Genre films are always worth celebrating.
Ever since the dawn of film as a medium, genre films have been the stomping grounds of inspiration, innovation, and experimentation for literal decades of filmmakers and audiences alike. For a period of time, things like horror and science-fiction stories felt as if they were looked down upon, discounted in some peripheral way. But fortunately, in recent years, much of this has shifted, as genre films have become central to the conversation of modern cinema in an increasingly vital way.
All of this to say, genre films are essential and occupy an important place in both the past and future of film as a medium. So it is always a joy to see long-time establishments pivoting to embrace such genre work in bold new ways, and that is exactly what is happening with the announcement of the Sunscreen Fantastic Fest. The Sunscreen Film Festival has long been an acclaimed and highly renowned annual film festival held in St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida, but this year, for the very first time, the festival is branching out into an explicitly genre film-fronted offshoot: the Sunscreen Fantastic Fest.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Sunscreen Film Festival, it began twenty years ago, back in 2006. Then known as the Sunscreen Film and Video Festival, those initial festivities were a success and allowed the team behind the festivities to continue to expand their efforts in the years to come. By 2009, the Sunscreen Film Festival had seen attendance skyrocket to over 8,000 guests and even attracted the attention of notable Florida-based celebrities such as John Travolta and Patrick Wilson.
The festival continued to grow over the course of the next few decades, upsizing locations numerous times so as to accommodate growing interest from filmmakers, press, and audiences alike. The festival has been voted one of the “25 Coolest Film Fests” in the country by MovieMaker Magazine, the “Best Tampa Bay Area Film Festival” by Tampa Bay Magazine, and even received a rare festival grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Sunscreen is a venerated institution of independent filmmaking within not only the Florida area but also the landscape of cinema at large. It is widely renowned and respected, which makes the fact that they have now announced their inaugural Fantastic Fest extremely exciting. The genre film festival is set to take place in St. Petersburg on November 28, with tickets available here.
If you are interested in supporting the team behind the forging of Sunscreen as an institution or any number of independent genre filmmakers, I implore you to come. I’ll be there, eagerly awaiting each new film’s screening.
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