TAMPA, Fla. — Over the past decade, the Tampa Bay region has positioned itself as a mecca for film festivals of all types, from the big names of the Sarasota Film Festival to the more specifically themed fare of the environmental BLUE Ocean Film Festival or the Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival.

Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic put a major damper on all things cinematic. Theaters nationwide closed completely, and film festivals were forced to either move online — seriously diminishing the “wow factor” and immediacy of the experience — or take a year off.

Now that vaccines are rolling out, local film festivals are excited to get the lights down and the reels turning. The Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival is currently running, and offering drive-in showings on Sunday, April 25; the Sarasota Film Festival will run April 30-May 9, and include multiple in-person events.

Also returning in 2021 is the Suncoast Credit Union Gasparilla International Film Festival, one of Tampa’s largest and longest-running screenfests, after pulling the plug almost completely in 2020 at the last minute.

“Part of our mission is the live film experience, showing the films on the big screen,” says GIFF Executive Director Monica Varner of the decision to shelve last year’s event. “So going completely virtual just doesn’t make sense for us… we’ve just been waiting to do the real, live festival.”

GIFF’s 14th installment will run June 10-13, and will feature screenings at both the historic Tampa Theatre and Cinebistro Hyde Park. The fest will also sponsor a free showing of the all-ages classic “Frozen II” at Tampa Theatre on Saturday, June 5.

The festival did manage a summer event focusing on high school-aged filmmakers last summer in order to celebrate its scholarship program, but Varner admits that 2020 was a tough one for GIFF. The pandemic could’ve killed the filmfest altogether.

“Yes,” she says. “Considering that we got canceled just a few days before the festival, we had all our films out there… It was a bit concerning, we had basically paid for it already. And fundraising right now is a challenge, so yeah, we were worried for a while. We’re still a little worried.”

This year’s GIFF is a bit scaled-back compared to previous iterations, and split between physical and virtual screenings in deference to those cinephiles who are still wary of sitting in an enclosed space with multiple strangers for hours. 

“We’ll be back full-force in March,” Varner says.

The film schedule for 2021 hasn’t yet been announced; Varner says the pandemic has had its pros and cons regarding the availability of movies. Lots of filmmakers lost out on opportunities to have their flicks debut at festivals last year, but lots of them also moved on to deals with the seemingly dozens of options for online distribution and exhibition.

“Things have changed a lot with festivals over the years, because before it was about being the first or only place [for a film to show]. With all the COVID stuff, a lot of these films have gotten other opportunities to be shown on platforms and find an audience,” says Varner. “It’s a little more challenging for us to find a film that’s a premiere.”

On the other hand, “we have a lot of local filmmakers, and filmmakers in general, who have been holding out to get that theater experience and see their films on the big screen,” she says. “So we’re looking forward to getting those folks in front of a crowd, answering Q-and-As and getting back to a live experience.”

After all, for many, the “going” is half the fun of going to the movies.

“The movie theaters are open!” Varner says. “They’re struggling, and people should support these businesses if they feel safe. It’s tough for them right now. And the new movies are coming out [in theaters], so it’s worth it.”