Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival 2008

Arts In Film

Imagine dining with your ex as an Olympic sport. Complete with judges and world class competitors. No subtle gesture goes unnoticed, no slip of etiquette un-judged. With subtle humor this comic short deals with love run amok and alludes to so much more. Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.

A Pastoral Parable in Provence -- The rolling countryside of Provence may be a dream vacation spot, but it is the last place in the world that Antoine (Nicolas Cazalé), the sullen 30-year-old protagonist of “The Grocer's Son,” would like to be. Antoine Sforza, a thirty-year-old young man, left his village ten years before in order to start a new life in the big city, but now that his father, a traveling grocer, is in hospital after a stroke, he more or less reluctantly accepts to come back to replace him in his daily rounds. Back in the village, accompanied by Claire, a young woman he loves but who hesitates to commit herself, he does the job half-satisfactorily. Too blunt, not in harmony with the locals, he offends them more than he serves them. Fortunately Claire, who has more business acumen, helps him to improve his skills. On the other hand, the relationships are tense with his brother François and even worse with his father, who despises him. So when the latter is back in the village, the situation deteriorates. This small gem of a film, a surprise hit in France, is the second feature directed by Éric Guirado, who prepared for it by filming portraits of traveling tradesmen in southern and central France. ... Guy Bellinger Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.

Guitar Holiday is a colorful, vibrant documentary portrait of the guitar makers of Paracho, Michoacan and the Mexican National Guitar Festival. Paracho is an otherwise typical Mexican town of 30,000 people. The area has a temperate, cool climate with several small inactive volcanoes dotting the verdant landscape. A large percentage of Purepecha Indians make up the population. With their distinctive physical appearance and colorful dress the indigenous influence is palpable. What distinguishes Paracho from other similar towns is it's guitar shops - literally dozens of guitar shops line the streets.

This video takes a 17th century form of Japanese poetry and puts it on a Maine Island. Then add an extraordinary jazz score and some surprising art and the haiku sings!

The human spirit cannot be confined to a wheelchair. This film is a quirky comedy about Rose, a spirited quadriplegic and physicist, who goes to extreme measures in her quest for romance. After seeing a rough cut of the film, Bruce Springsteen gave the filmmakers the use of two of his songs for the soundtrack. Combining elements of realism and the seemingly absurd, Rose shows how love can conquer all! Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.

Hollywood Singing and Dancing, an extensive celebration of the history of musicals on the big screen, traces the evolution of the Hollywood musical, from the Busby Berkeley era, to the patriotic, feel-good musicals of World War II, the near-death of the musical genre when the studio system collapsed, and the modern-day resurgence of films like 'Chicago'. This movie will make you want to get up off your feet and belt out a tune!

A loner (Kenneth Johnson, The Shield, Saving Grace ) meets a woman (Victoria Charters, Death of a Saleswoman, Jimmy Zip) outside a party, forming a connection in an instant, but can the union of these two opposites endure? A classic love-tale with a bitter-sweet twist, this short is an adaptation of a play written by legendary acting coach & casting director Michael Shurtleff. Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.

It's All in the Mind -- Animation allows up to enter a galaxy of pure imagination, where anything is possible and there are no boundaries between fantasy and reality. La Lune is a beautifully animated short, in which the entire universe world consists of a magical tree. As a young couple travel through an incredible kaleidoscope of adventures where change is continuous, they realize that the only constant in life is love. Director Kyung Hee Shon's creative vision illustrates why animation is a canvas like no other. Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.