Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival 2008

In the summer of 1909, the stuff of family legends and world history was born.18-year-old Giovanni Piras left his home in Mamoiada, a small village in Barbagia, Sardinia, to seek his fortune in Argentina. But his letters to home quickly became less frequent and then they broke off altogether after only a few years. The family did not give up hope and kept an eye out for him despite the fact that the news surrounding Giovanni was always strange and mysterious...

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.

When Hurricane Katrina drowned New Orleans, it also drowned the soul of Noe Hebert, a baker whose lifeblood was rooted in every nook of the city. Noe is forcibly evacuated to the dry and rugged landscape of New Mexico, where he struggles to reconnect within himself to a world that no longer exists. A poignant and elegiac short film, “In the Wake” follows Noe’s life as survivor of a personal apocalypse. Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.

A psychological drama revealing for the first time the extraordinary circumstances behind the unjust murder trial of the young Jew, Philippe Halsman, who would later become the most sought after celebrity portrait photographer of his generation. Set in 1928 Austria during the rise of fascism, the story documents the corrupt relationship between Philippe and his father, the events leading to his father's death, and focuses a sharp but delicate eye upon the anti-Semitic atmosphere that quickly led to Philippe's conviction.

Over the past 43 years, ChevronTexaco has intentionally spilled over 10 times the amount of oil in and around Lago Agrio, Ecuador, than was lost in the Exxon Valdez disaster and yet not one drop has been cleaned up. An area of pristine rain forest the size of Rhode Island has been devastated and 1 tribe of indigenous Indians has been wiped out. For those remaining natives, water supplies are completely contaminated and serious health issues such as cancer, leukemia, birth defects and skin disease run rampant, affecting every family. An epic lawsuit - one of the largest environmental suits in history - is brewing between Los Affectados (The Affected Ones, a group of 30,000 settlers and indigenous people) and ChevronTexaco's army of international lawyers whose attitude towards this has been a combination of strong armed intimidation and complete denial. Standing up against them is Pablo Fajardo, a humble unassuming man, who was born the same year Texaco came to Ecuador. Having worked the oil fields before putting himself through law school, he graduated only 3 years ago and is now the lead lawyer in the case during which time his brother was murdered, the killers mistaking him for Pablo, and his office containing over 80,000 court documents has been burglarized and ransacked. On top of that the Judge has survived an assassination attempt and tribal leaders have been beaten up and threatened. Is this big business or organized crime? `It's time for action; it's time for Justicia Ya!

A charming and hilarious Hungarian heist movie.

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.

The Search That Never Ended -- Even when armies surrender and peace treaties are signed, the war isn't over for everyone. The Last Flight Home documents the story of Dr. Patrick Scannon, whose search for missing World War II aircraft and the MIAs associated with them has continued for over 60 years. Palau was a ferocious battleground in the Pacific, where more than 200 US aircraft went down on and around the islands, with almost half of them with crew listed as Missing In Action. During the war, all their families received was a telegram from the State Department, listing their sons as whereabouts unknown, Missing In Action. Yet over generations, they continued to hope and pray for their return, waiting for an answer, for some clue as to what happened. They simply refused to forget. Then, out of the blue, comes a phone call that finally offers some answers and leaving no stone unturned, Dr. Scannon furthers his research into the MIAs of Palau by scouring the National Archives, After Action Reports, and interviews with veterans of the campaign. The film follows the story of three searches in Palau and the families touched by this work. Scannon's small team of self-funded private citizens have taken on this task simply as a way of thanking the MIAs and their families for the sacrifices made decades ago. Filmed over the course of nearly six years and seven expeditions to Palau, where the events originally unfolded, it turns out that the heart of the story was here in the U.S. with the people who never gave up hope. Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.

Join us for a reception at 7PM with the Swiss Consulate General, a private barrel tasting with Alpha Omega’s great Swiss born winemaker Jean Hofliger (the tasting is limited to 20 on a first come, first serve basis), and a sampling of cheese compliments of KerryGold and chocolate compliments of Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. Bay Area musicians Phoenix Rising plays at 7:30pm What's Going on Under There? It's said that 50 is the new 40, but is it also possible that the new 80 is the new 18? In the picturesque village of Trub, a small Swiss-German mountain town, Martha, a spry 86 year-old, suddenly seems to give up on life when her husband dies. The owner of a grocery store, Martha confesses to her sexpot septuagenarian friend, Lisi, that her unfulfilled dream has always been to own a boutique where she could make and sell her handmade lingerie. The ladies decide that, at their ages, they have the right to take charge of their own lives and join forces to make it happen. Social entanglements occur as Martha and Lisi scandalize the town. Their friends are shocked, Martha's clergyman son, Walter, acts hypocritical and local politicians are enraged. After the local vicar orders the lingerie salon to close, the ladies overcome some hilarious misadventures and seek success and self-renewal on the Internet. The film's young director, Bettina Oberli, said she was inspired by her grandmother to write the story and screen play and this crowd-pleaser reminds us that getting older doesn't necessarily mean getting old. Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.