NIFF’s popular “Screenings Under the Stars,” shown on a large outdoor screen in beautiful Norris Garden on the Artis—Naples cultural campus on Friday, October 25, will include a special presentation of Dianne Houston’s Freedom Hair, which pits a determined, business-savvy mother starting a natural hair braiding business versus a powerful cosmetology cartel and her home state of Mississippi. On Saturday, October 26, Jeff Toye’s crowd-pleaser The Opener tells the tale of a struggling street musician who gets noticed after one of his songs goes viral and is offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as an opening act on tour for one of his musical heroes. Director Jeff Toye and the documentary’s subject, Philip Labes, will be in attendance for a post-film Q&A and a brief performance by Labes.
Films in the Naples International Film Festival’s competition categories will vie for more than $10,000 in cash prizes, including the Audience Awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Short, as well as the Focus on the Arts Award, given to a feature-length narrative or documentary film with an emphasis on one or more of the visual or performing arts. NIFF will also present juried awards in the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature categories for the fifth consecutive year. Selected award winners will be announced at the Closing Night Awards Ceremony in Daniels Pavilion.
The Narrative Feature Juried Competition slate includes Shaun Seneviratne’s romantic comedy-drama Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts about a man who visits Sri Lanka to rekindle his relationship with his girlfriend after a long separation and is thrown for a loop when her boss demands that she works throughout their vacation. Matthew Leutwyler’s Fight Like a Girl follows a young woman, kidnapped from her village in the Congo and forced to work in an illegal mineral mine, who escapes and joins a renowned all-women boxing club. Steven Grayhm’s Sheepdog explores the physical and psychological repercussions of war. The film follows a combat veteran who is ordered into the care of a trauma therapist in training but is soon faced with overcoming a new hurdle: the arrival of his father-in-law, a Vietnam veteran who arrives on his doorstep, fresh out of prison.
Kiss of the Con Queen
“Each offering a unique lens through which audiences can explore the creativity of the human spirit…”
The Documentary Feature Juried Competition includes Joe Wein’s 76 Days Adrift, about Steven Callahan’s harrowing tale of survival alone on an inflatable raft in the Atlantic Ocean. Making its North American Premiere will be Anthony Wonke’s The Accidental Spy, an incredible true story of America’s jihadist spy and how he was thrown to the wolves once he stopped being useful to his CIA spymasters. Jeremy Power Regimbal’s Between the Mountain and the Sky focuses on Maggie Doyne, the 2015 CNN Hero of the Year, a devoted humanitarian who became guardian to over 50 Nepalese children after meeting a six-year-old who survived by breaking stones into gravel.
Additional highlights among the festival’s selected narrative features include H. Nelson Tracey’s award-winning Breakup Season, which stars The Walking Dead’s Chandler Riggs as a young man who brings his girlfriend, Cassie, home to meet his family over the Christmas holiday only to have her promptly break up with him and get snowed in together. Tom Waller’s Kiss of the Con Queen focuses on an actor who arrives in Indonesia to play a huge role in a blockbuster film and soon discovers he’s been caught in a global scam. Anthony Lucero’s heartfelt The Paper Bag Plan follows the efforts of a father, just diagnosed with cancer, who must race against time to train his disabled son on how to bag groceries in hopes of landing his first job and a life without his dad.
Additional documentary feature highlights include Sally Aitken’s Every Little Thing, which traces Terry Masear’s care for fragile hummingbirds. Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch’s Naked Ambition: Bunny Yeager tells the story of trailblazing photographer Bunny Yeager and highlights her influence on pop culture—from the bikini and Playboy magazine to the modern selfie. Making its world premiere is Herbert James Winterstern’s Sanibel. The film began as an exploration of the people and businesses central to seashell culture in Southwest Florida. However, the arrival of Hurricane Ian, one of the most destructive hurricanes in history, changed things radically as the cameras caught the devastating effects on the area.
Themes for the Naples International Film Festival’s curated short film programs include Unexpected Journeys, Made for Each Other, Odds and Ends, Family and Community, and the recurring Student Filmmaker Showcase.
For more information on films, screenings, and attending, visit artisnaples.org/niff.
"…an opportunity to enjoy thethe power of storytelling reflected across experiences, cultures, and artistic expression."
