Had a nice time Sunday at the fabled Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, where the architecture is nearly as mouth-watering as the food.
The occasion was a screening of Ghosts of Ybor: Charlie Wall, a fascinating documentary created by Pete and Paul Guzzo, two of this storied district's brightest filmmaking talents. Charlie's story is their second film set in Ybor, after the short The End is Blossoming made waves at various film festivals.

I didn't know who Charlie Wall was, and now know I wouldn't want to cross him during Ybor's mob era in the mid-20th century. The black sheep of a prominent family, Wall was known as "the White Shadow" to the Cuban-American community who appreciated his protection of their culture, showing loyalty by sheltering his drugs, prostitution and gambling endeavors. The Guzzo brothers' movie confidently illuminates a shady character in 60 brisk minutes.

Sunday's event wasn't just a chance for the Guzzos to show off a movie they'll be shopping to film festivals in the coming months. They're also seeking financial backing for their next project, a feature-length fictionalized drama titled Ybor City. They described it as a love triangle involving two nightclub musicians and a mobster. More than that, it sounds like a cinematic valentine to a community the Guzzos obviously have deep affection for.

So much affection that they're trying to avoid relying upon interested out-of-state backers preferring to move the production to Louisiana or New Mexico, or anywhere with better production incentives than Florida (which isn't hard to find after recent state budget cuts, as you'll read about later this week).
They also don't like those outside backers' demands to juice up the drama with more violence, at the expense of historical authenticity. They want to tell an Ybor story, not a Hollywood story under Ybor's name.

Sunday's audience included former Tampa mayor Dick Greco -- that guy is still a masterful crowd-worker -- and the city's official poet laureate James E. Tokley, Sr., who remembered our collaboration on a story a decade ago regarding John Travolta's race relations fantasy, White Man's Burden. I ran into representatives of the Gasparilla and Sunscreen film festivals, who each said Ghost of Ybor: Charlie Wall would snugly fit into their lineups.

I'll keep you posted as things develop.