ORLANDO, Fla. — This year’s Florida Film Festival will screen 160 films, including 24 world premieres, from 31 countries. The Enzian Theater in Maitland presents the 35th installment of the movie lovers’ fest April 10-19.

As always, the festival offers narrative features, documentaries, animated shorts and celebrity guests. But there is one new aspect: The person running the show.

“This Florida Film Festival will be my first as the new executive director,” says Wade Neal, who joined Enzian Theater in July, “and I’m thrilled to be part of a team that has made the festival one of the most exciting, well‑curated and outrageously fun in the country for 35 years.”

Neal lauds movies for building community as they entertain.

“We take the view that film is eternal, and is a supreme storytelling framework that creates deeper understanding, togetherness and insight than other art forms,” he says. “By coming together to celebrate the work and talent that each film represents, we honor extraordinary filmmakers that carry the power and magic of film forward.”

Here’s a look at selected highlights; for the complete schedule and ticket-package information, go to floridafilmfestival.com.

Opening night

The April 10 opening-night film is the romantic thriller “Carolina Caroline,” a road-trip flick about a small-town gal and hustler who go on a chaotic spree across the Southeast. Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner star in the film, directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier and featuring a country soundtrack.

Screenings of the film will take place at Enzian (6:15 p.m.) and the festival’s partner venue, Regal Winter Park Village (7:30 p.m.).

The opening-night party begins at 8 p.m. at Winter Park Events Center. Tickets include food, drinks, the chance to mingle with the filmmakers and dance to live music. Vendors include Chuan Fu, Pizza Bruno, City Barbeque, Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, Ivanhoe Park Brewing Co., Zymarium Meadery, Jam Hot Chicken and others.

Tickets are $75 for the party only, $100 for the party plus viewing the film at Regal and $125 for the party plus viewing the film at Enzian.

Celebrities

Well, the bad news is that Academy Award-winner Marisa Tomei, who was scheduled to appear in conjunction with a screening of “My Cousin Vinny,” has had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict.

But the good news is that Emmy winner and two-time Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti is planning to attend.

Giamatti will participate in an audience question-and-answer session following a screening of “Sideways,” the movie in which he starred opposite Thomas Haden Church as a pair of mismatched friends on a wine-soaked road trip.

Back to the bad news: The event is sold out.

OK, better news: There are tickets available for “An Evening with Judge Reinhold” on April 17. A veteran of more than 75 movie and TV roles, Reinhold will attend a screening of 1982’s “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and participate in an audience Q-and-A. Reinhold is also known for the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise, “Stripes,” “Gremlins,” the “Santa Clause” films and more.

Also, some tickets remain for an April 15 screening of “Over Your Dead Body,” which will feature an audience Q&A with director-executive producer Jorma Taccone. In the film, Jason Segel and Samara Weaving star as a bitterly unhappy Hollywood couple, each with a secret plan to kill the other. Those plans are derailed, however, when they run into a group of fugitives led by Timothy Olyphant and Juliette Lewis.

Free film

The movie “Hook” will be screened as a free prelude to the festival. Like the Florida Film Festival, “Hook” is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. Stephen Spielberg’s beloved family-adventure film stars Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins and Maggie Smith. It will be shown at 8 p.m. April 9 in Central Park on Park Avenue in Winter Park.

Eden Bar

Enzian’s beautiful outdoor bar will be the spot for various food- and drink-based events, including brunches on Sundays, Sip & Savor tastings of local craft beers on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the Awards Celebration at 8 p.m. April 18.

Oma connection

One of the short films in the festival comes from Dennis Scholl, the artist behind “A Day of Four Sunsets,” the latest exhibition at Orlando Museum of Art. At the museum, Scholl’s exhibit centers on the space race. His latest short film is much more down-to-earth.

In “Chasing the Passage of Time,” a crew of 25 moves the largest Richard Serra sculpture in the world across the state of Florida — obviously no small feat.

Scholl specializes in documentary films about art and artists. He has received 24 regional Emmys, and his films have appeared in nearly 200 festivals, including “Naked Ambition” at the 2024 Florida Film Festival.

“Chasing the Passage of Time” will screen at 2:30 p.m. April 18 at Regal Winter Park Village.

Florida focus

Three features have a strong Florida connection.

In “The Call,” Central Floridian arts entrepreneur Terry Olson travels to Morocco to explore a nation’s struggle for independence, led by people who felt the call to freedom. It screens at 6:30 p.m. April 13 at Enzian and 1:45 p.m. April 19 at Regal Winter Park Village. Olson and director-producer Ahmed Bouchalga will attend each screening and lead a Q&A session.

“The Man Whom the Trees Loved” is an experimental horror film set on an isolated island in the St. John’s River. In the story, an artist and his wife are irrevocably changed by unnatural forces after an attempt to commune with nature.

It screens at 2 p.m. April 18 at Enzian and 4:45 p.m. at Regal Winter Park Village. Directors Tehben Dean and Woodruff Laputka will attend each screening for a Q&A.

Finally, “Frogtown” merges documentary realism with narrative fiction. Set in the Panhandle town of Marianna, the movie follows an adult woman’s quest to prove the existence of a magical swamp creature she says she encountered as a child.

Director Costa Karalis and producer Evan Barber will take part in an audience Q&A at each screening, 4:30 p.m. April 18 and noon April 19, both at Regal Winter Park Village.

Going retro

As is tradition, the closing-night film will be an old-school classic. This year, the selection is 1951’s “Strangers on a Train.” Co-scripted by legendary mystery writer Raymond Chandler (“The Big Sleep”) from the novel by Patricia Highsmith (“The Talented Mr. Ripley”), “Strangers on a Train” was directed by the one and only Alfred Hitchcock.

In the movie, a tennis player (Farley Granger) wants to be rid of his wife, and a charming psycho (Robert Walker) wants to be rid of his father. When they meet on a train and discuss the “perfect crime” of committing murder for one another, events quickly spiral to a gripping climax.

In honor of the film’s 75th anniversary, it will be screened at 9 p.m. April 19 at Enzian Theater.

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FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL

When: April 10-16

Where: Screenings take place at Enzian Theater, 1300 S. Orlando Ave. in Maitland, and Regal Winter Park Village, 510 N. Orlando Ave. in Winter Park. The opening-night party is at Winter Park Events Center, 1050 W. Morse Blvd.

Cost: Passes start at $125, individual tickets to films and events are also available

Info: floridafilmfestival.com

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