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🎬 The 28th Annual Sarasota Film Festival is coming April 10–19, 2026  |  🎟 Buy 2026 Passes 

2026 Sarasota Film Festival

The Python Hunt

20251 hr 31 minUnited StatesEnglish

Screenings

  • 📅

    Saturday, April 11 at 2:00 PM EDT

    Ends 4:00 PM EDT

    📍

    Ringling College / Morganroth Auditorium

    2363 Bradenton Road, Sarasota, FL, 34234

About this film

In the early ‘90s, a hurricane destroyed a python breeding facility in South Florida, releasing hundreds of snakes into the wild. Decades later, the snakes have become an invasive species wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem. In a desperate attempt to protect the habitat, the state organizes an annual contest inviting the public to remove the snakes by any means necessary for a cash prize. Following a slew of eccentric amateur hunters over the course of ten bizarre days, native Floridian Xander Robin’s first documentary feature is an epic nocturnal quest through the snake-infested Everglades that transcends the absurdity of the contest to reveal larger problems lurking beneath the surface.


Credits

Director
Xander Robin
Producer
Lance Oppenheim, Lauren Cioffi, Xander Robin, Melissa Oppenheim
Executive Producer
Dani Bernfeld, Gillian Brown
Co-Producer
Becky Novik, Max Allman, Caitlin Alba
Editor
Max Allman
Composer
Nick León
Music
Kyle McKeveny
Cast
Tony Benoit, Jimbo McCartney, Shannon McCartney
Documentary FeatureEnvironment