The line-up has been announced for the 17th Sonoma International Film Festival, April 2-6, 2014…pounce on individual tickets
Catalonian actors Claudia Bassols (L) and Jan Cornet (R) are the central couple in Roger Gual’s “Tasting Menu,” screening at the 17th Sonoma International Film Festival, April 2-6, 2014. The foodies made a reservation one year in advance at a world famous three-star Michelin restaurant outside of Barcelona, on the famous Costa Brava. When the day finally arrives, they’re separated and learn that this will be their last chance to ever eat there as it’s the restaurant’s closing night. For the sake of haute cuisine, they agree to dine together. Joining them are the widowed countess who put the place on the map, potential Japanese investors and their dotty interpreter, American food critics and editors, and a mystery guest who has everyone guessing. With close-ups of hands chopping and sculpting entrees like works of fine art, breathtaking scenery and high drama, “Tasting Menu,” in Catalan, promises to delight. Claudia Bassols will attend. Image: Magnolia Films
The 17th Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF) is just around the corner—April 2-6, 2014—pairing 5 nights and 4 days of nearly non-stop screenings with great food and wine in gorgeous Sonoma. The program and schedule have just been released and, this year, SIFF is presenting 106 new films from 22 countries—25 documentaries, 19 world cinema, 10 American indies, 10 Spanish-language films in “Vamos Al Cine,” 4 shorts programs, 1 children’s program, 1 student program and 1 “Out of The Earth” UFO program. The screenings all take place at eight intimate venues within walking of Sonoma’s historic town plaza. Many of these will offer wonderful samplings of local food, wine and beer along with the film.
SIFF has a lot to offer both locals and destination visitors. Festival passes are the way to go if you’re interested in easy access to films, the marvelous parties, and the famous Backlot tent, SIFF’s unofficial hub, which keeps pass-holders satisfied with the finest wines, gourmet offerings and music. Click here to read about all the pass options and price points. If you haven’t bought a festival pass and still want to see some films, individual single tickets are $15 when purchased in advance. SIFF caters to pass holders and offers just a limited number of these individual tickets, which are available for most screenings, so NOW is the time to lock in those tickets before they are snapped up.
If you’re a gambler with a lot of time on your hands, you can show up at the festival and hang out in front of the screening venue and wait to buy a ticket for $10 cash after the pass holders and ticket pre-purchasers have been seated. The $10 tickets are not a sure thing they can be an awesome score.
Stay-tuned to ARThound for a full review of the line-up. For now, the Big Nights—
Opening Night—Wednesday, April 2: The festival kicks off on Wednesday evening with a choice of two films and a first ever after hours party with live music from Sonoma’s own Vanguard Jazz Ensemble at Sonoma’s newest nightspot, Burgers & Vine. Richard Shepard’s Dom Hemignway (2014) screens at the historic Sebastiani Theatre at 7:45 PM. After spending 12 years in prison for keeping his mouth shut, notorious safe-cracker Dom Hemingway (Jude Law) is back on the streets of London looking to collect what he’s owed. Travelling with his best friend Dickie, Dom visits his crime boss (Demián Bichir) in the south of France to claim his reward and then reconnect with his long-lost daughter Evelyn (Emilia Clark). Screens with Peter McEvilley’s six minute French short, Le Sauvetage (2013) which features Peter Olate’s amazing performing rescue dogs. The dogs will give a brief live performance after the short.
Jude Law (L) and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (R) in a scene from Richard Shepard’s “Dom Hemingway” (2014), one of two opening night feature films at the 17th Sonoma International Film Festival. Just released from prison after taking the fall for his boss, Dom (Law) comes after the money he’s owed for keeping silent and protecting his boss Fontaine (Damian Bechir). Brash, volatile, profane and angry, this is Jude Law at his complicated best. Image: Foxlight
Actor and writer Chris Lowell’s directorial debut, Beside Still Waters (2013) screens at 8:15 at Andrews Hall. An ode to the consoling power of deep and abiding friendships, the film observes one night among an intimately connected group of friends in their 20s who reunite at the family lake house of Daniel (played by “90210’s” Ryan Eggold), whose parents have just died in a car crash. Facing the imminent loss of the house, Daniel invites his pals to their old haunt for one last debauched weekend of drinking, dancing, and scheming. An accomplished fine-art photographer, the 28 year-old Lowell uses montages of his own black-and-white photos throughout “Beside Still Waters” to represent Daniel’s haunted memories. Writer & Producer Mo Narang will attend. Screens with Simon Christen’s Adrift (2013), a mesmerizing four minute and 35-second love letter to the fog that surrounds and often engulfs our Bay Area. Christen worked for two years to capture perfect shots for this masterpiece.
Closing Night—Sunday, April 6: From director Amma Asante and the producer of Iron Lady, Damian Jones, comes Belle, a captivating period romance. The film screens at 6 PM at the Sebastiani and is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the illegitimate mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral. Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle, Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson), and his wife (Emily Watson), Belle’s lineage affords her certain privileges, yet the color of her skin prevents her from fully participating in the traditions of her social standing. Left to wonder if she will ever find love, Belle falls for an idealistic young vicar’s son bent on change who, with her help, shapes Lord Mansfield’s role as Lord Chief Justice to end slavery in 18th century England. Director Amma Assante is attending.
After the Closing Night film, at roughly 8:30 PM, people will gather in the Backlot tent for the presentation of the Jury and Audience Awards, the last hurrah of the festival.
