Florida Film Festival to screen more than 160 films

In just a few weeks, Enzian will once again play host to the Florida Film Festival from April 8-17. This year’s event will be bigger than ever, screening 167 films from 37 countries. Of the films selected for inclusion at this year’s event, 145 have premiere status.

“We have a lot of big firsts because we have 24 world premieres in the festival. So that’s extremely exciting, including more features than ever,” said Matthew Curtis, Florida Film Festival programming director.

Among the world premieres film fans can get excited about for 2022 is “Pre-fab!” from local filmmaker Todd Thompson, which chronicles the story of The Quarry Men drummer Colin Hanton and how he interacted with the teenage John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison in the years before the Beatles were formed.

This year will also see the debut of “Surviving Pulse: Life After a Mass Shooting,” which is the first documentary screened at the festival that tackles the 2016 mass shooting.

“I think we were waiting for this movie,” said Curtis about the film, which was directed by Florida-based filmmaker Alexa Sheehan. “It’s five years after and you’re getting to hear an incredibly large amount of survivors telling stories about that night that haven’t necessarily been interviewed in the past. It’s giving a lot more insight into what occurred that evening, but also sort of dealing with it and kind of moving on.”

This year’s festival lineup will also include the Sundance Film Festival award-winners “892,” “The Territory,” “Warsha,” “The Headhunter’s Daughter” and “Stranger Than Rotterdam with Sara Driver.”

In addition to featurelength documentaries and films, the 2022 Florida Film Festival will continue the event’s track record of having a groundbreaking shorts lineup.

“We take our shorts programs here incredibly seriously.” Curtis said, adding that this year’s lineup “really highlight[s] stories that we haven’t heard before, haven’t seen before, with unique voices telling stories in a different way.”

In between screenings, there will be plenty of events for film fans to enjoy, including panels, Q&A sessions, and chances to interact with filmmakers directly.

“Some film festivals you go in and you watch the movie and then you leave,” said Deanna Tiedtke, Enzian’s director of public relations. “At Enzian and at the Florida Film Festival, the events and the fact that we have Eden bar out there where you can go and digest and discuss these movies and really dive in with other film lovers, it’s a big part about what makes our festival special.”

You can view the full lineup of films and purchase tickets and passes now at the official Florida Film Festival website: enzian.org/films/festivals/florida-film-festival.