Virginia Madsen takes on a supernatural thriller; Jason Wiles, Michael Beach, Lonnie Chavis, and Ryan Merriman star in “Sunny Daze” and FilmNation takes sales rights to Almodovar’s latest. Virginia Madsen and “The Florida Project” star Valeria Cotto will star in the independent supernatural movie “Sarah” with shooting starting in Los Angeles in May.

Tallulah Evans will play the titular role as Sarah. Rachel Crow (“Bumble Bee”), Spencer List, Malaak Hattab, and Daniel Pinder have also been cast. The project centers on a teen harboring a dark secret as she visits her relatives for the summer. Madsen will be playing an occultist in the film.The screenplay was written by Alexander Garcia, who will also be directing and producing under his Multi-Valence productions banner alongside producing partner Anne Stimac with Stuart Arbury.

Madsen received an Academy Award nomination in the best supporting actress category for “Sideways.” She starred in “1985,” which premiered at SXSW last month, as the mother of Cory Michael Smith’s character.

Oscar-nominated actress receives career achievement award, participates in Conversation With series and has new movie showing Three decades after visiting Bradenton to film one of her first movies, Virginia Madsen returns to the area in celebration of a career that’s since earned her Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.

The “Sideways” actress will receive a career achievement award at Sarasota Film Festival and participate in the festival’s In Conversation With series Saturday. She also co-stars in the centerpiece film “1985,” about a gay man struggling to come out to his parents (Madsen and Golden Globe-winning “The Shield” star Michael Chiklis) during the early years of the AIDS crisis.

In a phone interview with the Herald-Tribune, Madsen said part of what attracted her to the film was her familiarity with the era the film depicts. “I was a very young person during that time when nobody knew what AIDS was,” Madsen said. “Now I knew more about it because I was an actress and I’d already had a couple of friends die. But people outside of my community, it was just talked about in hushed tones and they still called it ‘gay cancer.’”

At the same time, she felt the movie had a relevancy to today’s world despite its period setting. “This story is not just about 1985,” Madsen said. “This story is still going on now because there’s still young people who can’t come out to their family, there’s still families who don’t want to talk about their identity of their kids.”

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This year the OUTshine Film Festival in Miami is celebrating 20 years of inspiration, education, escape and community in queer filmmaking. What began several names (more on that here) and two decades ago is a must on the queer film fest circuit with screening venues in and around South Beach, TK films over TK days, and events and parties for the Opening Night film, Centerpiece Film, producers and filmmakers, Ladies’ Spotlight Film, Men’s Spotlight film, young people, filmmakers and lovers of Flash Gordon.

The OUTshine Film Festival’s 20th anniversary season will include over 50 films, multiple panel discussions with filmmakers and talent, and more than 15 parties and events throughout the week-long festival. Festival program in its entirety is available here and as a download. For all the information, go to OUTshineFilm.com.

1985

Director: Yen Tan, USA
Closing Night Film, East Coast Premiere
Inspired by the award-winning short of the same name, 1985follows Adrian (Cory Michael Smith, Gotham), a closeted young man returning to his Texas hometown for Christmas during the first wave of the AIDS crisis. Burdened with an unspeakable tragedy in New York, Adrian reconnects with his younger brother and estranged childhood friend as he struggles to divulge his dire circumstances to his religious parents played by Virginia Madsen and Michael Chiklis. Shot in luscious black & white, 1985 is a beautiful, powerful film both in story
and style.