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Fresh off the success of the 2010 Gasparilla International Film Festival, the film-happy folks over at GIFF are set to launch this year's edition of the Global Lens film series. As the name implies, Global Lens focuses its attention on independent world cinema, bringing movies to town that would otherwise never play the Bay area. Screenings will take place the second Thursday of each month at the brand new (and spectacular) Tampa Museum of Art, with the first screening (of Iranian import My Tehran For Sale) set for next Thursday, April 8. Tickets are only $8 (less for students, seniors and TMA members; free for GIFF members), making this an incredibly affordable way to catch of movie.

Check out the trailer for My Tehran for Sale and read the full text of the GIFF press release (including a full list of films playing the series) by clicking below …

GIFF announces the 2010 Global Lens Series:Global Film

What: The 2010 Global Lens International Film Series

When: 2nd Thursday of every month, first screening April 8!  7 pm

Where: The new and beautiful Tampa Museum of Art, 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa, FL 33602

Why: GIFF is proud to present the prestigious Global Film Initiative's international film series, bringing the best in independent foreign film to Tampa Bay.

How: $8 - general admission

$5 - students/seniors and Tampa Museum of Art members

GIFF members free! (Become a 2010 member)

April 8my tehran

MY TEHRAN FOR SALE, dir. Granaz Moussavi, Iran, 2009

In this riveting, insider's perspective on life in Iran's capital city, Marzieh-a terminally ill actress-wearily relates her desperate quest for political asylum through a series of interviews with an unsympathetic government official. Beginning with details of her doomed relationship with an Iranian-born Australian and their plan to relocate to Adelaide, she recounts her struggle to work as an actress under Iran's current regime, her hope for a future ultimately dashed by the devastating discovery of her illness, and her need to "escape" the only home she has ever known. Set against the backdrop of Tehran's thriving arts culture, and framed through a series of artful and dramatic flashback sequences, poet-turned-filmmaker Granaz Moussavi boldly registers the trials of a modern woman struggling to flourish in Iran's contemporary political climate.

May 13

ADRIFT (CHOI VOI), dir. Bui Thac Chuyen, Vietnam, 2009

A young wife, ignored by her immature spouse, is caught in a love triangle between her best friend and a handsome stranger during a languorous summer in Hanoi.

June 10

LEO'S ROOM (EL CUARTO DE LEO), dir. Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay, 2009

Shaken by a recent breakup, a troubled but handsome young man dreams of the future and cautiously explores his sexuality with the encouragement of an old friend and a sympathetic therapist.

July 8

BECLOUD (VAHO), dir. Alejandro Gerber Bicecci, Mexico, 2009

After years of separation, three boyhood friends reunite in Mexico City to overcome a tragedy that scarred their neighborhood, and childhood, years before.

August 12

ORDINARY PEOPLE, dir. Vladimir Perisic, Serbia, 2009

One quiet afternoon, a busload of young soldiers is unexpectedly forced to question the morality of their profession after being enlisted to execute civilian prisoners at a remote facility in the Serbian countryside.

September 9

OCEAN OF AN OLD MAN, dir. Rajesh Shera, India, 2008

In the devastating aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, an elderly British schoolteacher comes to grips with his own loss as he searches for missing students on the remote Indian islands of Andaman and Nicobar.

September 23

SHIRLEY ADAMS, dir. Oliver Hermanus, South Africa, 2009

In the depressed Cape Town neighborhood of Cape Flats, a single mother contemplates her fate and cautiously accepts the help of an overeager social worker as she struggles to care for her paraplegic and suicidal son.

October 14

MASQUERADES (MASCARADES), dir. Lyes Salem, Algeria, 2008

In a dusty Algerian village, a well-intentioned fib suddenly turns a gardener into a mogul, forcing him to choose between the happiness of his narcoleptic sister and his newfound celebrity.

November 11

GODS (DIOSES), dir. Josué Méndez, Peru, 2008

A wealthy industrialist's working-class fiancée plunges into the extravagance of her lavish new life as her future stepchildren self-destruct in a series of desperate attempts to escape their privileged upbringing.

December 9

THE SHAFT (DIXIA DE TIANKONG), dir. Zhang Chi, China, 2008

In three intertwined stories, a father, son and daughter fight to hold onto hope and family as they face the harsh realities of life in a poor western Chinese mining town.