March 26-29 2015
www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org Occidental Rd. Film festival AT A GLANCE
Buy Tickets High School Rd. All tickets for regular screenings Healdsburg Ave. & special programs: $10 Laguna Parkway Map not Wallace Ave. to scale Johnson St. Johnson Opening Night & Reception: $30 advance, Rialto Main Street ® $35 day-of (depending on availability) 2 Cinemas Morris St. The McKinley St. 1. ONLINE www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/12556 Barlow Plaza Hopmonk 2. IN PERSON AtTavern Sebastopol Center for the Arts
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Highway 12 Call for additional box office hours. Florence Ave. Petaluma Blvd. Bodega Ave. 3. By phone 707.829.4797 ($4 handling fee per order) S. Main Street Burnett St. Sebastopol Center for the Arts welcomes Sebastopol High St. 4. Buy an All-Access Pass No tickets necessary, includes filmmaker only th Center for events. $250 each. Supplies limited. Call 707.829.4797. you to the 8 Annual Sebastopol 2015 events the Arts 1 Willow St. Veterans Building Documentary Film Festival Discover Art and the artists of Sonoma Ive’s Park Ticket Policy CA is the largest regional arts center in County during open studio weekends! All tickets for regular screenings and special Tickets guarantee a seat until 15 minutes prior to California north of San Francisco and The diversity includes painters, sculptors, programs• are $10. Opening Night is $30 •the start of all films or presentations. Please arrive early. we’re delighted to present SDFF 2015 - potters, jewelers and more. There is in advance, $35 day-of (depending on availability) Five minutes prior to show time empty seats will be S re-sold. one of the North Bay’s iconic events - which something for everyone to enjoy during • Tickets purchased through SCA will be available these self-guided studio tours. Visit the for pickup prior to the festival at SCA during business Rush Tickets: A Wait Line will be formed outside brings the best independent documentary Venues hours; and during the festival (Mar 26-29) at SCA •the venue prior to show time. Unclaimed seats will be films and filmmakers to our community. Our Preview Exhibits at the Center for the Arts beginning one hour prior to the first program released 5 minutes before each film, at which time Wait and choose which artists to visit. 1. Sebastopol Center of the day. Line tickets may be available for purchase for $10 cash SDFF Screening Committee viewed over 500 only. submissions and chose 71 features, shorts and special for the Arts • Will Call tickets can be picked up at SCA before the 282 S. High St. festival. During the festival, Will Call tickets will be at No refunds or exchanges. films to present to our audiences. Art at the Source Open Studios the venue of your first film. • 707-829-4797 No outside food at Rialto Cinemas®. A little history: In 2012 the Center remodeled the June 6-7 & 13-14, 2015 • Veterans Building to create galleries and classrooms for our 159 artists open their West County studios to 2. Rialto visual, performing, literary and film arts. In 2014 our gallery the public and show how they make art. Cinemas® Special Programs was voted “Best Gallery in Sonoma County;” and our 6868 McKinley St. 707-525-4840 A Well-Spent Life: Les Blank Sneak Preview Film: Fri, Mar 27, Peer Pitch: Friday, Mar 27, SDFF has been honored by Moviemaker Magazine as one Sonoma County Art Trails Tribute: Celebrate the life and 7 pm. Join us for an early Sneak 10-4 pm. Docs in Progress and of the “coolest doc fests” in the world. October 10-11 & 17-18, 2015 career of legendary Bay Area Preview of a new film featuring The D-Word bring Peer Pitch Over 50,000 people visit the Center each year for Enjoy the beauty of fall and visit interesting filmmaker Les Blank with his Les Blank’s final documentary back to SDFF for the fourth most iconic films curated by film work. year in a row. Pitch your next outstanding art programs, but in addition to having studios during this annual county-wide event. longtime collaborator Maureen documentary project in a phenomenal cool art spaces, our Center has an auditorium, Gosling. Student Invitational: Select supportive environment of rooms for community use, a commercial kitchen and local high school filmmakers peers. OUTwatch LGBTQI Film Festival Sound Design with Jim will be embedded in the film ample parking. The Center for the Arts has become the November 6-8, 2015 LeBrecht: Sat. Mar 28, 2 pm. festival experience as VIPs, Spotlight on Syria: Two award- center of the vortex of Sonoma County’s art scene and is OUTwatch is committed to bringing the Sound Designer Jim LeBrecht learning from filmmakers, and winning films bearing witness situated near other galleries, wineries, micro-breweries, BEST in LGBTQI Films to North of the will show how sound design seeing the doc world from the to the human tragedy in the fresh-from-the-garden cuisine and boutique shopping. creates movie experiences. inside. city of Homs and showing the Bay, both narratives and documentaries. world the hopelessness of war. We’re glad you’re here and we’d love to show you around! You’ll want to see them all.
