Sunscreen film fest underway

The third annual Sunscreen Film Festival, a showcase of barely discovered cinema talent continues through Saturday at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club in St. Petersburg.

Seventy-three film and video works – shorts, documentaries and features – crowd the Sunscreen festival. Complete information is available on the festival Web site.

Tonight’s 8 p.m. centerpiece is the world premiere of Matt Brookens’ The Art of Pain, a dark comedy that errs on the side of ambition – which isn’t always a bad thing. Brookens is a fanboy breezing through genres – kung fu, rom-com, zombies, Kevin Smith buddy flicks, etc. -- proving he can ably replicate and spoof them, in service of a slowly congealing plot.

Jack (Anders Erickson) is a budding artist working at a movie theater alongside his girlfriend (Lauren Bishop) and a comic-book geek (Greg Brookens). A new employee (John LaFlamboy) is a ninja school washout believing that ruining Jack’s life will enhance his art. It doesn’t need to be every aspect of Jack’s life but Brookens insists, sprucing up repetition with eye-catching animation and fantasy sequences.

The Art of Pain is emblematic of a first-showcase festival like Sunscreen; obviously the result of talent and ingenuity yet likely not a breakout effort. But it does entertain and can possibly inspire other filmmakers. Brookens’ movie and his future are worth watching.

Friday highlights include the voter apathy documentary Holler Back: (Not) Voting  in an American Town (2:45 p.m.), and the world premiere of Screw Cupid (5:30), a romantic comedy crisply written and directed by Sanjeev Sirpal.

Friday also offers the first showing of Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation (9:30), a shot-by-shot remake of Steven Spielberg’s classic, done by three Mississippi teenagers in the 1980’s. This underground sensation plays again Saturday at 6:30 p.m., the final screening before the closing night party at 8:45.

Sunscreen is also about educating film artists, with seminars planned on subjects ranging from screenwriting (Friday, 4 p.m.) and distribution tactics (Saturday, 10 a.m.) to nailing that acting audition (today, 10 a.m.).

Of course, there are parties including tonight’s Fort Pastor concert at State Theater, 687 Central Ave in St. Petersburg. Tickets are $10 for the 8 p.m. show. Friday night’s shindig is a Central Ave. block party between 2nd and 4th streets where filmmakers will mingle. Admission is free with cash bars up and down the street.