‘Blue Boy’ from Tampa director Tyler Riggs among shorts coming to Gasparilla International Film Festival

Gasparilla International Film Festival opens next Thursday, March 21, and while red carpet appearances from Quavo and John Travolta are high on GIFF’s big to-dos, the lineup also features close to two dozen feature-length films, along with almost 100 shorts.

Most of the films are in competition for a prize in their respective categories, and will be judged by a grand jury in eight categories:

• Best Narrative Feature
• Best Documentary Feature
• Best Short Film
• Best College Film
• Best High School Film
• Best Florida Production
• Best Male Performance
• Best Female Performance

Here’s a preview of all the shorts coming to the 2024 Gasparilla International Film Festival. Tickets for the shorts blocks, all happening at AMC Westshore at Tampa’s Westshore Place, are $15.
Sci-fi shorts block (Friday, March 22. 5:15 p.m.)

Felipe Franco has given us a good reason to hang out with friends who insist on taking Ivermectin. In ’s “21 Days,” computer engineer and cyber activist Olav lives in a world where the government knows your exact date of death. Andrew Kiaroscuro’s “Star Wars” fan film “Star Wars: Echoes of Bazar” is also on the agenda with “Debris” (Alexandra Melissa Paglieri). Synthetic (John Waldron), Likeness (John Wells), and “Rebirth,” which is about taking over surrogate bodies (director William Brooke will do a post-film Q&A)

Thrills & chills shorts block (Friday, March 22. 7:15 p.m.)

Eight flicks make up this block of shorts, including one perfect for that guy in your office. Jake Myers’ “Kombucha” is about someone that slurps’ on office ‘buch, which causes some odd, gross side effects. Other films in the block include Rasch und mit Feuer (directed by Mia Watanabe Miller), “The Legend” (Chris Beemer), “Panacea (Michael Naizu & John Wilcox), “Back To You” (Tyler Smith), “Vile (Casey Glazer), “Duality”, and “The Midnight Sleepover Club” (Jack Parr).
Narrative shorts block (Friday, March 22. 9:15 p.m.)

It’s been nine years since homegrown filmmaker Tyler Riggs premiered his 12-minute short, “Nobody’s Darling,” at GIFF. This year—after watching his cast and crew take home Narrative Feature Film awards at 2021’s Tribeca Film Festival for “God’s Waiting Room” (“Best Actor,” “Best Cinematography)—he brings back Matthew Leone (who won that “Best Actor” accolade at Tribeca, for another introspective script about the male psyche (“Blue Boy,” centered around an insecure bodybuilder known as Joey Muscles).

Other films in the narrative shorts block include “Next Wednesday” (directed by Curtis Graham), “Barely Breathing” (Derek Evans), “The Jump” (Daniel Woods), and “The Jukebox” (Jon Housholder & Jeff Schafer).

International shorts block (Saturday, March 23. 12:15 p.m.)

A full day of film kicks off early on Saturday, and starts with Alireza Saadi’s “The Light,” about a woman in Iran forced to think about getting an abortion when she’s outed as a lesbian. Another Iranian film, Mohammad Dehbashi’s “Sweet Nightmare,” follows a writer on deadline who is led to some bitter truths via her own photos. Other movies in the International shorts block come from China (“Rehearsal”) and the United Kingdom (“Under The Blue”).
Dramatic shorts block (Saturday, March 23. 12:15 p.m.)

Shorts in this block include stories about struggling musicians (“Pulling Strings”), eating disorders (“The Noise”), agoraphobia (”Paper Planes ), family ties ("Distancia”), and cheap labor (“Blue Hour”). Director Brook Markham will also be on-site to discuss “Sis,” her film which centers around a woman who finds out she’s pregnant while the U.S. Supreme Court is overturning Roe v. Wade.

Focus on Florida shorts block (Saturday, March 23. 3:15 p.m.)

Real-life Florida lawmakers recently tried to pass laws banning the flying of Pride flags, and one film on this block (“Flag Act,” directed by Susana Darwin) explores free speech in a similar context. Other highlights on this packed block with eight Sunshine State-centric films include “Save The Flea,” which follows families whose stories and threatened by developers, “Conspiratours” (about investigative journalists), and James Berry’s coming-of-age story about art and skating (“Cletus”).

Documentary shorts block (Saturday, March 23. 5 p.m.)

Shorts about immigration top this five-film block, which includes Kristal Sotomayor’s “Expanding Sanctuary” plus “A Cow In The Sky” where directors Darren Press & C. Fraser Press tackle the true story of Mulugeta Seraw, an aspiring Ethiopian pilot who was killed by skinheads in the late-’80s. Other films in the block include “Filming Under Fire: John Ford's OSS Field Photo Branch” (directed by Dan Gagliasso), “Space Coast” (Justin Barber), and “Zane (Jillian Carney Howell).

University of Tampa shorts block (Sunday, March 24. Noon.)

For some reason, this block of films by University of Tampa students is not screening at the school’s Charlene A. Gordon Theater. We’re looking forward to seeing director Joseph Thomas’ vision for what happens when AI drives a Dick Nixon-themed Chuck E. Cheese and Freddy Fazbear's Pizza-inspired kid’s pizza place (“Four Years At Kissinger’s”), but the block includes 10 other student films, too.

College shorts block(Sunday, March 24. 2 p.m.)

Eight shorts make up this chunk of programming, including tornado-centric “Cover,” from director Alexa May who’ll also do a post-film Q&A. Films about disabled vets (“A Rare Breed: Service In The Smokies”), stand-up comedy (“You Can’t Say That”) and lifelong love (“Daisy”) round things out.

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