International “Fiber Arts VII” Sebastopol Center for the Arts making art happen! October 23 - November 28, 2015 2015 Steering Committee 282 S. High Street, Sebastopol, CA 95472 707.829.4797 A biannual juried exhibition presenting Linda Galletta, Executive Director Margo Miller, Programmer SCA Staff Jason Perdue, Festival & Program Director Shad Reinstein Kathy Douglas, Catherine Devriese, sebarts.org | artatthesource.org | sonomacountyarttrails.org innovative and traditional fiber techniques Tommie Del Smith, Artistic Director Karen Vyner-Brooks Tom Montan, Joe Hoffman sebastopolfilmfestival.org | outwatchfilmfest.org and contemporary concepts. Cynthi Stefenoni, Festival Producer Jeffrey Zankel Design & cover illustration: Jean McGlothlin, Programmer Dennis Bolt
www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 1 SPECIAL PROGRAMS
THURSDAY OPENING NIGHT friday peer pitch Generously sponsored in part by Coby Lafayette & Kevin Kelleher Film, Awards, and Party ashington, DC-based non-profit Docs in Progress in California conjunction with The D-Word brings its respected Peer Pitch How to Change the World Wback to Sebastopol for the fourth year in a row. Executive Sneak Preview Premiere Director Erica Ginsberg will once again lead this program giving ow to Change the World chronicles the birth of the documentary filmmakers the opportunity to present new projects most significant environmental protest movement in to fellow filmmakers for constructive feedback from peers in a A film by Les Blank Hhistory perpetrated by the wildest bunch of hippie eco- nurturing environment. Participants will develop skills and comfort freaks the world has ever seen. Greenpeace founders knew the in verbally describing their projects among peers before trying their and Gina Leibrecht power of images and that media attention was crucial, so they pitches out on industry. Participation is open to any present or future Though we can’t reveal the title here, we’re excited to bring recorded everything: A goldmine of 16 mm footage reveals the documentary filmmakers and projects at any stage of development. you this very special preview of a film you’ll hear about in the danger, bickering, privation and just plain weirdness that Advance registration is required. near future. In Les Blank’s last film, finished after his death in accompanied their journey from a rag-tag collection The fee is $80 for those who have a project they would like to pitch or $45 for 2013 by collaborator Gina Leibrecht, what for many might of draft dodgers, spiritual seekers and journalists those who would like to participate by giving feedback. Space is limited so have been merely a tribute film to an old friend and mentor to the global environmental movement that registration is on a first come first served basis. which, given the subject, would have been enough, instead transcends Greenpeace today. Exclusive Surprise Film friday Friday, March 27, 10:00am to 4:00 PM, Sebastopol Center for the Arts becomes an insightful discussion about the technical and Director Jerry Rothwell and editor Jim artistic innovations that changed the way documentary films Scott masterfully blend this archive are made. Equally amazing is how that discussion becomes a with current day interviews to tell lively and moving celebration of some of the most precious the story of the beginning of the things in life. worldwide green movement. Hear Brigitte Bardot sing for the Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #1, 7:00 p.m. baby seals. See the crew consult the i-Ching to determine their next step. Watch as the critical piece of whale harpooning footage is captured at great risk. STUDENT INVITATIONAL Contemporary interviews with the founding members provides insight and depth to this history, accompanied S E B A S T O P O L by a groovin’ sound track of Joni Mitchell, same country . different planet Canned Heat and more. Following the film, we will remain at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts for our Opening Night Party where audience and visiting filmmakers from around the ue to a generous grant from the world kick-off SDFF weekend filled with films, events, and special programs. Sonoma County Community Some images of animal cruelty are shown. DFoundation, SDFF 2015 is Director Jerry Rothwell and special guests in attendance. able to realize one of its primary Thursday, March 26, 7:00 p.m. Sebastopol Center for the Arts goals: to nurture and mentor young documentary filmmakers as they begin their journey. The SDFF Student Invitational is bringing high school
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1455 North Dutton Avenue, Suite C Santa Rosa, CA 95401 Bus: 707-843-1171Fax: 707-575-7273 facebook.com/GenaPerdueFarmersAgent Auto • Home [email protected] Life • Business License OJ14344 Maureen Gosling LES BLANK RETROSPECTIVE and Les Blank in the Amazon.
working with him in 1980 as folklorist and interviewer on In Heaven There Is No Beer? A WELL-SPENT LIFE They married and continued working Gap-Toothed Women + together for another seventeen years. During those years Chris did pretty much Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers Burden of es Blank, honored with lifetime everything including: Co-Filmmaker, Producer, Dreams + achievement awards by multiple Sound Recording, Distribution, Production Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, 4:45 p.m. Werner Linstitutions, is recognized internationally Management, and Editing. Presented by Slow Food Russian River as an American treasure. His intimate, & Laguna Farm Herzog In 1998 Gina Leibrecht began working idiosyncratic and lyrical documentaries Both films come across as more Eats His Shoe with Blank on All In This Tea, which she co- about the lives, culture and music essay than documentary. While of passionate people, often at the produced, co-directed, and edited, and they begin as goofy odes Saturday, March 28, Rialto periphery of American society, are screened at SDFF in 2009. Since that that appear to be random Cinemas® #3, 6:45 p.m. widely admired by critics and other time she has worked as co-producer, interviews with interesting When Blank’s friend Werner filmmakers, if not widely known by co-director and editor on several characters the filmmakers Herzog issued a challenge to young moviegoers. The films masquerade as award-winning documentaries. happen to encounter along filmmaker Errol Morris in order to encourage small, surface glimpses into obscure She most recently completed a a particular theme, they him to finish making his first film, the result J’ai Été au Bal (I Went to the Dance) + cultures, but in fact they take on collaboration with Les that is our evolve as a route into deeper was Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. With Marc & Ann the biggest subjects: humanity, love, Sneak Preview film on Friday night. conversations and a way of assistance from Alice Waters, Herzog cooks commitment, joy and individualism. The films shown here often are articulating a certain attitude the shoe and consumes it in front of Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 