Sun & Sand and Fear Fete Film Festivals Get Going

Thursday night, the Nicholas Sparks film adaptation of Best of Me makes its worldwide debut in Gulfport at the Sun and Sand Film and Music Festival, but it isn’t the only film festival on the Coast this weekend.

The Sun and Sand Film and Music Festival is in Gulfport for the next ten days and brings Hollywood stars like Burt Reynolds and Gerald McRaney to the Coast. It also puts Mississippi on the on the map in the film making world. Bobby Benton, founder of the festival, says, "The festival again started out as a platform for what Mississippi had to offer filmmakers as a destination to come and shoot films."

Sun and Sand will showcase dozens of feature films, documentaries, and shorts, and will present awards to the best films. The Sun and Sand isn’t the only film festival in town. Just a few miles away in Biloxi, Fear Fete, for fans of movies that are just a little bit darker, is giving away their awards for their top films.

Fear Fete brings the best horror indie films from around the world to the Coast, as well as a horror convention, featuring celebrity guests like Tyler Mane from Halloween, and Tony Todd from Candyman. The horror genre has stood the test of time and it’s no secret why. Todd says, "If you have fun doing what you do, I think it’s contagious, it spreads to the people. In a horror film, specifically which I’ve only done 25% of my career, it’s like a rollercoaster ride. It’s a great date movie thing. People like to go get terrified, hug each other."

Cindy Morgan, author of Cindy in Iraq: A Civilian’s Year in the War Zone, says, "We live in a safe society, in our little houses for the most part, but it’s that fear of the unknown, it’s that monster under the bed."

Film festivals like Sun and Sand and Fear Fete bring film fans and their creators together to appreciate the art of film making. Todd also says, "Look around you. You’ve got people that love the films, the fandom is well appreciated, and they want to come out and celebrate that its October, Halloween month."

If you should find yourself in a horror film, always remember rule number one. Morgan closes, "Rule number one, don’t run, don’t leave the house, don’t say, ‘I’ll be right back.’ What else? There’s a whole list of things to not do."

From romance to horror, there’s something this weekend for everyone. Friday at the Sun and Sand Festival at Cinemark, viewers can see The Global Warming War and Suck It Up Buttercup, while horror and sci-fi fans can see some famous movie memorabilia like the Batmobile and the DeLorean from Back to the Future.