The first decade of the Sarasota Film Festival was a heady time. Academy Award winners, Emmy and Golden Globe recipients and rockstar musicians flocked to the warmth and beauty of Sarasota for the glitzy spring gathering, hanging out at the beach by day, walking the red carpet at night and enjoying the free-flowing wine and high spirits at raucous late night after-parties held at exclusive venues like the Sarasota Yacht Club and the Longboat Key Club. It was as much an event for star-gazers as cinephiles.

“Believe me, we were caught up in the glamour,” recalls Mark Famiglio, who has been on the board of the festival since its inception in 1998. “We were pursuing a model of a big, wonderful film festival with guts and we were trying to be everything to everybody.”

By contrast, the 2026 festival, which runs April 10-19, is a more restrained affair, with greater emphasis on the films than famous faces. Though there are still parties to open and close the 10-day event, the most notable name on the visitor list is Julian Schnabel, who is probably as well known as a painter as he is as a film director. Schnabel’s feature, “In the Hand of Dante,” which follows a disillusioned author into a violent underworld quest to authenticate a manuscript believed to be Dante Alighieri’s original Divine Comedy, is the festival’s closing night film on April 18.

“We’ve changed the business model completely from what it was,” Famiglio admits. “The industry’s changed so much, all this streaming stuff, it’s just not the same.”

What has changed most is the festival’s budget, which at one point soared to nearly $7 million, Famiglio says. In the early years, board members and philanthropic friends were “writing $100,000 checks fairly routinely” while administrators played “musical chairs” from one year to the next to cover expenses.

After running a deficit during each of the event’s first 10 years, the freewheeling spending came to an abrupt halt when the economic recession of 2008 hit, with the festival facing more than $300,000 in unpaid bills. The party was over and there was talk of just shutting the organization down.

“A lot of people wanted to bankrupt it and walk away, but I said absolutely not,” says Famiglio, who took over at that time as president and CEO and has held those roles ever since. “I found a lot of fat in the budget and started slicing. I came in as the janitor and tried to clean it up.”

According to its latest financials in The Giving Partner, today the festival’s annual budget runs closer to $500,000, 90 percent of which goes to programming and a fraction of the rest to administrative costs. The operating model, which Famiglio says he has “tried to meld into more philanthropic things,” now relies heavily on partnerships and collaborations with local educational institutions and nonprofits and in-kind support.

“I always say we’re doing filmanthrophy,” jokes Famiglio, still a major sponsor, who adds that he “pays quite a bit for the privilege of not getting paid.”

The festival took another hit more recently when, just after the press kickoff in 2020, it was forced to shut down due to the Covid pandemic. Paul Ratner, then in his first year as managing director, a position he still holds, pivoted a month and a half later to launch an online-only, digital festival that ended up actually expanding the audience.  The following year, with many people still reluctant to gather in crowded venues, the festival was a hybrid – part online, part in theaters. It returned to a fully in-person event in 2022, but the escalation of streaming services and changes in viewers’ habits continue to challenge attendance.

To further engage the community, there is now an increasing emphasis on and inclusion of locally-made films, most of them shorts, from the Sarasota area and Florida in general. On the final day of this year’s festival, the best short films of 2025 from the Ringling College’s film school will be screened, along with the premiere of “Gamble Creek Farms,” a short documentary made by film students through the nonprofit Florida Eco Films.

“For us, definitely, local films are hugely important, more so than ever,” Ratner says. “We know these films support the arts community here and they also draw in viewers in more solid ways. It’s kind of a dependable audience for us, so we go out of our way to try to highlight them.”

There have also been changes in the screening venues. After hosting the predominance of the festival’s films for many years, the Hollywood Regal on Main Street is no longer available. This year’s opening night film – Director Renny Harlin’s “Deep Water,” about a flight that goes down in the Pacific and the survivors’ efforts to stay alive in shark-infested waters – will be shown at New College of Florida’s Sainer Pavilion, as will the closing night film and awards ceremony, which in the past took place at the Sarasota Opera House. Other venues include CineBistro, the Ringling College of Art & Design, the Sarasota Art Museum, Voco Sarasota in the Rosemary District and, for the first time, Suncoast Technical College.

“One of the things we’ve tried to do is align with educational institutions,” says Ratner, “and in that way, we also come into the community more. We provide discounts to students and staff and highlight their programs and put on events that showcase their film programs.”

Instead of the Friday night street party that was a staple of past festivals, this year there will be a free community program on the New College of Florida soccer field, which includes a youth soccer clinic; a panel on the business of sports with NBA star Kenny Anderson and Sarasota Paradise founder and CEO Marcus Walfridson; and outdoor screenings of “Ski Dawgs” and director John Huston’s 1981 film “Victory” starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and soccer great Pele.

