In the Press

Film Festivals Right at Home
The Press Democrat - October 25, 2007
Written By: Dan Taylor

Decades ago, avid cinema fans who wanted to attend a film festival had to travel to the south of France, New York, or at least Park City, Utah. Now film fests are everywhere. The Mill Valley Film Festival in Marin County closed its 30th anniversary celebration of movies just 10 days ago.

If you missed it, don't fret. Discerning connoisseurs of cinema can feast their eyes, starting this weekend, at three different festivals in Sonoma County.

The new West County Film Festival runs Saturday and Sunday with three dozen films, all being shown on the four upstairs screens at Sebastopol Cinemas.

One film is a particular coup for the new festival. Director Goran Dukic's afterlife fantasy from last year, "Wristcutters: A Love Story," was nominated for the grand jury award at the Sundance Film Festival and features singer-songwriter Tom Waits, who lives in western Sonoma County. (No confirmation yet on whether either Dukic or Waits will appear at the fest, but they're invited.)

The next weekend, Nov. 8-11, the Sebastopol Center for the Arts launches its first Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, with 40 films, including a tribute to another West County music legend, the late Johnny Otis.

And for those who simply cannot wait, the travelling Lunafest: The National Women's Film Festival - including films by, for and about women -- plays Santa Rosa's Wells Fargo Center tonight.

Film buffs can also thank two women for the new Sebastopol festivals.

Sonya Yonash, 27, is executive director of the nonprofit West County Film Society, sponsor of this weekend's festival. She also serves as head of the organization's four-member board. Her goal is to raise money in support of both current and future film classes at Sebastopol's Analy High School, where she graduated in 1998.

"Having grown up in Sonoma County, I absolutely love it here, but I know that it can sometimes be a little boring to be a kid here," she said. "Going on to college, I became passionate about education when I became passionate about what I was studying, and that was film."

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in film studies from Chapman University in Orange County, Yonash went on to work at the film festivals in Sonoma Valley, San Luis Obispo, Newport Beach and even Cannes.

She and her program director, Liz Riederer, who worked in film production in Southern California, both relied on their past professional contacts to line up movies for this festival.

The woman behind next week's Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival also brought experience and useful contacts to the project.

Eliza Hemenway, 38, a documentary filmmaker from San Francisco, moved to Sebastopol last summer. She hadn't been there long before she approached Linda Galletta, executive director of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.

"I showed up asking, 'How would you like to do a film festival?'" Hemenway recalled. "I could just feel it. This place was ripe for independent film."

Galletta saw the film festival as a logical extension of her centers' programs, which already include art exhibits, live music and dance, and literary events. After working out a general plan for the film festival, the center put out a call for documentaries to be juried by Hemenway and four other film industry professionals.

"We got more than 100 entries, from the U.S., Canada and Mexico," Galletta said, noting that independent filmmaking has rapidly increased as new technology makes films easier and less expensive to produce.

"Film technology has gotten to the point that a high-schooler can make a documentary," she said. "Of course, the art is in making a good one."

Hemenway added that new technology also makes films cheaper and more convenient to exhibit.

"Ten years ago, a festival like this wouldn't have been possible," said. "With digital equipment, you can show films at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. You don't need an incredibly expensive projector.

Revolutionary equipment helps explain the steady stream of new film festivals, but that's not the only reason. Yonash believes the festivals thrive because contemporary film audiences - conditioned by greater access to films on DVDs, and cable and satellite TV - demand something new and different.

"I think that while people like entertainment, sometimes they are just seeking more substance. Film is more than just entertainment. At festivals, people get to see films that make powerful statements."

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com.