Jewish Press of Pinellas County

Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival draws viewers from near and far


With advance planning complete and the March 29 opening night approaching, the coronavirus pandemic swept in and forced cancellation of the 24th Annual Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival – but only until organizers scrambled to present a reimagined, virtual festival that opened June 24, featured 11 films and ran for five days.

Film festival committee members and staffers worked at a frenetic pace after having to cancel the original 8-day event. They rebooked previously cancelled film talent and directors to participate in the festival via Zoom sessions. New marketing materials were developed to drive home the point that distance from the Tampa Bay area could be bridged by the internet, and festival organizers worked to educate themselves and the community on how this new virtual world of entertainment would play out.

“One cannot prepare for the unknown. One can only accept the challenge and that is exactly what our committee was willing to do,” said Sara Golding Scher, film festival executive co-chair.

Loni Shelef, also executive co-chair added, “The community looks forward to this major Jewish event every year. We owe it to our supporters and fans to share the amazing cinematography that our committee has chosen to view in Tampa Bay.”

The new opening night was hosted by organizers Stewart Donnell, Roxana Levin, Scher and Shelef. Nearly 75 households zoomed in to see the opening ceremony, where festival sponsors were acknowledged and the STARR Award recipients Bill Fleece and Bob and Terri Tankel accepted their honors.

BarnabasToth, director of the opening night film “Those Who Remained,” addressed the audience from his home country of Hungary.

The festival concluded with a lively Zoom session featuring the producers, directors and talent in the documentary “Picture of His Life.” Executive producer Nancy Spielberg gave a shout-out to the multiple Jewish film festivals that were watching, mentioning Tampa first. Participants in the Zoom session were able to submit questions that were answered in real-time.

Eleven films streamed during the festival via Vimeo, an internet-based video sharing service. The comfort of seeing films at home and at a convenient time was extremely well received by movie watchers. A telephone hotline was available for viewers requiring assistance with ticket purchases, confirmations and IT support.

“It was quite the experience,” said Marissa Rosenthal, a festival support staff member. “ I was pleased to interact with so many of our guests and am hopeful to be able to meet in person at the theaters next year.”

The virtual festival was well received by the community and beyond. Local viewers in the Tampa Bay area were joined by others streaming from a distance. Guests tuned in from Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Texas, California and Canada. More than 1,200 tickets were sold, and an untold number of viewers watched the collection of films. Nearly 225 guests participated in Zoom conference calls with film cast and crew and in Conversation Cafes – informal groups chatting about individual films.

“The discussions were meaningful and entertaining and enhanced the movie experience greatly. In a world where virtual seems to be the new normal, this was definitely a positive experience.,” said Brandy Gold, director of the festival.

The festival is a project of the Tampa JCCs and Federation and the Jewish Federation of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

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