3:45 p.m. Our program of selected works offers geographically as well as culturally toward life. That attitude is, of an audience at the U.C. Berkeley The filmmakers set out with the a peek into the vast body of over 40 rooted, frequently featuring the twin course, one of freedom, self- Theater. True to his style, Blank ambitious goal of making the documentaries from Blank’s 1960 Running passions of regional music and food. confidence, a rejection of turned it into a comic, and rather definitive movie about Cajun and Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off to The filmmakers sometimes lived among the straight-laced American touching, film about what Zydeco music, which would have his most recent film completed posthumously the people they were filming for weeks or value system. In Gap Toothed artists do for the sake of art. been worthy enough. But in by collaborator Gina Leibrecht in 2014. months at a time, achieving an intimacy Women, Blank creates a Two years later, Blank finds the hands of Les Blank and his Less acknowledged has been Blank’s with their subjects. You’ll find little threads singular love letter to himself in Herzog’s company collaborators ethnomusicologist Chris Strachwitz and editor legacy as a mentor, who inspired and connecting these films to one another, with women who embrace again, this time deep Maureen Gosling, J’ai Été au Bal attracted a coterie of collaborators, who a subject or a bit of footage from one film the gap between within the rainforests and his films at an anthropological film their two front teeth, of South America, succeeds on every level, from shared, participated in and amplified his showing up in another amid an exuberant vision, working with him in various roles, festival. One year later, she found herself issuing a challenge to society’s a thousand miles tracing the migration of Cajun and investigation into music, food and communal from Assistant to Producer. Many of these working as his assistant in Black French definition of beauty. Garlic is from civilization, Creole peoples to southeastern culture that ultimately leads us to the colleagues went on to become filmmakers Louisiana on a film that would become Dry as Good as Ten Mothers, filmed where Herzog Louisiana and the culture they in their own right, most notably Maureen Wood and Hot Pepper. She went on to work importance of the uniqueness of individuals. at the Gilroy Garlic Festival was filming created there to an examination Gosling, Chris Simon, Harrod Blank, Gina with Blank for twenty years on twenty films, Maureen Gosling and Chris Simon will and other locations around Fitzcarraldo, his of how the two musical Leibrecht and David Silberberg. They fondly including the British Academy Award-winning join us for conversation after each of the Northern California, was selected epic and star- forms influenced, and were say they graduated from the “Les Blank feature documentary, Burden of Dreams. She screenings to share stories, insights and in 2004 for preservation in the crossed film about influenced by, one another School of Filmmaking.” Blank also produced was variously Co-Filmmaker, Editor, Sound perhaps a few guests. In addition to their United States’ National Film Registry a man’s obsessive while maintaining their distinct several films with Bay Area roots music record Recordist, Assistant, and Distribution Manager. films with Les Blank, this year’s Sebastopol by the Library of Congress as effort to build an identities. And what a party it is! producer, Chris Strachwitz, the subject of a She directed and produced Blossoms of Fire Documentary Film Festival also features being “culturally, historically, or opera house in the With non-stop music from such film in the festival. (Intrepidas Productions 2000) and is currently the team’s recent film on Chris Strachwitz aesthetically significant.” The jungle. One of the most greats as Clifton Chenier, Queen Ida, We are fortunate to welcome Maureen producing a film in West Africa, Bamako Chic, and Arhoolie Records, This Ain’t No Mouse film takes a loose, free-wheeling remarkable documentaries ever Rockin’ Sidney, Michael Doucet and many Gosling, Chris Simon, Gina Leibrecht and Chris with Maxine Downs. Music. Gosling’s work as Editor can also be approach to the “stinking rose” made about the making of a more, you will indeed want to go to the Strachwitz to 2015 SDFF. While a student Chris Simon moved next door to Blank seen in Racing to Zero. Gina Leibrecht will be as a tasty seasoning but also as movie, Burden of Dreams gives dance. In Marc and Ann Savoy, the filmmakers of Social Anthropology at the University of when she was a graduate student in Folklore. present for the Sneak Preview of Les’ final a symbol for traditional ways of us an extraordinary portrait of found a unique and enchanting couple who Michigan in 1971, Gosling discovered Blank She learned filmmaking on the job, first work on Friday night. life. Ultimately, both films are just Herzog trapped in his obsessive deserved a film of their own. Who knew plain fun! pursuit of his art. history could be so much fun!
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112 Weddings 1971 20,000 Days on Earth James LeBrecht – Sound Designer USA, 2014, 95 minutes USA, 2014, 80 minutes UK, 2014, 97 minutes Director: Doug Block Director: Johanna Hamilton Director: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard n 1996, award-winning sound designer James LeBrecht launched Berkeley Sound For the past two decades, docu- Before WikiLeaks, before Edward 20,000 Days On Earth is an inventive, Artists, a full-service post-production sound company. Since that time, BSA has mentary filmmaker Doug Block has Snowden, there was the The Citizens’ lyrical ode to creativity and an intimate established itself as the “go-to” audio house for documentary and independent I helped to support himself as a wed- Commission to Investigate the FBI. On examination of the artistic process of filmmakers. Berkeley Sound’s extensive documentary film portfolio includes Academy ding videographer. In that time, he’s March 8, 1971 they broke into a small musician and cultural icon Nick Cave. Award™ winner The Blood of Yingzhou District, Daughter from Danang, We Were Here, learned a lot about what goes into FBI office, took every file, and shared In their debut feature, directors Iain The Devil and Daniel Johnston, The Barber of Birmingham, The Waiting Room, The Kill getting married. Now he looks into them with the American public. These Forsyth & Jane Pollard fuse drama and Team, and The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. what goes into staying married, as he actions exposed COINTELPRO, the documentary, weaving a staged day Have you ever noticed how the references we use about movies are visual? interviews some of the couples years FBI’s illegal surveillance program that in Cave’s life with never-before-seen Spend a couple of hours with Jim as he “opens our eyes” to behind-the-scenes audio later, juxtaposing rapturous wedding involved the intimidation of law-abid- verité observation of his creative cycle. magic that can make all the difference between watching and experiencing what’s day flashbacks with remarkably candid ing Americans and helped lead to the Neither music doc nor concert film, happening on screen. Whether you’re a seasoned filmmaker or just love the movies, you’ll present-day interviews. You will laugh, country’s first Congressional investi- this category-defying film pushes find this an “enlightening” experience. cry, squirm and sigh: Happily Ever After gation of U.S. intelligence agencies. the form into new territory, exploring Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, 2:00 p.m. is complicated. Never caught, forty-three years later, universal themes about artistry and these everyday Americans – parents, celebrating the transformative power Advanced ticketing is recommended. