p.m. Join award-winning filmmaker, Alyn Darney, as he leads a directing and acting workshop. Alyn has completed directorial work on a number of feature films including Shadow Fighter and the multi-award-winning Holocaust film Immunity to name a few.
In addition there are panels such as WOMEN IN FILM PANEL today at 3:00 p.m., where you can meet some of the women filmmakers as they discuss diversity in the film industry and how to effect change among the industry.
THE ART OF THE SHORT FILM PANEL is tomorrow (Saturday) at 3:00 p.m. Join shorts filmmakers to hear what went into making their film and the creative process it takes to create an impactful short film.
FILM FESTIVAL BEHIND THE SCENES is Sunday May 1st at 3:00 p.m. Join festival directors, programmers and judges to talk a little about what it means to put together a film festival. All panels Cost: $9.75 and are free to credentialed filmmakers.
The theater offers a comfortable and intimate setting and there’s food and drink (including adult beverages) brought right to your seat by an amiable staff. I took in the short documentary package which included a wonderful compilation of interesting and varied topics. They also handed out slips of paper to vote on your favorite which was extremely hard given the great content of the documentaries presented during the evening.
It’s truly a bargain at around $10 per movie viewing and super easy to buy tickets.
The festival runs through May 1st and you can get tickets, view the schedule of movies and their descriptions HERE.