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Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center is hosting the 16th Fort Myers Film Festival. -ALEX MACCARTNY \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
The Fort Myers Film Festival returns for its 16th year to celebrate independent filmmakers from across the world. The festival kicks off May 20 at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center.\n<\/p>\n
The festival will once again bring filmmakers, actors and audiences to downtown Fort Myers for five days of screenings, premieres and Q&As.\n<\/p>\n
The festival will run from May 20-24. Additional screenings throughout the week will take place at venues across Fort Myers, including the Alliance for the Arts, IMAG History & Science Center, Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium and The Laboratory Theater of Florida.\n<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s opening night lineup includes Ted Dintersmith\u2019s documentary \u201cMultiple Choice\u201d and Jordan Axelrod\u2019s short film \u201cSzypliszki,\u201d alongside other independent films screening throughout the week.\n<\/p>\n
For Dintersmith, returning to Fort Myers after 11 years feels deeply personal.\n<\/p>\n
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COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got the word, we were selected, I said, \u2018This is fantastic,\u2019\u201d Dintersmith said. \u201cI\u2019ll be there with a great deal of excitement.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Dintersmith first attended the festival in 2015 with his documentary \u201cMost Likely to Succeed,\u201d which was also that year\u2019s opening night film. More than a decade later, he said he still remembers conversations he had with audience members after screenings.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just so much energy around the festival,\u201d Dintersmith said. \u201cI remember staying really late talking to people.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
This year, Dintersmith returns with \u201cMultiple Choice,\u201d a documentary examining the future of education through career-based learning.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opening night film is a huge deal,\u201d Dintersmith said. \u201cIt will be electric because I know how enthusiastic the community is about the festival.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The documentary follows a school in Winchester, Virginia, built around career-based learning. Offering students opportunities in fields ranging from carpentry and welding to cybersecurity and digital media.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I visited the school, I had zero intention of making another documentary,\u201d Dintersmith said. \u201cBut after spending a day there, I said, \u2018This is a story America needs to hear.\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n
What stood out most to him, he said, was the atmosphere among students.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are very engaged, happy kids,\u201d Dintersmith said. \u201cThere are smiles everywhere and a sense of purpose among all these kids.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The film\u2019s title reflects its main message.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen kids graduate high school, they feel they have multiple life choices going forward instead of being trained to take multiple-choice exams,\u201d Dintersmith said.\n<\/p>\n
The feedback he\u2019s gotten has been very supportive, with some people expressing to him that it\u2019s more than just a documentary about education.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have told me, \u2018I thought I was seeing a film about a high school, but I realized it\u2019s really about a community,\u2019\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
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Lori Hammel. -COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n
Actress, director and writer Lori Hammel will bring her short film \u201cResume of Regrets\u201d to the festival for its Florida premiere. The bittersweet comedy, co-directed with Tom A. Capps, asks the question, what would happen if, in a routine job interview, it turned into an emotional reflection on unfinished ambitions?\n<\/p>\n
The film blends home movie footage from Hammel\u2019s grandfather with live-action storytelling to explore the fear of wasted potential and the journey of finding purpose again.\n<\/p>\n
Hammel, whose acting credits include Broadway\u2019s \u201cMamma Mia\u201d and television appearances on \u201cLaw & Order\u201d and \u201cBlue Bloods,\u201d took on this project. Independent film festivals create connections between artists and audiences that traditional theaters cannot replicate.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely grateful,\u201d Hammel said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m part of storytelling at an indie level. It means other people are just as passionate about film and storytelling as I am.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
For Hammel, being selected represents more than professional recognition.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like a sense of belonging,\u201d Hammel said. \u201cIt\u2019s extraordinary to have a story you created seen by people who had nothing to do with it, but who still want to participate in watching your story.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The origins of \u201cResume of Regrets\u201d were deeply personal. Hammel stated the film grew out of her own unfinished film projects and turned a lack of motivation into creative inspiration.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI had sort of given up on making a film,\u201d Hammel said.\n<\/p>\n
That changed during a conversation with fellow filmmakers after wrapping another independent project.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my friends told me, \u2018Look around you. Annie\u2019s making her film. Mike just made his film. You\u2019ve got all these friends. If you want to make something, you can make something,\u201d Hammel said.\n<\/p>\n
The conversation happened on her birthday.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I had the best birthday present,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
Hammel said that as a first-time director, collaboration became central to the filmmaking process.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the first time I\u2019d ever done it,\u201d Hammel said. \u201cI have a very kind group of people that I work with. It\u2019s all in the spirit of getting something done and working together.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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Tom A Capps. -COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n
An energy that fosters through the same sense of collaboration and community throughout the festival itself.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to see things that no one else has seen,\u201d Hammel said. \u201cYou\u2019re in a room with people who care deeply about creating art.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Unlike traditional movie theaters, film festivals often allow audiences to directly interact with filmmakers through discussions and Q&A sessions.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an opportunity to be in the same room with the people who made the art you just saw,\u201d Hammel said. \u201cThat\u2019s a pretty neat experience.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The Fort Myers Film Festival has built its reputation around showcasing bold independent films while supporting emerging and established filmmakers alike.\n<\/p>\n
Opening night festivities traditionally include filmmaker appearances, red-carpet photos, and audience gatherings outside the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center alongside the \u201cCaloosahatchee Manuscripts\u201d light sculpture.\n<\/p>\n
The final awards ceremony will take place on May 24, after a filmmaker panel and a champagne toast at 6 p.m.\n<\/p>\n
For filmmakers like Dintersmith and Hammel, however, the lasting impact of the festival goes beyond awards or premieres.\n<\/p>\n
It comes from the environment of encouraging creativity and passion.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of power right now in film is held by streamers. We do such a disservice to people and their intellectual curiosity by dumbing down film,\u201d Dintersmith said. \u201cFort Myers Festival gives room for these filmmakers to bring in their passion projects and bring them to the community in a really uplifting way.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
And for audiences, filmmakers say that experience is what makes independent film festivals unlike anything else.\n<\/p>\n
Opening night film is $25 for general admission, $100 for VIP and $12-20 for the other locations listed.\n<\/p>\n
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