Gasparilla International Film Festival 2009

Sometimes our own worst enemy is found laying behind a self imposed mask representing our fears, self doubts, and inequities. We live under a facade of finding our labels and likeness to other human beings around us...re-inventing ourselves. We find ourselves alone...secretly hoping for the power of invisibility...to close our eyes and disappear to this world. ‘Fire Escape’ deals with our constant need to live under a facade and our desperate attempt to escape ourselves.

Racing across Los Angeles in one, unwieldy day, documentary filmmakers Bella and Milo race from Beverly Hills to Watts and places in between to get Milo's brother Leo from jail to rehab before 8pm, or Leo goes to prison for three years. A story inspired by true events, the trio documents their trip from a suburban police station in Calabasas through mansions in Beverly Hills, East LA chop-shops, rural wastelands, and housing projects in Watts as they attempt to raise the $5,000 required to get Leo into the rehab clinic. Along the way encountering dozens of colorful characters, each with their own anomalous perspective on Leo's larger than life personality and style, and each with their own excuse for why they cannot help out. In the end, it may take a drug deal to get the necessary funds for rehab.

From its populated coastline and beautiful landscape to its aquifers, springs and delicate ecosystem, Florida stands to lose more in commerce and resources from climate change than any other state. ‘A Floridian’s Guide to Climate Change’ explores the effect of climate change on the people of the Sunshine State over the next 100 years.

A collection of GIFF Foreign Shorts (no charge)

It may have been the South, but in the early 1900s, Tampa, Florida, specifically its Latin community known as Ybor City, was more reminiscent of the Wild West. Gambling parlors and whore houses were located on almost every corner in Ybor City, shootouts between police and gangsters were a regular occurrence, election ballot boxes were stuffed, police and politicians were on the take, and very few residents found any of this to be odd. The man behind all this insanity was Charlie Wall, Tampa’s first crime lord and perhaps the earliest crime lord to control most of Florida. This documentary tells the tale of one the nation’s most unknown gangsters.

Gisela, an imaginative young girl who often reads fairy tails, is the unfortunate victim of her mother's abuse. Her only escape from her mother is to lock herself in her room and create a fantasy land inside her closet. This heart-wrenching dramatization is an attempt to bring a greater awareness to the thousands of kids across America who are victims of abuse or neglect.

Spring, 1942. The world is at war. Hitler has swept unchecked across the European landscape and pounds at the doors of Great Britain. The United States learns of a plot by the Germans to break the stalemate using a diabolical new chemical weapon. With time against them, a team of three Americans are asked to put their lives on the line and make the ultimate sacrifice...for God and Country.