Featured Blog Posts – April 2011 Archive (16)

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Photo 2010 Sarasota Open by WQmag.com

Once again, world class tennis returns to Sarasota with the Sarasota Open, a USTA/ATP professional tournament. Qualifying rounds will be played April 23rd through April 25th when the main draw begins. The main draw continues throughout the week until the semi-finals begin on…

Photo by K.Conner WQmag.com

With 10.45 hours of each day influenced by media, females are influenced by stereotypes and hypersexualization. Fewer than one in three characters in movies with speaking parts are female. G-rated films depict females in  provocative attire, much like  R-rated films.  For girls, the number one-ranked…

Photo by K.Conner Wqmag.com

After ten days of non-stop action, the Sarasota Film Festival came to a screeching halt. As life returns to normal, there is a quiet void for those of us who voraciously partook of the festival and it seems as if an important part of life in Sarasota has come to an end for an entire year.…

The Peapod Foundation, created by the Black Eyed Peas, collaborated with Adobe Youth Voices, a non-profit spearheaded by The Adobe Foundation, to create a new public service announcement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efSYEZZNrEQ). The PSA demonstrates the…

Sarasota Film Festival's Cinema Tropicale Celebration at the Sarasota Yacht Club was quite the celebration, giving  filmmakers a perfect introduction to our beautiful community. Film-lovers enjoyed spectacular views and food while mingling and dancing the night away. Now this event was the kind of party for which the Sarasota Film Festival is known! The parties continue this weekend with Friday's Night Under a Thousand Stars -  Beach Edition at the Ritz-Carlton Member Beach Club and…

Carmel Café and Wine Bar is a feast for the eyes.  A savory mix of fabulous flavors and romantic modern décor truly elevates this dining experience to one that satisfy’s on a sensory level that is truly indulgent!  Food can be amazing but when your surroundings are a bust, the diner is left with a void and a somewhat unmet need.  I love a dive…

Re-visit local history with Thursday’s screening of “Through the Tunnel.”  The film tells the story of the Lincoln High Trojans, the football team of the former Manatee County School for African American students prior to desegregation in 1969. When the young men of Lincoln High were integrated into Manatee High to form a single, powerhouse program, head Coach Eddie Shannon was their guide, leading his team beyond the ignominy thrust upon the team by the challenges of…

Narrative Feature Competition: Kinyarwanda

“Kinyarwanda” gets my vote as one of the top contenders in Sarasota Film Festival’s narrative feature competition. Inspired by true stories, “Kinyarwanda” entwines six different stories within one film, giving a face to those affected by the Rwanda genocide. Over a million men, women and children…

War is hard, and sometimes coming home is even harder. K. Lorrel Manning’s film, “Happy New Year,” is the fictionalized story of Sgt. Cole Lewis, a marine who returns from Iraq paralyzed. Without available beds in the Veteran’s Hospital, Lewis is assigned to the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder wing of the under-staffed, rundown hospital.  After initial anger…

If you’ve ever thought that anything “green” is environmentally friendly, think again. Laura Israel’s documentary “Windfall” tackles the subject of wind energy from the personal viewpoints of residents affected by it. The prospect of leasing land to developers for the erection of wind turbines, an energy-efficient alternative to electricity, initially seemed…

Majical Miniatures, a 501c3 non profit animal rescue & rehab organization in Parrish, needs your help. A fundraiser has been set up to raise money to purchase a walk in aviary for rescued animals. The aviary cost $950. The fundraiser has raised $650 to date & will end on June 1st 2011. If you…

Documentary Feature Competition:  Better This World

sarasota film festival

Justice and injustice, loyalty and disloyalty, power and the abuse of power, manipulation, right and wrong, ethics and integrity…these are the topics that viewers are likely to ponder long…

At Majical Miniatures, we take in exotic, farm and wild animals for all sorts of reasons. Some are injured or abandoned, others neglected or their families simply cannot care for them any more. Whatever the reason, we pride ourselves on giving every animal that comes through our door the best possible care. It does not matter if they are here for a short visit before finding their forever home, released back into their natural wild habitat or if they are here to stay, we love them all.…