2026 FALL CINEMA SERIES
Films screen Wednesday nights at 7pm (unless noted otherwise) in the Carole L. Ellis Auditorium on the SRJC Petaluma Campus. Guests are invited to attend an optional pre-show program at 6pm. Click here for pricing, directions, and additional information.
September 16: PROJECT HAIL MARY
Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, 2026, USA, 156 min.
When science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up with amnesia on a spaceship light years from home, he must slowly uncover the reason for his mission and how he got there. Little does he know that earth’s future hangs in the balance. Adapted from Andy Weir’s near-future sci-fi thriller, the film’s use of tactile practical effects and puppetry, warm color palettes, and unique anamorphic IMAX framing combined with Gosling’s magnetic performance makes for a visually dazzling space odyssey full of humor and heart. Begins at 6:30pm.
September 23: THE DRAMA
Kristoffer Borgli, 2026, USA, 105 min.
A happily engaged couple’s relationship is put to the test after an unexpected revelation catapults their perfectly planned wedding week off the rails. Featuring extraordinary performances from Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, anxiety-fueled visual grammar, and a high-tension musical score, writer/director Kristoffer Borgli’s dark romantic thriller invites us to reflect on trust, forgiveness, and the terrifying limits of unconditional love.
September 30: THE GARDEN OF EDEN w/ live score
Lewis Milestone, 1928, USA, 79 min.
Toni (Corinne Griffith) is an aspiring opera singer struggling to climb the career ladder. When she eventually makes her way out of a seedy Budapest cabaret to the French Riviera, she finds herself being courted by a variety of wealthy suitors. Director Lewis Milestone (who will go on to win Best Director Oscars in the two subsequent years for Two Arabian Knights and All Quiet on the Western Front) is in peak cinematic form. A masterclass in exuberant silent era filmmaking, the production features incredible art direction and fluid, avant-garde cinematography. It also anticipates the coming pre-Code era of racy, cynical feminists demanding more autonomy and the screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s. The film will be presented with a live musical score by the legendary San Francisco-based Club Foot Quintet.
October 7: MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL SURPRISE SCREENING
Now in its 49th year, The Mill Valley Film Festival partners with the Petaluma Film Alliance to bring you this special surprise educational screening. Stay tuned for additional details after the festival’s official schedule launch. Visit mvff.com for their complete 2026 line-up.
October 14: BROTHER VERSES BROTHER
Ari Gold, 2025, USA, 91 min.
When the family patriarch fails to show up for a gig in North Beach, two combative twin musicians embark on a frantic, one-night safari through the streets of San Francisco to find their missing, 99-year-old poet father. Executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola, the film boasts a breathtaking visual aesthetic, capturing the city in a single, unbroken 90-minute take that relies entirely on natural lighting and a beautiful, live-acoustic score. Director Ari Gold cleverly builds upon his own family’s history in this gritty and daring work of live cinema that explores familial codependency and the healing power of music. Director Ari Gold will participate in an onstage interview at 6pm and answer questions following the 7pm screening.
October 21: TUNER
Daniel Roher, 2025, USA, 107 min.
Niki (Leo Woodall), a gifted young piano tuner who suffers from an agonizing hearing condition, gets unwittingly pulled into the New York criminal underworld when he tries to raise money to help his ailing mentor (Dustin Hoffman). Oscar-winning director Daniel Roher’s smart, well written character drama perfectly blends humor, tension, and romance into a meticulously crafted heartfelt thriller with a propulsive and kinetic editing style and visceral sound design. Official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
October 28: THE BRIDE!
Maggie Gyllenhaal, 2026, USA/France, 126 min.
In 1930s Chicago, a lonely Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) convinces a radical scientist (Annette Bening) to reanimate a murdered gangster’s moll (Jessie Buckley), only for the resurrected “Bride” to ignite a fiery, outlaw romance and a chaotic feminist uprising. Featuring a highly layered, metanarrative storytelling approach, the film transforms from a standard genre picture into an ambitious commentary on female autonomy and authorship that’s packed with intertextual allusions to cinema history. Part monster movie, part gangster film, part lavish Golden Age musical, director Maggie Gyllenhaal and star Jessie Buckley swing for the fences in this bold retelling of the Mary Shelley classic with an anachronistic punk rock aesthetic.
November 4: EXIT 8
Genki Kawamura, 2025, Japan, 95 min.
After ignoring a cry for help on a crowded train, an emotionally detached commuter (Kazunari Ninomiya from the J-pop group Arashi) becomes trapped in a Tokyo subway where he must spot microscopic anomalies in the environment to find his way out. Inspired by a cult video game, director Genki Kawamura weaponizes a liminal space aesthetic, transforming a sterile, white-tiled Japanese subway corridor into an expansive, agoraphobic maze of deep psychological unease. World premiering at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, the film has been a darling on the global festival circuit in addition to being a massive commercial hit in Japan.
November 18: THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW w/ live stage show
Jim Sharman, 1975, UK/USA, 100 min.
Straight-laced and newly engaged couple Janet and Brad (Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick) seek shelter from a thunderstorm inside an eerie castle, only to find themselves trapped in the bizarre annual convention of a cross-dressing mad scientist (Tim Curry). Mixing gothic horror tropes, glam-rock aesthetics, and garish B-movie pastiche, Jim Sharman’s legendary cult musical is widely considered a vibrant, camp masterpiece that heralds themes of sexual liberation, radical self-acceptance, and the joyous subversion of traditional gender norms. The film will be presented with the Bay Area’s premier live shadow cast, BL Rocky, as well as stage props, theatrical lighting, and audience participation. Costumes are encouraged!
December 2: THE ODYSSEY
Christopher Nolan, 2026, UK/USA, 172 min.
Following the bloody fall of Troy, King Odysseus (Matt Damon) struggles through a perilous, decade-long voyage home across monster-infested seas while his faithful queen (Anne Hathaway) fends off violent suitors. Director Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer, Inception, The Dark Knight) reinvigorates Homer’s colossal mythological epic with jaw-dropping (and mostly practical) visual effects and a cast of A-listers that also includes Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Elliot Page, and Charlize Theron. Diving headfirst into the harrowing psychological trauma of war and the heavy burden of survivor guilt, The Odyssey demonstrates that it’s still possible to create a blockbuster spectacle without sacrificing complex ideas or the audience’s intelligence. Begins at 6:30pm.