Email
Print
Redner Film Screens Friday At Festival
Courtesy Aphelion Film
Redner is expected to attend the screening Friday night.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: March 5, 2009
TAMPA - Joe Redner is arguably the most notorious public figure in Tampa's recent history - at least in the past 40 years.
More than just the owner of Mons Venus, the city's most famous nude strip club, he also is a government gadfly, a millionaire, a relentless politician, a star on public access television, a self-proclaimed champion of free speech and a man who has never shied away from the spotlight.
Other people have called him a pimp, an exploiter of women and a shameless opportunist.
Redner, 68, has been in and out court during the past 25 years in various legal battles with the City of Tampa. He's run for office six times and came close to getting on the city council in 2007, but lost in a runoff.
"And if you think you know Joe Redner, think again," says filmmaker Shelby McIntyre, co-producer of "Joe Redner: Strip Club King," an 80-minute documentary making its Florida debut Friday at the Gasparilla Film Festival.
"Love him or hate him, he's an interesting guy to watch," says McIntyre, a Tampa native who grew up watching Redner on local television news.
"I was looking for a subject that hadn't been done and I wanted to know more about this guy who has making news since the 1970s when he opened the city's first strip club," he says. "But in the news, it was always Joe vs. City Hall, or Joe vs. the police, or Joe vs. people who hate strip clubs."
McIntyre teamed up with fellow filmmaker Chris Woods for a sympathetic profile that combines vintage news footage and clips from Redner's public access TV show with interviews with Redner, his ex-wife, children, friends and strippers. Also included is footage shot at the Mons Venus and, because of the nudity, the documentary is being screened at 10:40 p.m. at the Channelside Cinemas.
McIntyre says that he learned that Redner "really does care about the issues facing Tampa and Hillsborough County," from the environment and transportation to zoning and education.
"I also learned that he dropped out of school in the 10th grade because he suffered from a social anxiety disorder," McIntyre says. "And he didn't get his GED until he was in his 40s."
He says Redner gave him full access to his personal archives, which include most of the news reports about him that have aired over the years. "He didn't ask for anything except that we tell the truth," McIntyre says.
McIntyre and Woods started work on the project in 2007, following Redner through his race for Tampa City Council. The film was finished in the summer of 2008 and has played at several film festivals. McIntyre says it will be released on DVD in May and is being shopped to cable television outlets.
Some critics have said that the film doesn't explore charges that Redner's business objectifies women. McIntyre says that's an old argument about Redner that has been covered for decades.
"We included clips of people who have called him a pimp and we let him answer that charge, but this isn't an expose," McIntyre says, "Our goal was to show the man behind all the headlines and controversy."
Redner is expected to attend the screening Friday night.
Gasparilla Film Festival officials say more than 6,000 people have taken part in the event, which began last week. The event ends Saturday, but Friday night is devoted to films about Tampa.
In addition to the Redner film, "The Streak" (6:45 p.m., Friday at Channelside Cinemas) traces the 34-year undefeated record of Brandon High School's wrestling team. It was produced by soap opera star and former Brandon resident Mark Consuelos. Brandon wrestling coach Russ Cozart will receive an award from the festival.
And "Ghosts of Ybor: Charlie Wall" (7:15 p.m., Friday at Channelside) is based on Tampa's gangster past and the life of a 1930s mob boss, directed by Tampa's Pete Guzzo.
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online ©2009 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company. | Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