Another new addition is the “Instafilm” competition in which teams of students from around the area will have two days to create a short film, using assigned elements, like a specific prop, or a line of dialogue. On April 18, their efforts will be screened and awards presented.

“We try to be as inclusive of the community that we find around us as possible,” Famiglio says, “and to stay current and relevant. It’s getting harder and harder to get people out for anything other than a rooftop rave. Doing a street party is nothing now.”

Does he miss those early days of the festival and all their glitz, glamour and star power?

“Well, I like parties, don’t you?” he says. “It’s a different world now, but those memories…where else am I going to get those? We brought so many people to Sarasota and now they know Sarasota and remember they had a unique experience here. It’s all part of the wonderful fabric that is the Sarasota Film Festival.”

Here are a few “favorite” recommendations from the festival’s senior programmer, Brian Gordon, with descriptions of the films followed by Gordon’s personal take.

Narrative Feature Films:

“Honeyjoon” An American vacationing in the Azores islands clashes with her Persian-Kurdish mother a year after the loss of her father on ideas about how to grieve, how to live and tiny bikinis.

“What I love about this film is it deals with a really serious subject with a lot of humor and wit, but it’s also very poignant.”

“Charliebird” A music therapist working with a unique young patient is confronted with her past and what it means to live in this drama about a special, inspiring relationship.

“It’s serious, but incredibly touching and so well acted and directed. It’s about the bond {the therapist] develops with one teenage girl who has a very pessimistic look on life.”

“The Scout” A character study of a New York City location scout tasked with finding the perfect interiors for a new TV pilot.

“A great idea you wouldn’t see in Hollywood movies. You get a good feel for the characters and the motives of the people trying to rent out their homes. A nice moody film, very absorbing. The producer is a Sarasota native.”

“Meta Take One” A stylized thriller about a young filmmaker determined to complete his “masterpiece” at any cost.

“A really incredible low-budget thriller/action film, edgy but accessible. An awful accident happens while the film crew is shooting and the filmmaker thinks finishing his film is more important than the consequences they may face.”

Documentary Feature Films:

“All three of these were winners at the Sundance Film Festival.”

“Soul Patrol” The Vietnam War’s first all-Black special ops team reunites to share their untold story, revealing hidden military history and exploring whether confronting the past can heal old wounds.

“A very vivid film about a reunion of surviving members who were caught between a rock and a hard place at that time, looking back and forward.”

“Peter Asher: Everywhere Man” A portrait of the musician, producer and manager, whose life intersects with some of the greatest musical artists and moments of the last six decades.

“This one sold out at CineBistro in less than a week; we’ve added another screening.”

“Newport and the Great Folk Dream” Rare and previously unseen archival footage from the Newport Jazz Festival in the early ‘60s, capturing the moment when freedom songs met work songs, tradition met innovation and the spirit of protest filled the air.

“This crew shot every act over the course of three years -- country, blues, gospel singers, old Cajun musicians. Kind of made me proud to be an American with all the richness of the music.”

For the younger set:

 “Cookie Queens” Four tenacious Girl Scouts strive to be a top-selling “Cookie Queen,” taking part in and $800 million business in which childhood, ambition and capitalism collide.

“I think Girl Scouts would really enjoy this one. It’s a look at the early influence of capitalism.”

Among the famous faces that have appeared at past Sarasota Film Festivals…

Charlize Theron; Jacqueline Bisset; Sophia Loren; Stanley Tucci; Jon Voight; Kevin Kline; Geena Davis; Amy Madigan; Kevin Bacon; Forest Whitaker; Diane Lane; Christopher Walken; Willam H. Macy; Woody Harrelson; Steve Buscemi; Alan Alda; Bill Paxton; Danny Glover; Edward James Olmos; Ed Norton; James Gandolfini; Jason Momoa; Joaquin Phoenix; Marisa Tomei; Marlee Matlin; Matthew Modine; Peter Bogdanovich; Richard Linklater; Tom Selleck; Sam Elliott; Rosanna Arquette….and many more.

Sarasota Film Festival, April 10-19. Venues include CineBistro Siesta Key, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail; New College of Florida Sainer Pavilion, 5313 Bay Shore Road; Suncoast Technical College, 4748 Beneva Road; Ringling College of Art & Design, 2363 Bradenton Road; Voco Sarasota, 1223 Boulevard of the Arts; and Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail. Film tickets $20-50; party tickets $50-75. Ticket purchases available at venues prior to screenings (if not sold out) or at the Main Box Office, 332 Cocoanut Ave. (corner of Cocoanut Ave. and 4th Street). Online purchases and a complete schedule and listing of all films at SarasotaFilmFestival.com.