Season's Preview- Special Events

Popcorn on the Beach

Even its organizers concede that the Fort Myers Beach film festival doesn't have the cachet of Cannes or Sundance (or even Sarasota). So why are filmmakers spreading the word that this is one small festival not to miss? Maybe it's the town's beachy charm and can-do spirit, where everyone gets into the act, from the town finance manager who doubles as festival director to the locals who surprise directors with smart questions and throng screenings of independent films. And don't forget the great, glimmering Gulf of Mexico, the backdrop to moonlight showings right on the beach. All that has created what one filmmaker called "a small festival with a big heart."

The fifth annual Fort Myers Beach Film Festival, April 21-24, will include talks with filmmakers, student workshops, a gala awards dinner and movies for everyone-from independent films at the Beach Theater to children's movies and screenings of Hollywood favorites. In addition to awards for directors' choice, best documentary and more, a "people's choice" will be selected by audiences.

Run by the town's small staff, with help from volunteers and support from the county tourism agency and other sponsors, the event brings visitors to the island during the post-snowbird, pre-summer lull. And organizers say attracting bigger names to the festival becomes easier each year. "Most of them never knew we existed, and they're so happy to be here," says town manager Marsha Segal-George. They're happy, too, to island hop with the locals. A couple of years ago lively British actor Tim Curry (The Wild Thornberries, The Rocky Horror Picture Show) was snapped by local paparazzi at beach hangouts.

Celebrities make good press releases, but good films give a festival legs. Executive director Janeen Paulauskis approaches selecting materials seriously, soliciting entries from contacts throughout the independent film community. Her dedication pays off with films like last year's Gotham Tales, a quirky documentary about fishing in Manhattan that packed the Beach Theater. Other small movies and even the conversations with filmmakers also played to full houses.

"Who would have thought that you would be sitting in Fort Myers Beach listening to producers from L.A.?" asks Segal-George. Unlike Sanibel or Naples, she says, the town "hasn't been saturated with cultural activities," but she says those who identify Fort Myers Beach with "obscene T-shirts and drinking contests" don't understand the island.

In fact, arts and culture are expanding here, with local theater groups, a visual arts group and rising interest in historic preservation. And residents are talking about how to keep the island's small-town, laid-back feel in the face of quickening gentrification. Maybe what really makes this festival special is that it balances the old and new images of Fort Myers Beach, expressing the spirit that keeps visitors returning and residents happy to live in a place with a quirky, creative charm all its own.

-Tracy Jones

For information, call 765-0919, ext.131.

Driving Ambition

It's no big stretch for Courtney Hansen to come to Naples to shoot a movie; the Barron Collier High grad lived here from the age of 12 until she went to college at Florida State University. But the role she's playing in the short film Mercy and Grace-a woman going into labor while her husband hits rock bottom with a drug problem-is, she admits, a challenge, one she says she's ready for. (The film, written and directed by Steve Burton, will bow at the Marco Island Film Festival this month if the crew can make up for shooting delays caused by hurricanes.)

Emotionally, the role of Julia is draining. But physically, Hansen is used to hard work, as a member of the team for The Learning Channel's popular Overhaulin'. The show, now airing its second season and soon gearing up for its third, features Hansen and co-host Chris Jacobs "stealing" cars (with the knowledge and assistance of family members or friends) desperately in need of a makeover. But Hansen's duties don't end once the car is in the garage; she loves to get her hands dirty dismantling the vehicle and then helping to rebuild it.

"It's really fun, not work," says Hansen. You believe her because she grew up around the roar of the engines at the racetrack her father owned in Minnesota (dad Jerry is one of the winningest amateur racecar drivers in history). So what's it like for male viewers to see this blond model-actress stripping down an automobile? "There could be chauvinists out there," she says, "but most of the men I talk to find it sexy. More women are interested in cars now; I feel like a pioneer."

The seventh annual Marco Island Film Festival runs Nov. 3-7 at Marco Movies and Town Center 6 in Naples and features more than 80 films in all, along with special events, parties and film forums. For more info call 642-3378 or visit marcoislandfilmfest.com.

-Kay Kipling

Coming Attractions

The sixth Lee County Reading Festival is set for March 19 at Centennial Park in Fort Myers. Tentative authors' names include S.V. Date, Jeffrey Deaver, Janet Evanovich, Lisa Miscione, Gulfshore Life's own contributor Bob Morris, Barbara Parker and children's authors/illustrators Dan Yaccarino, Kimberly Willis Holt, Mary Logue and others.The Naples Press Club's third annual Authors & Books Festival is planned for Feb. 26 and 27, with much of the action centered at the Collier County Professional Development Center. Joining the festival are Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Rhodes (The Making of the Atomic Bomb), who has a new bio out on John James Audubon, along with several regional writers including Jeff Klinkenberg, food writer Josefa Gonzalez-Hastings, and children's authors Edith Tarbescu, Jan Day and Naples' own Sheila Hebert-Collins. Panel discussions, signings and more.The Naples Fort Myers Town Hall Today Series presents Irish tenor Ronan Tynan Jan. 21, former CIA director George Tenet Feb. 25, and former Prime Minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznar, March 17, all at the Registry, with one other speaker TBA. And the Quest Educational Foundation brings to town Paul Bremer Jan. 28, conservative crusader and author Star Parker March 4, and two other speakers TBA, at the Ritz-Carlton.More celebrity speakers: feminist writer and editor Gloria Steinem, appearing for Collier's Planned Parenthood's 30th anniversary Feb. 1; and authors Peter Benchley, Jan. 19 and 20, and Carl Hiaasen, March 2, both for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, celebrating its 40th year.