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #1, 4:15 p.m. teachers and citizens – publicly reveal of the creative spirit. themselves for the first time and share Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #1, their story. 7:00 p.m. Friday, March 27, SCA Little Red Hen, 7:00 p.m. SPOTLIGHT ON SYRIA
nspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, the Syrian People took to Ithe streets in March 2011. The city of Homs became the flashpoint of the rebellion and became a city After Auschwitz Almost Friends Almost There under siege for over three years as Germany, Poland, 2014, 19 minutes Israel, 2014, 60 minutes USA, 2014, 93 minutes the Syrian Army turned Homs to Director: Jan Sobotka Director: Nitzan Ofir Director: Dan Rybicky and Aaron rubble. Wickendon SDFF proudly presents two Each year more than 1.5 million A school program aims at fostering films that trace this devastation people travel to Auschwitz to visit the friendships between Israeli Jewish A coming-of-old-age story about and show the ugliness of war former Nazi concentration and exter- and Arab youngsters. Only 50 miles Peter Anton, living in isolated and from those on the ground. 2014 mination camp. For future generations separates the two schools, but a vast dangerously squalid conditions, whose Sundance Jury Prize winner Return more than one hundred thousand national, cultural and ideological abyss world changes when two filmmak- to Homs follows one vocal leader historical objects have to be preserved also separates the students. Two young ers discover his art. Filmed over eight turned armed resistance fighter as carefully piece by piece. Medita- girls meet and experience a chemistry years, it’s a wild ride as one twist after you watch the crumbling of Homs over tively watching the conservation work that seems to bridge the gap. This film another unfolds against a background the three years he was followed. This reveals the ephemeral nature of the is a deft and succinct presentation of of eye-popping art. This film is about is then contrasted with our second film, objects and offers an opportunity to the basis of continuing conflict among outsider art, the elderly, mental illness, Silvered Water, made by “1,001 filmmakers” as a reflect on the content and the future of Jews and Arabs on a small scale and ethics in documentary filmmaking, montage and witness to the human rights abuses the cultural memory after Auschwitz. personal level, but with politics as the the selfless spirit of caring people, the and horrors of war made in collaboration by an exiled Syrian Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #1, subtext. importance of regular home mainte- filmmaker and Kurdish activist embedded in Homs. 4:30 p.m. Sunday, March 29, SCA Brent Auditorium, nance, the role pets play in people’s lives -- and a few other things. Features graphic war footage that will shock the sensitivity 3:45 p.m. of some viewers. Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #1, 12:45 p.m. Return to Homs, Saturday, March 28, SCA Brent Auditorium, 4:30 p.m. Silvered Water, Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 1:15 p.m.
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Autism in Love Beyond the Divide The Bladesmiths Cab City Cast in India A Composer USA, 2012, 8 minutes USA, 2014, 83 minutes USA, 2014, 11 minutes USA, 2014, 22 minutes USA, India, 2014, 25 minutes Lebanon, 2014, 19 minutes Director: Michelle Friedline Director: Jan Selby Directors: Dru Carr & Ken Furrow Director: Rachel de Leon Director: Natasha Raheja Director: Daniel Kötter RV Kuser is a clever and dapper man In Missoula, Montana, a peace sign on Ruana knives are known in the indus- It’s the beginning of Uber, Lyft & Side- The ubiquitous and emblematic man- Daniel Kötter’s single take film A Com- of 50 with Autism Spectrum Disorder a hilltop becomes a divisive element try as some of the most well crafted car: new transportation choices that hole covers of New York City display poser documents a car ride with Leba- who has learned to mask the many in the community, but ultimately the blades in America. See the blades and compete directly with San Francisco’s NYC SEWER and MADE IN INDIA both nese composer Zad Moultaka as he limitations of his disability and func- two sides model what it means to one-of-a-kind handles being made 7,000 cab drivers. In typical speed-of- in large font. This is the backstory tells a 10-year-old-story about the time tion successfully in our neurotypical make real peace. Beautifully shot, well up close, by hand, and exactly as they light geek endeavors, these services behind the making of these modern he was threatened for using the word world. But his triumph comes at a cost: researched and told with strength and have been for over 75 years in this are far ahead of regulators. Most estab- city icons in a primitive factory in India “Israel” in one of his compositions. he can act neurotypical, but for only heart, Beyond the Divide shows how family run shop. This is a genuine story lished cabbies are gripped in fear for using centuries old sand-casting tech- The tension builds as he drives both a limited time before regressing into real dialogue between two factions of a deep family tradition, rooted in their livelihoods. The “new tech” drivers niques. Told without narrative this film somewhere and nowhere and tells the a more genuine version of himself he who are miles apart in ideology can old-fashioned Montana history. love it. It’s an income stream based on gives a unique and intimate view of a tale of secret police, intimidation, and says he really is at his core. His sharp lead to understanding on both sides. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, market opportunities from curbside third world factory. artistic censorship. The claustrophobia transformation is truly unforgettable. Sunday, March 29, SCA Little Red Hen, 9:30 p.m. up, not regulators’ management. It Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, of the car and its endless turns mirror Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #1, 3:30 p.m. couldn’t be more topical as we sort 9:30 p.m. the encroaching doom of the story. 4:15 p.m. through changing ways. Sunday, March 29, SCA Brent Auditorium, Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 3:45 p.m. 4:45 p.m.
