Ranch showcases new films comes to Ranch

LAKEWOOD RANCH — James Duke is on a mission to educate about film.

And he’s putting his plan into … ready, set and action.

Duke, director of Inspiration Film Academy, part of the private Christian school Inspiration Academy, is organizing the school’s first international film festival, Inspiration Film Fest.

The festival will start at 9 a.m. Jan. 17, at Lakewood Ranch Cinemas, in Lakewood Ranch. It will feature 35 films, including films from Iran, the Philippines and Italy, among other countries.

“We were fortunate to get more than 100 submissions,” Duke said. “We have multiple categories we’ll be showcasing — student short films and short documentaries, and we also have feature documentaries and short-film narrative.”

The festival will end with a cocktail hour from 6 to 7 p.m. and a 7 p.m. ceremony announcing the film that wins “Best of Fest” award and $5,000. There will also be a question-and-answer session with actor Lawrence Gilliard Jr., who performed on “The Walking Dead” and in the first two seasons of “The Wire.”

Ticket prices vary by film or package, and the ceremony cost is separate. Part of the proceeds will benefit Selah Freedom, a Sarasota-based nonprofit that fights sex trafficking.

Duke hopes the festival will raise awareness about Inspiration Film Academy, while also engaging the public in watching independent films. Duke said the films show the totality of the human experience.

“Part of the experience of going to a film festival is sitting through films that wouldn’t necessarily be something you, on a normal basis, would go and see at a movie theater,” he said. “It’s a chance to see a different buffet.

“We want to get as many people there as we can,” Duke said. “We’re hoping for a big turnout.”

The festival will be the first of its kind offered at Lakewood Ranch Cinemas, owned by the Sarasota Film Society.

Although the society’s Burns Court Cinemas is known for its offering of independent films, Lakewood Ranch Cinemas typically shows more mainstream films to accommodate its clientele, said Tim Calanbra, director of community outreach and public relations for Sarasota Film Society.

Lakewood Ranch, however, shows independent films at 11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays; it calls the showings “Burns Court at the Ranch.”

And for the last two years, the Sarasota Film Society has brought select films from its annual CineWorld festival to Lakewood Ranch for viewing.

Last year, Lakewood Ranch Cinemas hosted its first film festival, hosted and organized by the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee.

Calanbra said Inspiration Academy’s festival is the largest Lakewood Ranch Cinemas has hosted to date and fulfills the society’s mission.

“It further educates through film what the film society is all about,” Calanbra said. “With Inspiration coming out here with an indie-type film festival, you hope it raises more awareness about what (independent) film is.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

FILM SHOWINGS

Student Short Film — Fiction
• “As a Child”
• “A Summerhouse”
• “Prom”

Student Short Film — Documentary
• “Blue Chameleon”
• “Fred”
• “Enabled”
Feature Film — Documentary
• “Are You a Pilgrim”
• “The Space Between”
• “You Belong to Me”
• “Sweethearts of the Gridiron”

• “The AC Project: To the Ends of the Earth”
• “David & Me”
• “Exposed: The Global Epidemic”
• “DAR HE: The Lynching of Emmett Till”
• “Driving Blind”
• “Revolution”
Short Film — Fiction
• “The Dream Wife”
• “Anonymous”
• “Blue-eyed Boy”
• “Ballkoni” (“Balcony”)
• “Simon Says”
• “One on One”
• “Out of Body”
• “One to Nil”
• “Jangled”
• “Only God Knows Redux”
• “Cinnamon Roll”

Short Film — Documentary
• “Room 19”
• “The Mural”
• “The Pie Lady of Pie Town”
• “Salve Regina”
• “Fill Up. Pour Out.”
• Powerful Medicine. Simply Magic.”
• “Alegria — A Humanitarian Expedition”
• “Work Their Best”