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Film Fest Petaluma is pleased to announce that the “Best of Fest” audience favorite goes to Derin Seale’s Australian comedy The Eleven O’Clock. The runner-up was Sébastien Maitre’s Get Up Kinshasa! from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Other notable audience favorites included Alain Delannoy’s animated documentary The Talk: True Stories About the Birds and the Bees, Vincent Gallagher’s stop motion animation Second to None, the experimental horror pic Great Choice, and the live action dramas It’s Just a Gun, Dust, and DeKalb Elementary.

Film Fest Petaluma offers a huge thanks to all our patrons, sponsors, crew, volunteers, and guest filmmakers who made our tenth anniversary festival such a success. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

Film Fest Petaluma is pleased to announce that the “Best of Fest” audience favorite goes to Ivan Barge’s New Zealand comedy Madam Black. The top films this year were separated by a razor-thin margin of less than a hundredth of a point. The runner-up was Marc Wilkins’ powerful refugee drama Bon Voyage. Other notable front runners included John Fortson’s US comedy Rated, Alejandro Damiani’s political comedy MAMON, and Craig Foster’s horror/comedy Overtime. Animated favorites included Michael Cusack’s stop motion drama After All and the Spanish comedy Darrel. The favorite documentary was Lucas Schrank’s Nowhere Line: Voices from Manus Island.

The festival offers a huge thanks to all our patrons, sponsors, crew, volunteers, and guest filmmakers who made this year’s event such a success. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

Thirty-eight short films from more than fifteen countries will be on display at the 8th annual Film Fest Petaluma on Saturday, May 7, 2016 at the historic Mystic Theatre in downtown Petaluma. More than a dozen directors have already confirmed attendance at the event including the creators of Bear Story, Gabriel Osorio and Antonia Herrera, the Chilean animation team that won this year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Short.

The day long fest will give visitors a sampling of award-winning shorts from prestigious festivals around the globe including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, and Sundance. Each of the four programs offer a variety of animation, live action, and documentary content as well as a discussion with the filmmakers. Other confirmed guests include Dive director Matthew Saville from New Zealand, director and choreographer Cylan Shaffer (Pride & Gluttony), actress and filmmaker Johanna Watts (Career Girl), Skinner Myers (Land of Exodus), and Bay Area filmmakers Conner Bell (Chop), and Phil Lorin & Kiel Murray (Green Thumb).

Domestic and international guests will sit alongside four student filmmakers selected from the Sonoma County Student Film Festival on April 1st whose work will also be on display. Featured students include Miles Levin (The Berninator), Rita Amador (La Liberte), Ian Powell (Impressive Stacks), and Luc Londe (Or).

Programs take place at 12:00pm, 3:00pm, 7:30pm, and 10:30pm. Additional events hosted by Santa Rosa Junior College in the days preceding the fest may be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets for the fest range from $10-$15 and are available at McNear’s Restaurant, Copperfield’s Books in Petaluma, or online through the Petaluma Film Alliance and Mystic Theatre websites. All-day passes may be purchased for $30. Programs are recommended for 15 and over (17 for the late show which features edgier fare).

Visit FilmFestPetaluma.com for the complete film schedule and ticket information.

On Wednesday, January 28th, the Petaluma Cinema Series opens its spring season with The Grand Budapest Hotel kicking off another great line-up of Oscar nominees, international classics, independent films, and guest filmmakers.

The new season will feature seven films from 2014 including this year’s Best Picture nominees Boyhood, Birdman, and The Grand Budapest Hotel as well as Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and Jim Jarmusch’s latest film, Only Lovers Left Alive. Director Jen McGowan will join us in conversation February 11th to present her debut feature Kelly & Cal starring Juliette Lewis and co-directors Dan Rybicky and Aaron Wickenden will join us March 25th with their brand new documentary, Almost There.

The season is rounded out with William Wyler’s 1961 drama The Children’s Hour, Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic Pulp Fiction, Alexander Payne’s high school comedy Election, and Performance starring Mick Jagger as well as the international classics Hero, Salaam Bombay!, The Celebration, and Bagdad Cafe.

Screenings are hosted in the Carole L. Ellis Auditorium on the Petaluma Campus of Santa Rosa Junior College every Wednesday at 7pm (Boyhood and Pulp Fiction begin at 6:30pm). Guests are invited to attend an optional pre-film lecture at 6pm. Visit www.PetalumaFilmAlliance.org for schedule details and film trailers.

Film Fest Petaluma returns for its sixth annual festival of short films on Saturday, May 3, 2014 at the historic Mystic Theatre in downtown Petaluma.

Programs feature a broad mix of animated, live action, and documentary shorts as well as a blend of comedy and drama. Shows run at 2:30pm, 7:30pm, and 10:30pm. Each session will host filmmakers in conversation including several Sonoma County students.

The festival features films from the US, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Iran, Cambodia, New Zealand, and Australia. Highlights include Ali Asgari’s Iranian drama More Than Two Hours which screened in competition at the recent Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals, Wild Horses, winner of the Jury Prize for Best Live Action Short at the 2013 Palm Springs International Shortfest, and the Australian stop motion stunner Sleight of Hand, winner of Best Animated Short at the New York and Santa Barbara International Film Festivals. All three directors are expected to attend. Forestville resident Steve Tucker will also be presenting his mini-doc Michael Garlington: Built to Burn on the Petaluma artist’s recent creation for the Burning Man Festival.

The work of four Sonoma County student filmmakers will also be showcased throughout the day including The Promise by Sophia Wasteneys from Summerfield Waldorf High School in Santa Rosa, Ten Grahams by SRJC student Miles Levin, and Bleeding Black by SRJC students Ariana Victor and Joey Emmons. Top films from SRJC’s Associated Students Film Festival on April 4th were invited to screen at the downtown event.

Tickets for the Fest are available at McNear’s Restaurant, Copperfield’s Books in Petaluma, or online through the Petaluma Film Alliance and Mystic Theatre websites. Tickets range from $10-$15. All-day passes are available for $25. Programs are recommended for 15 and over.

Visit FilmFestPetaluma.com for the complete film schedule and ticket information.

The new Spring Cinema Series features a kaleidoscope of rarely-screened international gems, brand-new award-winning documentaries with directors in conversation, Hollywood classics, and some of this year’s top Oscar contenders.

Join us Wednesday nights from January 29th through May 14th as we celebrate our tenth season of films. We open this week with Francois Truffaut’s Day For Night, a humorous and loving homage to the triumphs and perils of the motion picture industry, Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film of 1973.

Check out our new season here.