Born to Fly Boxeadora Burden of Dreams Cotton Road Counting the Dead David & Me USA, 2014, 83 minutes USA, 2014, 16 minutes USA, 1982, 95 minutes USA, 2014, 73 minutes Director: Catharine Axley USA, 2014, 69 minutes Director: Catherine Gund Director: Meg Smaker Director: Les Blank, Sound Recordist/ Director: Laura Kissel USA 7 minutes Directors: Ray Klonsky & Marc Lamy Editor: Maureen Gosling Elizabeth Streb and the STREB Ex- Cuba has won more Olympic gold This sweeping examination of the Not too much was made of the body When David McCallum, a 16 year treme Action Company form a motley medals in boxing than any other Burden of Dreams is a chilling but global cotton industry goes from count from the ‘06 San Francisco earth- old from Brooklyn, was tried and troupe of flyers and crashers that chal- country in the world. With more than finely balanced account of what might planting seed in rural South Carolina quake until Gladys Hansen, a retired SF convicted for kidnapping, robbery lenges the assumptions of art, aging, 19,000 male boxers, female boxing is ordinarily be considered artistic folly: to the factories of China and back to librarian realized that the deaths were and murder, filmmaker Ray Klonsky injury, gender, and human possibility. banned and nonexistent on the island. German filmmaker Werner Herzog’s the US retail market, examining all the largely unrecorded. Chinese deaths, wasn’t even born. But when he heard Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity Boxeadora follows Namibia, a Cuban obsession to complete the painfully globalization problems along the way. for example, went almost entirely David’s story and found the evidence traces the evolution of Streb’s move- woman who has been training in plagued jungle shooting of Fitzcarral- The lives and livelihoods of the people uncounted. This is the story of Ms. Han- leading to his 25-years-to-life sentence ment philosophy as she pushes herself secret as a boxer for five years, hoping do. The obvious irony running in this vast transnational system are sen’s efforts to discover who perished was questionable, Ray vowed to find and her performers from the ground the government would lift its ban. Now through Burden of Dreams is that creat- explored. More than just interesting and set the historical record straight. the evidence that would vindicate to the sky and offers a breathtaking 38, she only has two years left of box- ing the movie Fitzcarraldo proved just journalism, this story is beautifully Saturday, March 28, SCA Brent Auditorium, him. David & Me is an emotional story tale about the necessity of art while ing eligibility. Journey with Namibia as as dubious and perilous an enterprise filmed and scored. 2:15 p.m. about friendship, perseverance and an inspiring audiences hungry for a more she tries to leave the island to follow as the one on which it was based. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #3, unwavering belief in justice. tactile and fierce existence in the her only dream: to compete as a boxer. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #3, 11:15 a.m. Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, world. Saturday, March 28, SCA Brent Auditorium, 6:45 p.m. 7:15 p.m. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #1, 7:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m.
8 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 9 15F ILM S 15F ILM S
Do You Believe Dryden F-Line Garlic is as Good as Gignéville Glance Up in Love? USA, 2014, 12 minutes USA, 2014, 9 minutes Ten Mothers Germany, 2014, 8 minutes Spain, 2014, 60 minutes Director: Chris Jordan-Bloch Director: Silvia Turchin Director: Christopher Stöeckle Director: Enric Ribes and Oriol Mar- Israel, 2013, 60 minutes USA, 1980, 51 minutes tinez Director: Dan Wasserman Dryden is the story of the small town The F-line train is an old abandoned Director: Les Blank, Sound Recordist/ Gignéville is the sweet story of star- that changed the fracking game. Resi- wreck. All trains here are in various Editor: Maureen Gosling crossed love found after the end of the Joan Pahisa lives in Catalonia, Spain. Matchmaker Tova is a character for dents were told they had no choice stages of decay, rust, and dismem- Second World War when a million Ger- He likes to play ping pong and basket- the ages, joined by a cast of equally but to sign their rights away to the berment; havens for strays, reservoir This cinematic song in praise of the man soldiers worked as prisoners of ball. This would be perfectly ordinary colorful co-stars: her Nepalese refugee fracking company. Instead they started of parts. Does this train come to life glories of garlic is a foray into the war in France. Relationships between except for one detail: he’s exactly one caregiver, her crusty but adoring a homegrown campaign to keep the every night in the junkyard or is it just history, consumption, cultivation, and German soldiers and French women meter tall. With outsized determina- husband, her apprentice matchmaker industry out. Dryden is an inspiring dreaming of the past? Using one route culinary and curative powers of allium were persecuted, but the filmmaker’s tion, Joan puts together Team Europe daughter, and a steady stream of tale of local politics as practiced by as focus, images of old routes dance in sativum. Featuring appearances by a grandfather fell in love with a French to compete at the 2014 World Dwarf hopeful clients. Tova and many of her the townspeople in the best American color and sound. This is a playful explo- host of passionate garlic lovers includ- girl during his work as a prisoner. Over Olympics. Despite pain and disabil- clients are disabled, and perhaps be- tradition. ration of the trolley car graveyard. ing Alice Waters at her Chez Panisse sixty years later he talks about the ity, Joan lives a more ambitious and cause of that, her approach to love is restaurant in Berkeley, and plenty of events for the first time. fulfilling life and has more accomplish- pragmatic above all. Still she declares, Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #1, Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #4, lively music as only Les Blank can de- 3:15 p.m. 4:45 p.m. ments than most people of any size. “I have made over 550 matches, and liver. You’ll be amazed at the hundreds Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #1, 11:30 a.m. Get ready to challenge your precon- I am certain that has earned me my of uses to which that pungent herb ceived ideas of what is “normal”, and place in heaven.” can be put. get ready to smile. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #1, Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 11:30 a.m. 4:45 p.m. 1:45 p.m.
