A man loving his horses too much, a mother loving her child too little and the documentary Beyond Hatred are celluloid highlights as the ninth annual Sarasota Film Festival sails into its closing weekend.
Robinson Devor s shock-documentary Zoo will be shown today (7:45 p.m.
) and Saturday (6:30 p.m.) at Regal Hollywood 20.
The film details the true story of a Seattle farmer killed by having sex with a horse and exposes an unsavory subculture. Not for the squeamish or judgmental, Zoo will certainly raise the festival s taboo quotient.
On the other end of the sensitivity spectrum, Joseph Greco s Canvas stars Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden as a mother battling schizophrenia.
Her husband (Joe Pantoliano) and son (Devon Gearhart) can t do much about it, in a story Greco based on his similar childhood experience.
Canvas will screen at 7:15 p.m.
Friday and 4:45 p.m. Saturday with Harden, Pantoliano and Greco answering questions after both shows.
Olivier Meyrou s Beyond Hatred (5 p.m. today) chronicles the 2002 murder by skinheads of young, gay Francois Chenu.
Beyond Hatred exemplifies the festival s international spirit, with many of the 208 selections coming from abroad.
Also of note: Geoffrey Wright s gritty, graphic reshaping of Macbeth into a contemporary Australian crime drama. Sam Worthington delivers a powerful performance in the title role, shown tonight at 9:30.
Two showings Sunday of Chad Lowe s coming-of-age drama Beautiful Ohio sold out weeks ago. However, the same idea is handled with subversive humor in Chris Bowman s American Fork (6 p.m.
Friday and 12:15 p.m. Sunday) and tickets may remain.
Don t risk being disappointed; visit the festival s Web site to check ticket availability and to buy tickets.
There are plenty of things to do outside the theater.
Harden and Pantoliano join the A Conversation With .
. . series at Asolo Theater at 7 tonight, and acclaimed director Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck) discusses his career there at 1 p.
m. Saturday ($20 for each).
Minxx Nightclub, 7111 S Tamiami Trail, hosts tonight s Independent Visions gathering of ambitious filmmakers at 8 ($20).
And the festival presents free panel discussions on women in cinema (today), marketing challenges for foreign films (Friday) and film design trends and documentary strategies (Saturday). Each begins at 11:30 a.m.
at Metro Coffee Wine near the theater.
Everybody who s anybody at the festival (and still in town) will attend Friday s Night of a Thousand Stars at Michael s On East restaurant, beginning at 9:30 p.m.
It s pricey ($150) but a great place to stargaze and graze. Saturday s Filmmakers Tribute Dinner ($300) is a formal event where director Jewison will receive a career achievement award.
See Friday s Floridian for an interview with Jewison.
The festival, which continues today through Sunday, features screenings at Hollywood 20, 1993 Main St., and special events throughout Sarasota. Movie tickets are $8, available at the box office.
Special events prices range from free to $300 for Saturday s Filmmakers Tribute Dinner at Longboat Key Club Resort. For more information and ticket availability, visit the festival Web site: www.sarasotafilmfestival.
com.
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