SFF works with a minimum of staff. It’s the Herculean efforts of those dedicated volunteers that make everything go. To that end, Refos welcomes anyone who might be interested in helping to contact her. Film expertise is not a requirement, but a sincere appreciation for the arts is! And if you have classroom education experience, you’re going to get a rousing welcome, since that’s a much-needed skill at SFF. Students, too, can volunteer and earn service hours. The reality is that despite the festival hitting its 20th anniversary in 2018, some of the needed funding sources aren’t likely to continue, so overcoming that challenge is at the top of the To Do list for SFF. Their goal is to remain a world-class platform ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� emerging independent voices, as well as keep at the forefront of ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� That’s a goal worth supporting, to be sure. Just consider how much poorer we’d be if the festival shuttered its doors or — as so many professional sports teams seem to do these days — relocated to another community. Storytelling and the art of cinema are an important part of who we are as a community, and SFF is a primary source of keeping those arts alive and vibrant for us all to enjoy. JULY 2017 | SCENE 75 Perhaps more important, this program helps foster the film fans of tomorrow. which has become her new career path. Kids VIP Trips ������������������������������������������������������ area schools brings students out during the morning of actual SFF days to experience �������������������������������������������������������������� to see at the Hollywood 20. ���������������������������������������������������������� and the busing to the events is free, too, thanks to the program’s partner, Embracing Our Differences. Either ���������������������������������������������������������� students also get to see the Embracing Our Differences exhibit for free as well, ���������������������������������������������������������������� Why is it called the Kid VIP trips? Refos explains that it’s because the students are all treated like VIPs. It’s one thing to go with your parents and ���������������������������������������������������������������� another thing entirely to see �������������������������������������������������������� someone from the SFF talk to them about it. This past year alone, more than 2,000 students participated in this program between Monday and Friday of the festival week, and thanks to its popularity, SFF on the town hopes to expand the offerings in the future. “It has a massive impact on our community in such a short time,” Refos says about this program in particular, as well as the festival in general. Perhaps more important, this program ���������������������������������������������������������� tomorrow. *** Refos has been with SFF for three years now and she’s constantly impressed by the passion and energy that the festival employees have. She’s worked in the local arts community before and has done classroom teaching, but she recognizes that SFF is a special place. “Without our amazing volunteers — who number about 200 during festival season — we simply wouldn’t be able to do all of this. So a huge shout-out to them!” She points out that the Kids VIP Trips alone require a ton of extra help since managing 2,000 students takes a lot of planning and effort. Like so many 501(c)(3) non- ���������������������������������������������������������� FOR MORE INFORMATION on the Sarasota Film Festival’s Education Department, ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
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