Fort Lauderdale Film Festival tightens bonds to community amid COVID-19

Saving a large, iconic entertainment event in the Age of COVID requires heroic action, so the 2020 FortLauderdaleInternationalFilm Festival will enlist several: James Bond, Pope Francis, Robert De Niro, and the undeniable drawing power ofFreddieMercury and the Pink Ladies.

More than 170 features, documentariesandshortswillbeshown

duringthe18-dayrunofFLIFFNov.

5-22— but this edition of the festival will be unlike any in its 35-year history. Because… 2020.

With film fans skittish about COVID safety, FLIFF has made an extra effort to bring them movies and stars they want, where they want them.

Its imaginative outreach this year may be best illustrated by a JamesBonddoublefeaturescreening by the IntracoastalWaterway to socially distanced audiences in yachts, kayaksandfloatingcabanas, complete withwater-bornewaitstaff.

Films also will be offered from Dania Pointe to Davie, sing-along style in your car, over a meal in a local restaurant, on a massive IMAX screen and on the phone in thepalmof your hand.

Watching a film in a theater may be on itsway out as an American tradition (see Regal Cinemas). FLIFF 2020 includes the option of experiencing a virtual festival at home.

But longtime FLIFF President and CEO Gregory Von Hausch believes we need the communal escape of the movies now more than ever, and theater screenings, socially distanced and masked, remainthebackboneofthefestival.

“I think of it as the ultimate American art form, the motion picture,” VonHausch says. “It can take you fromMiramar to Pluto in the snap of a finger. I seemovies as apartofourculture, asapartofour livingexperience. It’samirrortous. … Sowe’redoingeverythingwecan tokeep that magic alive.”

Here are the main events and newandfamiliarways to enjoy the bestof theFLIFF2020..

FLIFF 2020 opens with a zany comedy, “The Comeback Trail,” starring Robert De Niro, Tommy LeeJones, MorganFreeman, Zach Braff and Delray Beach resident Kate Katzman.

Due to COVID, instead of the traditional opening night red-carpet at the Hard Rock Live, there will be two screenings Nov. 5-6 at Savor Cinema (503 SE Sixth St., FortLauderdale) andCinemaParadiso(2008HollywoodBlvd., Hollywood), each at half capacity.

Written and directed by George Gallo, “The ComebackTrail” is set in 1970s Hollywood and follows twohard-luckmovieproducers(De NiroandBraff) indebtedtoacrime boss (Freeman) and an insurance scam involving the “accidental” death of an aging western-movie star(Jones).“TheComebackTrail” opens in theaters nationwide on Dec. 18.

On Thursday, Nov. 5, Katzman will receive FLIFF’s 2020 Star on theHorizonAwardonstageatSavor

Cinemabeforea7:15p.m. screening of“TheComebackTrail.” Katzman also will take questions from the audience following the film, then join a post-screening party nearby at the RiverHouse. Tickets for the film and party cost $75 (members

$60).

At the 7:15 p.m. Nov. 6 screening at Cinema Paradiso, Gallo will appear onscreen to introduce the filmandtheaudiencewillbeserved a little pre-show champagne and appetizers. Tickets cost $50

(members$35)..

Social distancing South Florida styleisthethemeoftheBond-athon on thewater of Sunrise Bay at the Coral RidgeYachtClubonNov. 14.

Thenight will includetwo float

ing screens, one showing the classic “Goldfinger” at

7 p.m. and another showing “Casino Royale” (the

2006Daniel Craig version) at 6:30 p.m., with sound transmitted by radio. (It’s not a sing-along version, but feel free to duet with Shirley Bassey on the iconic “Goldfinger” theme song.) Ticket prices vary by vessel: Boats start at

$100 for 34 feet and under ( price covers everyone on it); you can rent a kayak ($70), paddle board ($80) or canoe ($90), or float up on your own for $25. Aquabanas also will be available, accommodating parties of five and less for $100.

Coral Ridge Yacht Club will have food and drink available for delivery by dinghy. Order in advance for a discount, or night- of at regular prices.

Boaters are encouraged to dress the 007 part ( your vessel, too) for a contest to be judged by the Winterfest Boat Parade team.

On Nov. 21, longtime FLIFF supporter Steven Savor will host a boat-in screening of the 2004 comedy- thriller “After the Sunset” (South Florida native Brett Ratner directs Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and others) on Sunset Lake off the Las Olas Isles, followed by an after-party at Savor’s Villa dePalma. Bring your own boat, rent one or do the open-bar VIP aboard yacht Savoir-Faire. Tickets start at $100 per person..

Drive-in movies

FLIFFintroduces its relationship with thenewDania

Pointe retail development on Nov. 7 with a drive-in screening of the punk-rock romance “Dinner in America,” starring newcomers EmilySkeggsandKyle Gallner, and produced by Ben Stiller. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., with the film at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $35 per vehicle.Dania Pointe also will be the setting for a singalong drive-in screening of the Oscar-winning FreddieMercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 ( paired with

the54-minuteindiecomedy “The Ride”). On Nov. 20 at

7:30p.m., thevenuewillhost the hip-hop-flavoredtravelogue to India “Heartbeats.” Cost is $35 per vehicle.

On Nov. 12, the Coral Ridge Yacht Club will host a sing-along drive-in celebration of Sandy, Danny, the Pink Ladies and the T-birds with a 7 p.m. screening of “Grease.” The club will have food and drink available (order in advance for a discount and carside delivery). Cost is $35 per carload.

Centerpiece night

FLIFF’s mid- festival

Centerpiece Film is “Francesco,” a documentary on Pope Francis that arrives on a wave of headlines for his endorsement, in the film, of civil unions for gay couples.

“Francesco” was directed by Oscar nominee Evgeny Afineevsky, who screened his powerful “Cries From Syria” at FLIFF in 2017.

“Francesco” will have screenings at 5 and 7:45 p. m. Nov. 13 at Savor Cinema and 10 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. Nov. 14 atCinema Paradiso.

Tickets cost $30 for film and party (members $25). Tickets for other screenings cost $18.