First Clue Freak Gap-Toothed Women A Hole in the Sky How to Change In Port USA, 2014, 6 minutes Australia, 2013, 3 minutes USA, 1987, 31 minutes Somalia, Spain, 2013, 10 minutes the World USA, 2014, 10 minutes Director: Susan Sullivan Director: Siobhan Costigan A film by Les Blank, Maureen Gosling, Director: Àlex Lora, Antonio Tibaldi Director: Catherine Axley Chris Simon and Susan Kell UK, 2015, 110 minutes “What was the first clue that you Kids can’t wait to play with lipstick, Young Alifa looks up at the Somali Director: Jerry Rothwell The lonely life of container ship sea- were a lesbian?” The answers are wonky haircuts, paint and hero ac- A charming valentine to women who sky. She thinks about her daily life as men is broken up briefly by short trips playful and poignant prequels to their coutrements. It’s all about trying on have only one thing in common: a gap a shepherdess and knows that the Beautifully crafted from a wealth of ashore. A few hours spent at Kmart or “coming out” stories. A diverse group “somebody else” ... a playful exercise between their front teeth. Ranging day that will change her life forever is never-before-seen archival footage, the welcome center are all that punc- of 21 women appear in this charm- that usually ends at dinner call. Eric from lighthearted whimsy to a deeper about to come. How to Change the World chronicles tuate months at sea without family. ing and upbeat short film revealing Sprague decided to craft his body into look at issues like self-esteem and the adventures of an eclectic group This is the human side of international Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, of young pioneers – Canadian hippie their earliest intuitions that they knew, another being. societal attitudes toward standards of 11:45 a.m. container shipping. Filmed locally at and delighted in, who they were and beauty, the filmmakers interviewed journalists, photographers, musicians, the port of Oakland. Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, scientists, and American draft dodgers before they were ever told otherwise. 11:45 a.m. over one hundred women. As Roger – who set out to stop atomic bomb Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #3, Ebert said, “As we witness the parade 11:15 a.m. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #3, tests in Amchitka, Alaska, and ended 4:30 p.m. of women, and gaps, a peculiar process takes place. At first, we see only the up creating Greenpeace. With cameras gaps. Toward the end, we see only the in hand and a belief in the power of women.” images to change the world, the group transcended the personality clashes of Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, its members to undertake some of the 4:45 p.m. bravest and most significant environ- mental protests in history. Thursday, March 26, SCA Brent Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.
10 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 11 ® Rialto Cinemas SEBASTOPOL CENTER FOR THE ARTS Rialto Cinemas® Rialto Cinemas® Rialto Cinemas® SCA Robert Brent SCA Little Red Hen Theater #1 Theater #3 Theater #4 Auditorium 15SCH E DU LE F ILM 15 THURSDAY March 26 THURSDAY March 26 SP 7pm OPENING NIGHT: 7pm 7-9:30 pm 8pm How to Change the World 8pm Peter R. Harris 9pm 9pm Attorney
FRIDAY March 27 FRIDAY March 27 707-829-5067
SP [email protected] 4pm Peer Pitch 10am-4pm Friday. 4pm 4:30-6 pm 4:15-5:55 pm Sebastopol Center for the Arts 5pm Life After Death / The Last Season 4:45-6:20 pm 5pm After Auschwitz Lada / Wallas on Velos / 6pm F Line / Cab City 6pm
7pm LB 6:45-8:20 pm 7pm 7-8:30 pm 7:15-8:30 pm Tough Love 7:15-9 pm 7-8:45 pm Sneak Preview TBA 8pm Meet the Patels 1971 / The Silly Bastard 8pm Next to the Bed 9pm 9pm 9:30-11:15 pm Friday Kirk / Los Olvidados/ Tracing SATURDAY March 28 Roots /Unstill Lives SATURDAY March 28 11am 11am 11:30-12:45 pm 11:15-1 pm 11:45-1pm Noon Do You Believe in Cotton Road / In Port 11:30-1:15 11:45-1:15 pm On Beauty / Noon Love? / Gignéville Olga - To My On Her Own Friends / Unwinding A Hole in the Sky / Mestizo/ 1pm Freak / Under My Skin 1pm 2pm 2pm SP Special Program 1:45-3:40 pm SP 2-3:45 pm 2-3:30 pm 2:15-3:30 pm Glance Up / 2:15-3:35 pm Sound Design with Born to Fly Old South / Pie Lady of Pie Town Racing to Zero / 3pm Jim LeBrecht 3pm LB Les Blank Tribute Solitary Plains Counting the Dead 4pm 4pm 4:15-6:15 pm SP 4:30-6:05 pm 4:30-6:15 pm LB 5pm 112 Weddings / 4:45-6:10 pm 4:45-6:25 pm 5pm Autism in Love Kumu Hina / Return to Homs First Clue Mimi & Dona Gap-toothed Women / 6pm Garlic is as Good as 6pm Venues Ten Mothers 7pm LB 6:45 -9 pm 7pm Rialto 7-8:30 pm 7 -8:40 pm Burden of Dreams / 7:15-8:40 pm 7:15-8:45 pm Cinemas® Sepideh / Boxeadora 8pm 20,000 Days on Earth Werner Herzog Eats his Shoe Walking Under Water David & Me / Murder 8pm 6868 McKinley St. Ballad of James Jones Sebastopol 9pm 9pm 1101 Gravenstein Hwy. So., Sebastopol 9:30-11 pm Saturday www.winecountryfi.com 707-525-4840 Tommy! / The Bladesmiths/ SUNDAY March 29 Cast in India / Nae Pasaran SUNDAY March 29 707-829-6677 Noon Noon Sebastopol Center for 1pm 12:45-2:40 pm LB 1pm 1 -2:45 pm SP 1-2:30 pm the Arts Almost There / 1:15-2:30 pm Wine Shop This Ain’t No Mouse Music 1:15-3 pm States of Grace 282 S. High St. 2pm This is Not the End Silvered Water Little Land 2pm Tasting Bar Sebastopol Art Gallery 3pm 3pm Shop 707-829-4797 Online 3:15-5 pm 3:30-5:10 pm 4pm 3:30-5 pm LB 3:45-6 pm 3:45-5:10 pm 4pm 24/7! Oil & Water / Dryden Waiting for August Beyond the Divide J’ai Été au Bal/ Almost Friends / 5pm Marc & Ann A Composer 5pm 125 N Main St Sebastopol 707-823-5200 the-wine-emporium.com 6pm 6pm
12 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 13 15F ILM S 15F ILM S
