The Third Fabulous Independent Film Festival returns to Sarasota

Sarasota – Florida’s Cultural Coast is preparing for the third annual Fabulous Independent Film Festival to open its doors and show some of the best independent LGBT films from around the country. Running from Aug. 23-25 and held at Burns Court Cinemas, the festival will show more than a half-dozen feature length films over the course of the weekend.

“We’re really lucky to have, for the second year in a row, the Sarasota Film Society sponsoring our event, so we have a venue that is very film-friendly,” says festival director Magida Diouri.

Diouri spent many years working as an artistic director for the Sarasota Film Society, and when she moved on from her position with the organization, she sought to branch out on her own and try something different.

“I like the idea of diversity,” she says. “Being a foreigner, being born in Belgium and then coming to the U.S., I can appreciate diversity, so I felt that a great way to celebrate that was with a film festival geared toward the LGBT community.”

In 2010, she launched the first ever Fabulous Independent Film Festival at the Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota.

“The first year it was a little rough because we had the whole event in one day,” she says. “And the venue was amazing, Florida Studio Theatre is great, but it’s more geared toward live shows rather than film.”

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By the second year, the Sarasota Film Festival came on board as a sponsor and Diouri had a new venue for the event. With that growth came expansion. Not only did attendance rise by the second year, but the number of films that were screened started to increase as well.

“I’m surrounded by bad influences!” jokes Diouri. “Our team wanted to add more films and so I said, ‘Yes, let’s do it.'”

StillFabulousCap2The first year, the festival screened three films. This year there will be nine feature length films.

“There isn’t really a formal submission process,” says Diouri. “We did have some submissions but due to time constraints I wasn’t able to add them. However, there is one short film by a local filmmaker Anthony Paul that will be screened.”
She goes on to explain the selection process for the event.

“When I worked with the Sarasota Film Festival, there was a submission process, a screening committee, and a group of us deciding what was going to get played,” she says.

“In this case, it’s a small event compared to other film festivals, so we will look to some of the bigger film festivals in the country and see what they have been screening, focusing mainly on the big programs such as opening and closing night, centerpieces, that sort of thing.

“Because we only have three days for our event, we pick the best of what they have and screen them, pick out which ones would be the best fit for Sarasota, then we put in a request and hope we can secure the films to be shown.”

Diouri also says that the increased sponsorship has helped the festival expand and grow.

“We’re lucky to have the sponsors that we have now, because they really help make it happen, with the film costs, venue rental, that sort of thing,” she says.

“The first year there wasn’t really much sponsorship. The second year, I sent out another press release and wasn’t expecting anything, but I started getting calls saying, ‘We would like to sponsor you.’ And I said ‘You do? Cool!'” she says with a laugh. “It’s remarkable to me that we are going into the third year, I’m blown away. It has a life of its own and it is taking me along with it.”

Looking ahead, Diouri has high hopes for the years to come.

“I’d like to maybe add another day, get some national sponsors, maybe even have a budget big enough to fly people and filmmakers down for the festival.”

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While Diouri’s passion for film is evident, she feels there is a bigger message that she hopes people will take away from the festival.

“We don’t choose how we are born, where we are born, or what we are born,” she says. “We are what we are, let’s celebrate it.”
The Fabulous Independent Film Festival will be held Friday Aug. 23 through Sunday Aug. 25 at the Burns Court Cinemas in Sarasota.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit FabulousIFF.com.

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