Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival 2008

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Featured Films
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Featured/World Cinema
It's All in the Game -- Where does a troubled young teenager go to escape his seemingly miserable everyday existence and find a place of empowerment and adventure? Ben, a severely withdrawn, possibly autistic teen never speaks, except to save to his long-suffering, divorced mother and his little brother. Forced to attend the regular high school his father insisted on, Ben gets high grades, but is mercilessly bullied and viewed as a freak by his classmates. Ben's only solace is the time spent playing sword-and-sorcery video game “Overlord,” where he can be the fearless hero slaying foes left and right, as he recasts his tormentors at school as videogame combatants. Tellingly, the closest thing Ben has to a friendship is with “Scarlite,” a female online gamer he's never met. One day, Ben is horrendously humiliated at school and unable to bring himself to tell mom or school authorities what happened, he seems to be edging toward either violent revenge or suicide, or simply disappearing for keeps into his fantasy world. Can there be a happy ending when fantasy must not only defeat but meet reality? Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.
Arts In Film/Best Sound/Featured/World Cinema
This marvelous film is inspired by the true story of Mirco Mencacci, one of the most gifted Italian sound editors working today, who happens to be blind. Born in a small village in Tuscany, in 1971, Mirco is a bright, lively 10-year-old, crazy about the movies - especially Westerns and adventure films. His father, an incurable idealist, is a truck driver. One day, while Mirco is playing with an old rifle, the gun accidentally goes off leaving him blind. At that time, Italian law considered blind people hopelessly handicapped, and did not permit them to attend public school. Hence, young Mirco's parents are forced to shut their son up in a special school for the blind. In the beginning Mirco does not accept his new condition, but he is feisty and determined. When he finds an old tape recorder and a few used reels and discovers that by cutting and splicing tape he can create little fairy tales made only of sounds, a brand-new world opens up to him and to his school mates. The big issues of friendship, bullying, disability and creativity are touched on in this unusual tale. Think ‘Cinema Paradiso’, crossed with ‘Dead Poets Society’. Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.
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Welcome to the Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival 2009!

Dates are September 17th - 27th, 2009

This popular roving festival takes place outdoors in spectacular settings and in select theaters and venues in Napa and Sonoma Valleys, Ca.

The festival presents features, documentaries, shorts and animation in six categories: World Cinema, Latin Cinema, US Cinema, The Arts in Film™ (films about music, dance and the arts,) Cinema of Conscience™ (films of social issues,) and Eco Cinema.

CONTACT:
707-935-3456 - office
707-228-8514 - (cell)

~ Winners 2008 ~
22nd Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival

Best Of The Festival:

Bliss (Turkey) By Abdullah Oguz

Best International Feature Film:

Maiden And The Wolves (France) By Gilles Legrand

Best First Feature:

International

La Caja (The Wooden Box, Canary Islands, Spain) By Juan Carlos Falcon

USA

Other People’s Parties By R.A.White

Best USA Feature Film:

Crazy By Rick Bieber

Best Short:

International

The Letter (Canada/Russia) By Matvei Zhivov

USA

In The Wake By Craig Strong

Best Documentary:

International

Lucio (Spain) By Aitor Arregi

USA

All In This Tea By Les Blank

Best Eco Cinema:

Feature

Delta – Oil’s Dirty Business (Greece) By Yorgos Avgeropoulos

Short

Lunatic Farmer (USA) By Chris Warner

Best Arts In Film:

Feature

Caravaggio (Italy) By Angelo Longoni

Short

Roca Bon: Searching The Sublime (Spain) By Karlos Alastruey

Best Cinema Of Conscience:

Feature

Jump! The Philippe Halsman Story (Austria) By Joshua Sinclair

Short

I Am A Soldier (USA) By Juan Escobedo

Best Director:
Branko Schmidt

The Melon Route (Croatia)

Best Actress :
Irene Azuela

Burn The Bridges (Mexico)

Best Actor:
Stefano Accorsi

Maiden And The Wolves (France)

Best Cinematography:
Storaro

Caravaggio (Italy)

Best Sound:

Red Like The Sky (Italy) By Cristiano Bortone

Best Music:
Armand Amar, Composer

Bab’Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul
and

Maiden And The Wolves (France)

Special Awards
Margrit And Robert Mondavi Award For Peace And Cultural Understanding:

David And Fatima (USA) By Alain Zaloum


Munyurangabo (Rwanda/USA) By Lee Isaac Chung

Emerging Talent – The Dandy Dwarves Film Group
Film Company Of The Year Award:


Longtale For Prince Of The Himalayas


Looking For Palladin


Milarepa: Magician, Murderer, Saint

Bay Area Legendary Filmmaker Award
Les Blank
Welcome to the 2008 Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival
Napa and Sonoma Valleys, where locals and visitors alike converge during wine country's oldest and biggest celebration of world cinema, just 45 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

You are sitting under the stars in an open air theater venue, sipping good wine, savoring seasonal cuisine, and socializing with new and old friends. Dozens of festivities range from open air film screenings to educational symposia, informal receptions with guest celebrities to over a dozen cooking demos, live entertainment, barrel tastings and fun for all ages.

What sets us apart from the zillion other film festivals worldwide is our distinctive approach to film programming, committed celebrity guests and friendly leisurely pace. You can have plenty of time to enjoy wine country's amenities. Internationally known for our spectacular "Films al Fresco™" open air film screenings, there are several celestial film nights planned for our 20th Anniversary.

A Festival-within-a-Festival, each long weekend or week offers a program of timely and fascinating films which evolve organically from the programming process. A host of special events, tributes & symposia are in the works.

"Films al Fresco™" - Celestial Film Nights
Get ready for an unbelievable experience. Typically festival goers arrive around 6pm to catch a flick in the winery's indoor theater or to participate in a food sampling following a cooking demonstration. There might even be a special barrel tasting! Most nights there is live entertainment before the feature film begins.

Nights are cool so bring a jacket. Chairs are provided and low lawn chairs are welcome.

Some nights you might glimpse a celebrity guest mingling informally with festival goers. Past celebrity guests include Gregory Peck, Teri Garr, Vin Diesel, Nicolas Cage, Richard Dreyfuss, George Lucas, Lynn Redgrave and Kirk Douglas to name a few.
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Recent Activity
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added The Grocer’s Son (screening: 8/2/08 8:45 PM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:46 AM
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added As Seen Through These Eyes (screening: 8/3/08 4:30 PM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:43 AM
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added Don't Know, We'll See: The Work of Karen Karnes (screening: 8/3/08 2:45 PM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:40 AM
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added In Search of Kennedy (screening: 8/3/08 7:15 PM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:38 AM
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added Master Class with Chuck Workman (screening: 8/3/08 10:00 AM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:37 AM
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added Munyurangabo (screening: 8/2/08 2:00 PM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:36 AM
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added Where Have All the Flowers Gone (screening: 8/2/08 4:00 PM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:36 AM
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added SHORT FILM PROGRAM – Take Two (screening: 8/2/08 11:15 AM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:34 AM
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added SHORT FILM PROGRAM – Shorts with a Conscience (screening: 8/2/08 9:45 AM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:34 AM
Number of calendar adds AllisonIvy added Pretty Ugly People (screening: 8/1/08 7:00 PM) to the calendar
on: 4/19/09 11:32 AM
© 2007 Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival
T: 707·935.FILM - wcfilmfest@aol·com
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