J’ai Été au Bal Kirk Kumu Hina Little Land Los Olvidados Marc & Ann USA, 1989, 84 minutes USA, 2014, 31 minutes USA, 2014, 77 minutes Greece, 2013, 52 minutes Director: David Feldman USA, 1991, 27 minutes A film by Les Blank, Chris Strachwitz Director: Ashley James Director: Dean Hamer & Joe Wilson Director: Nikos Dayandas USA, 2014, 12 minutes A film by Les Blank, Maureen Gosling and Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling Art in motion is celebrated in Kirk, During a momentous year in her life As unemployment soars, a group Mexican American Artist Ramiro Go- When music sleuth Chris Strachwitz a half-hour film portrait of the great in modern Honolulu, Hina Wong-Kalu, of young Athenians seek refuge in a mez attempts to capture the Mexican This short film delves directly into took his filmmaker friends to French kinetic sculptor, Jerome Kirk. Initially a native Hawaiian mahu, or transgen- back-to-the-land effort on the island immigrant experience by locating his the heart of Cajun country to portray a Southwest Louisiana, they came back influenced by Alexander Calder, David der person, teacher uses traditional of Ikaria, where people typically live to artwork in authentic environments couple dedicated to the preservation with this exuberant tribute to the Smith and Harry Bertoia, Kirk’s work culture to inspire a student to claim be 100. With touches of gentle humor, along the border. He relates both his of Louisiana French culture. Marc is toe-tapping, foot-stomping Cajun and transcends those masters and sets her place as leader of the school’s and scenery of bucolic splendor, this own personal stories and those of the an irreverent storyteller and accor- Creole music, culture and history, and entirely new standards in kinetic sculp- all-male hula troupe. But despite her slice-of-life portrait of Greece presents immigrants as he creates and places dion maker; his wife Ann is musician, some truly unforgettable characters. ture. The film documents Kirk’s work, success as a teacher, Hina longs for the lessons they are learning: that not his art. This film follows the artist as mother of four and author of the book You’re guaranteed to leave the theater his artistic process and captures more love and a committed relationship. Will self-reliance but rather mutual support he uses his work to document those Cajun Music: Reflection of a People. in a better mood. than sixty of his works while chroni- her marriage to a headstrong Tongan is essential for livelihood; that to be stories. Currently touring and recording as The Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #4, cling the passion and commitment man fulfill her dreams? An incredible satisfied with “enough” is what makes Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #4, Savoy Family Band with two of their 3:45 p.m. that can follow one artist throughout film that unfolds like a narrative film, for a long and happy life; and that the 9:30 p.m. sons who were very young children at a lifetime. Kumu Hina reveals a side of Hawai’i Ikarian secret is increasingly relevant the time of this film, the Savoy family Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #4, rarely seen on screen. to us all. of today is featured in This Ain’t No 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #3, Sunday, March 29, SCA Little Red Hen, Mouse Music. 4:30 p.m. 1:15 p.m. Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 3:45 p.m.
Lada The Last Season Life After Death Meet the Patels Mestizo Mimi and Dona Russia, 2013, 18 minutes USA, 2014, 81 minutes Rwanda, USA, 2014, 75 minutes USA, 2014, 98 minutes USA, 2014, 10 minutes USA, 2014, 65 minutes Director: Dieter Deswarte Director: Sara Dosa Director: Joe Callander Director: Geeta Patel, Ravi Patel Director: Talon Gonzalez Director: Sophie Sartain A movie about an iconic vehicle and Amid the bustling world of Central Kwasa was orphaned in the Rwanda Meet the Patels is a laugh-out-loud What Is Your Race? The film explores What happens when love runs out its last remaining drivers, Lada takes Oregon’s wild mushroom hunting genocide. Now 21, a bevy of well- real life romantic comedy about Ravi this question from the perspective of of time? Filmmaker Sartain’s grand- you on a Russian journey exploring camps, the lives of two former soldiers meaning benefactors struggle to sup- Patel, an almost-30-year-old Indian- young people of mixed background. mother Mimi has always cared for her people’s affinity to a vehicle that is intersect. Roger, a 75-year-old sniper port him, but he is a lost soul. Taking a American who enters a love triangle Unusual graphic techniques are used intellectually disabled daughter, Dona. considered one of the worst in the with the US Special Forces in Viet- hard look at the legacy of a destroyed between the woman of his dreams ... to punctuate their essays, which are They’re a wonderfully quirky and world. A humorous and intimate film nam, and Kouy, a 46-year-old platoon and traumatized upbringing, this film and his parents. Fresh out of a breakup insightful and demonstrate a youthful deeply connected mother-daughter told from behind the steering wheel. leader of Cambodia’s Khmer Freedom asks the question: Can Westerners with with his American girlfriend, Ravi is attitude on race. The film ends with a duo. But now Mimi must face the fact Lada was made as part of the Russian Fighters who battled the brutal Khmer their well-meaning aid come to the desperate to find love and is willing moving poem about the essence of that she won’t outlive her daugh- Filmmaking Experience “Cinetrain” Rouge, come together each fall to hunt rescue? With distinctive camera-work, to do whatever it takes. Filmed by this issue. ter. Family relationships and issues where seven filmmakers embarked the elusive matsutake mushroom, compositional craft and color, and bril- Ravi’s sister in what started as a fam- Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, of caregiving get a clear-eyed and on a journey through Russia each mak- prized in Japanese culture and cuisine. liant editing, this film rarely strays from ily vacation video, this hilarious and 11:45 a.m. compassionate treatment, as Sartain ing their own film about a different However, the pair discover more than an observational mode meant to spark heartbreaking film reveals how love is uses her insider’s access to document Russian stereotype. Lada was shot in just mushrooms in the woods: they serious conversation, without spelling a family affair. the poignant ripple effects of Dona’s different cars while travelling from find a new life and a means to slowly out for us what to conclude. Friday, March 27, SCA Brent Auditorium, disability on three generations with Murmansk to Siberia. heal the scarring wounds of war. Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #1, 7:15 p.m. humor and great grace. Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #4, Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #3, 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 4:45 p.m. 4:15 p.m. 4:45 p.m.
