Punta Gorda's Wonderful Little Short Film Festival is March 9

Punta Gorda has a film festival - a short but very good one.  Last year Nan Leonard, a local resident with thirty-five years of entertainment industry experience, single-handedly brought  this short festival of delightful short films to our town attracting a sold-out crowd of nearly 500 to the Event Center.  And she is doing it again.  

The  2nd Annual Punta Gorda Short film festival produced by Asbury Shorts is being held at the Charlotte a Harbor Event Center on Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m.  A touring collection of award-winning short films especially selected from major US & International film festivals, the program features films that have won Academy Awards or “Best of Show” honors from such festivals as Sundance, Chicago International, Aspen Shorts,The Berlin Film Fest, Melbourne and South by Southwest. According to Asbury Shorts the purpose is to present these highly entertaining films to the general public in a real theater setting rather than on an iPad or computer.  

Hosted by the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce the touring festival is in its 34th season, and is New York City's longest running "concert" of independently produced short films. Highlights include: Asad, an Oscar-nominated film set in a war-torn fishing village in Somalia; Death, Taxes and Apple Juice, a sweet award-winning comedy about two little girls pondering the meaning of life, and The Girl and the Gondola, a best short-film winner about a girl who wants to follow a 900-year family tradition and become a gondolier.   

Tickets remain only $15.00 per person in advance, $20 the night of the event.   Asbury shorts are also offering additional Sponsorships and marketing opportunities for ads in their program book.  To get tickets, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-punta-gorda-short-film-festival-tickets-20589483700. 

Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda to hold Charlotte County's First Film Festival

The Visual Arts Center of Punta Gorda has announced that in  September 2011, the Center will hold Charlotte County’s first Film Festival, presenting both locally and nationally produced short videos. The local component will be produced by students from the VAC and other film schools in the area. The national component will be from the Black Maria Film and Video Festival, a non-profit New Jersey organization that juries films from around the world for inclusion in a nationwide tour that takes place throughout the year.

Starting in January, the VAC will be offering beginning classes in Video Movie Making. Students in this class will be encouraged to produce short movies for entry the  festival.In addition, children enrolled in the  Kids Summer Art Camp will also have the opportunity to enter films. Films will also be accepted from students in regional film schools like Edison College in Lee County and Ringling in Sarasota. "The intent is to give students from the local area the opportunity to show their films to a Charlotte County audience," the VAC noted in their recent announcement.

The local movie screenings will take place on Friday, September 9th, and the Black Maria Film and Video Festival screening will take place on Saturday, September 10th. Weather permitting, both screenings will be in the courtyard at the Visual Arts Center.To get involved with the first annual VAC Film Festival, contact Tom Hamilton at (941)639-8810.