Sarasota Film Festival poster sparks a Facebook firestorm

Don't mess with Canada.

Normally, "Don't Mess With ..." is associated with Texas, but Sarasota Film Festival President Mark Famiglio is learning the hard way that it applies to our neighbor to the north as well.

Canadian snowbirds and transplants alike have taken umbrage at a whimsical map of Florida adorning the SFF's poster for its 27th edition, which runs from April 4-13 at various locations around town.

Courtesy image

The map, which Famiglio said was created using an antique image and AI, contains signposts reading "2,700 miles to the 51st state," as well as "3,200 miles to Greenland" and "3,400 miles to Panama Canal."

Famiglio insists the nods to the expansionist agenda of President Donald Trump are all in good fun, but many commenters on Facebook, where the map was widely circulated, missed the joke.

"My phone has been ringing off the hook all day," said Famiglio in a telephone interview Friday afternoon. "I guess satire has been canceled."

Nearly all his callers were Canadian, Famiglio said. They were upset that the SFF poster implied the festival supports the annexation of Canada. "I'm still waiting to hear from the Panamanians and Greenlanders," he said, trying to make light of the cartographic contretemps.

Famiglio said he found it odd that Canadians, whose homeland has produced many famous comedians and satirists, didn't appreciate the humor of the festival poster.  

In a comment on Facebook, Sharon Carole of Sage Restaurant, one of SFF's sponsors, called the poster "a bad joke gone horribly wrong."

Others were not so kind. Typical of the outcry was the comment by Ronni Blumenthal, "I think a boycott is in order" and another by Nancy Krohngold, "I want to know who's responsible for politicizing this event."

Fueling the flames of the controversy were other features of the map, including labels for the Gulf of America, as President Trump has renamed the Gulf of Mexico, Trump's Mar-A-Lago mansion and one for "Ron and Casey" in Tallahassee, where Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and wife live.

Famiglio, who is of Italian descent, pointed to a steaming bowl of spaghetti on the map where Sarasota is located as further proof the whole thing was meant in good fun. The city is known for its downtown Italian eateries, including Mediterraneo, Trattoria Bella Napoli, Mucca Ballerina and Caragiulo's, to name a few.

"We were poking the elephant, not the donkey," Famiglio said, referring to the mascots of the Republican and Democratic parties.

In response to critics who detected a rightward shift the film festival's ethos, Famiglio said, "The proof is in the pudding. Look at our programming over more than two decades. The Sarasota Film Festival is known for having a diverse lineup representing many points of view."

Given the short lifespan of social media controversies, the map kerfuffle seemed destined to die down over the weekend. After doing damage control with the media, what else was there for Famiglio to do but to head out to dinner for some pasta and a glass of wine?