Sarasota Film Festival opens with drama

Oren Moverman doesn't much care for film festivals. Many of them, he said, are too much about competition, and about glitz and glamour that celebrate the less essential elements of the art of filmmaking.

But the Sarasota Film Festival is different, he said.

"It's a big festival and it's a very independent-minded festival," he said. "It focuses in a real way on what's happening in independent films. To me, and to my circle of independent filmmakers, it's a destination."

Moverman's been to the festival several times, and he'll be back again this year. His new film, "Time Out of Mind," is the opening night film. It will be screened Friday night at the Sarasota Opera House.

It's Overman's second time holding that prestigious spot in the festival. His film "The Messenger" opened the 2009 Sarasota Film Festival.

"The Messenger," which Overman directed and co-wrote, revolved around a Iraq war veteran who returns home, wounded, and begins an affair with a married woman. "Time Out of Mind" concerns a homeless man who is working to re-establish a relationship with his daughter.

"They're serious films," Overman said. "The idea of starting a festival with movies like those, it gives energy to the festival."

Overman traces the beginnings of "Time Out of Mind" to a party where he encountered old friend Richard Gere.

"I knew him from 'I'm Not There,' which I co-wrote," he said. "I hadn't seen him in years."

Gere told Overman he had the rights to a script about a homeless man. Gere wanted to play the lead role.

"To me that was immediately enticing, to have someone who wanted to work out of his comfort zone, and totally opposite of his image," Overman said.

The script, Gere said, had some problems, and Overman re-wrote it to focus more on the man's character and his situation. He began filming with Gere, one of the most famous actors in the world, standing on a New York City street corner, panhandling. He wasn't disguised, but nobody recognized him, mostly because nobody looked at him.

"The feeling of everyone trying to avoid this guy panhandling dominated that corner," Overman said.

Of course, many people have avoided making eye contact with a homeless person who's asking for a handout. The film, which also stars Ben Vereen and Jena Malone, doesn't blame people.

One of the film's ideas, he said, is to instill in people the idea that the homeless people we pass by every day are often complex people in complicated situations.

"There are things he has to do to re-establish his relationship with his daughter, and he's not really good at it," Overman said.

Part of the reason the film -- which has previously been screened at festivals in Toronto and New York -- is effective, he said, is that audiences already have a connection with Richard Gere, which helps them connect with the plight of his character. "But because Gere is such a fine actor, viewers soon forget the actor and see the character."

"It's Richard Gere," he said, "but it's a very different Richard Gere."

Details: 6:30 p.m. April 10, Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. Tickets: $30 (limited stand-by tickets only, at the door). Information: (941) 366-6200, sarasotafilmfestival.com

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published April 9, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Sarasota Film Festival opens with drama ."