To read ARThound’s festival coverage from March 12, 2014, click here.
Details: The 17th Sonoma International Film Festival is April 2-6, 2014. Eight screening venues are all within walking distance of the central town plaza. Street parking is ample.
Passes: Click here to read about and purchase all SIFF passes. Passes were offered at discounted rate until March 17, 2014 and are now full price.
Individual tickets: Click on the festival calendar and then select a film in the daily schedule. If individual tickets are offered for that film, you will see a “tickets” hyperlink which will appear beneath the screening information.
Festival Information: Click here or call 707 933-2600
The 17th Sonoma International Film Festival has 25 documentaries. “Man Up and Go” (2012), directed by Randy Bacon, speaks to the heart. When Roger went to Ethiopia to get his adopted daughter, she was 6 months old, but weighed only 7 pounds and was dying. Roger asked himself, “Is there a way out of this?” He called his dad and heard words that rocked his core: “Roger, man up! If she dies, at least she will die in the arms of a father.” Roger had to inspire men to be better husbands and fathers, so he launched the Man Up movement. Shot in the U.S., Ethiopia and Rwanda, “Man Up and Go” tells the remarkable story several ordinary men who stepped up to change the lives of orphaned children and were forever changed themselves. Photo of Roger Gibson with orphan at Return Ministries, Uganda, courtesy Wynne Elder
Sonoma International Film Festival passes are on sale now and prices will increase on Monday, March 17, 2014
Yılmaz Erdoğan’s “The Butterfly’s Dream” (2013), Turkey’s submission for Best foreign Language Oscar, will screen at the 17th Sonoma International Film Festival (April 2-6, 2014). Set during World War II in Zonguldak, Turkey, the film is the real life story of two young poets, forgotten by history, whose writing developed while they were both fighting to survive tuberculosis. The title is from an ancient passage by Chinese thinker Chuang Tzu, in which he pondered his dream of being a butterfly. Erdoğan’s gorgeously-shot film addresses the nature of reality and the power of artistic practice to mitigate hardship.
If you love cinema, world class food and wine from local artisans and vintners, and the breathtaking beauty of the wine country, it doesn’t get any better than the Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF). Discounted passes are now on sale for the 17th annual SIFF—April 2-6, 2014. Lock in your passes now, as the prices rise considerably on Monday, March 17, 2014.
This year, SIFF features over 115 hand-selected films from 22 countries—features, documentaries, world cinema, Vamos Al Cine (showcasing Spanish-language film), and shorts. Two hundred filmmakers and celebrities will attend and participate in premieres, Q&A’s an panel discussions. Guests, celebs and attendees all mingle on the square and in Backlot, SIFF’s decadent den of epicurean delights. Film luminaries who have walked SIFF’s red carpet include: Susan Sarandon, Bruce Willis, Michael Keaton, Blythe Danner, Danny Glover, Lauren Hutton, Demian Bichir, Ray Liotta and Mary-Louise Parker. This year’s special guests have yet to be announced.
The line-up, of which we have just a few details, includes 62 full length features films, all selected by Festival Director Kevin McNeely and his programmers Claudia Mendoza-Carruth and Steve Shor, who know exactly what appeals to the savvy audience of this extended weekend fest. For the first time, SIFF17 welcomes a film from Nigeria, director Biyi Bandele’s acclaimed Half of a Yellow Sun, an adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s bestselling novel of the same name. This year’s Vamos Al Cine program, which began as programming for the Spanish speaking community but has morphed into one of the festival’s biggest draws, will focus on Cuban cinema with Cuban director and actor, Jorge Perugorria, attending. And dog lover ARThound is excited about this year’s special programming for children (and the young at heart) and the guest appearance of the amazing Olate dogs (winner of America’s Got Talent 2012 and $1 million. These joyful dogs will perform at the historic Sebastiani Theatre in a special morning that includes the world premiere of Peter McEvilley’s French short, Le Sauvetage—which features Peter Olate’s rescue dogs and addresses animal welfare—and a live musical performance by members of “Everybody is a Star.” This year, there are an unprecedented 24 documentaries, many of which unpack our increasingly confusing organic and green lifestyle and impart groundbreaking research on the health and environmental impacts of plastic, fracking and hemp. One of these, Wings of Life, a new Disneynature film, narrated by Meryl Streep, uses incredible cinematography, high-seed, time-lapse and micro filmmaking techniques to reveal the extraordinary importance of flowers and their pollinator partners. And for foodies, three world cinema offerings explore the fusion of storytelling, fine cuisine and restaurants.
All films are screened in seven intimate venues, all within walking distance along Sonoma’s historic plaza. Many screenings include delectable gourmet samplings. The SIFF ambiance is laid-back and the experience is unforgettable…that’s why most guests return year after year. And it’s for a great cause— since 2002, SIFF and its members have continually supported Sonoma Valley High School’s Media Arts Program. This student program opens doorways to creativity in the digital arts through filmmaking classes, animation, scriptwriting, film theory, and – most of all – storytelling. So far this year, SIFF has donated $25,000 to Peter Hansen’s media arts program at SVHS, having given almost $450,000 over the past 12 years.
Cinema Pass—$175* – All Films & Panels (*Price increases to $250 on March 17, 2014)
Cinema Soiree Pass —$450* First Entry to films, VIP hospitality area, tribute, parties & receptions & “First Look.” (*Price increases to $600 on March 17, 2014)
Patron Pass/All Access—single $2,500; couple $4,000
ARThound 