Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival Coming To You In Different Ways Due To Pandemic
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - With 186 films from 24 different countries over the next 18 days, The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF), now in its 35th year, is back and as big as ever.
But this year like most things due to the coronavirus pandemic, they have made adaptions.
"We have 4 drive-in movies that will be showing, 2 boat-in movies. We're also doing dinner and a movie at seven different restaurants and all of our films are also offered virtually. So, people can see the films in their home or on the phone or wherever they like," said Gregory von Hausch, President and CEO of FLIFF.
They will also be having in-theater screenings with changes.
"We're cutting down the on the admission to only 50 percent. Everybody has to have their temperature taken at the door. Everybody has to wear a mask," He explained. "So we're taking every precaution that we can possibly think of to make people safe."
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The opening night film, titled "The Comeback Trail," is a dark comedy featuring an all-star cast that includes Robert DeNiro, Tommy Lee Jones, Morgan Freeman, Zach Braff, and more. Kate Katzman, who calls South Florida home, is the female lead.
"It stars Robert De Niro as a movie producer who is in debt to the mob, so he gets this idea that he is going to shoot a movie and he's going to kill off the main star to collect insurance money. I play Megan Albert, the director of this movie and I have no idea that any of this is going on," explained Katzman.
Kate will also receive the Star on the Horizon award prior to the film's premiere. It is scheduled to open nationwide on December 18th.
"It's absolutely amazing. My mentor for many years was Mr. Burt Reynolds. This film festival meant so much to him and he had received a Lifetime Achievement Award at this festival. So, to be attending it getting an award is just so surreal," Katzman said.
So, whether it is on a boat, at a restaurant, at a drive-in or virtually, FLIFF is doing all they can to bring movies to you in the safest of ways.
"We've had to be innovative as you can imagine, so we have films from everywhere, from every genre you can imagine and we put them in all these different formats and forums so that you can access them and enjoy the festival," von Hausch said.
The festival is on through November 22nd. For more info, go to www.fliff.com.