14 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 15 15F ILM S 15F ILM S
The Murder Ballad Nae Pasaran Oil & Water On Her Own Pie Lady of Pie Town Racing to Zero of James Jones UK, 2013, 14 mins USA, Ecuador, 2014, 78 minutes USA, 2015, 80 minutes USA, 2014, 28 minutes USA, 2014, 59 minutes Director: Felipe Bustos Sierra Director: Francine Strickwerda & Director: Morgan Schmidt-Feng Director: Jane Rosemont Director: Christopher Beaver USA, 2014, 4 minutes Laurel Spellman Smith Director: Jesse Kreitzer In the small Scottish town of East On Her Own tells the story of Sonoma Why did a successful Dallas business- Three years ago the mayor of San Kilbride in 1974, factory workers Filmed both in America and Ecuador, County native Nancy Prebilich and her woman leave her charmed life to bake Francisco pledged to achieve zero In 1993, Chicago bluesman and refuse to carry out repairs on Chilean this is the story of the unlikely meeting family as they struggle to save their pie in a remote dusty town with no waste by 2020. Racing To Zero shows Howlin’ Wolf protégé James “Tail Drag- warplane engines in an act of solidar- of two young men who are taking 5th generation farm during the recent gas station, no motel and no grocery how The City’s trail of trash is being ger” Jones murdered fellow musician ity against the violent military coup in on the oil companies in the Ecua- recession. When both of Nancy’s store? For Kathy Knapp, pie equals used, recycled, turned into new re- Boston Blackie during an on-stage Chile. Three of the former aircraft en- dorean Amazon. One is an American parents suddenly pass away, Nancy love. She serves peace with each piece sources, and reduced to virtually zero. performance. Two decades later, James gine workers reunite for the first time educated, Cofan Indian whose tribe’s and her extended family fight to stay to curious tourists and local charac- Watch the filmmakers investigate the shared his story. A first hand account since their retirement to hold their very existence is threatened by the oil afloat in the face of loss and finan- ters alike. Welcome to Pie Town, New process and see the great discovery of a violent personal history. transformed, personal memories up fields that surrounds it. One is a college cial instability. Chronicling Nancy’s Mexico. The name is no joke. that transformed a culture, produced a Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, against the cold facts of dusty archive student whose trip to the Amazon personal journey over a 5-year span, Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, wealth of new industries, and revealed 7:15 p.m. documents. Forty years later, they look inspired him to become a full time this extraordinary story explores the 1:45 p.m. an intriguing and surprising ongoing back on what was gained and what activist on rainforest oil issues. roles that history and ancestry play race. See how Zero Waste is more than was lost. Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #1, in our present-day lives, asking: what an idealist’s dream, but an achievable Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 3:15 p.m. happens when the cost of preserving goal that is being accomplished in San 9:30 p.m. family heritage is the family itself? Francisco. Saturday, March 28, SCA Brent Auditorium, Saturday, March 28, SCA Brent Auditorium, 11:30 a.m. 2:15 p.m.
Old South Olga – To My Friends On Beauty Return to Homs Sepideh The Silly Bastard USA, 2015, 54 minutes Russia, 2014, 58 minutes USA, 2014, 31 minutes Syria, 2014, 87 mins Netherlands, Iran, 2013, 87 minutes Next to the Bed Director: Danielle Beverly Director: Paul-Anders Simma Director: Joanna Rudnick Director: Talal Derki Director: Berit Madsen USA, 2014, 8 minutes In a black neighborhood, in Athens, Gorgeously shot in the cold and On Beauty follows fashion photogra- World Cinema Grand Jury Prize win- In conservative Iranian culture, Director: Scott Calonico GA, a very white, very Confederate lonely Lapland region of Russia, Olga pher Rick Guidotti, who left the fashion ner at Sundance, Return to Homs is the unaccustomed to such girlish notions, flag flying fraternity moves in. What – To My Friends tells the quiet story world when he grew frustrated with story of Basset, the vocal leader of the Sepideh dreams to be an astronaut. The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed is a happens next may surprise you, but of Olga, alone on the Russian tundra having to work within the restrictive residents of Homs, Syria. Starting as a This young woman is genuine. Without documentary short about one of the maybe it shouldn’t. Since the post- guarding a store of canned provisions parameters of the industry’s standard leader of peaceful protests and sing- rebelling, by day she maneuvers a path funniest calls ever made from the Oval racial glow of the Obama election, for the reindeer-herdsmen. Simma of beauty. After a chance encounter ing rallying cries he is forced to make through cultural and religious restric- Office. In July of 1963, the Washing- and now in the aftermath of Ferguson, lets the quiet Olga tell her stories with a young woman who had the choices that seemed unthinkable at tions; by night, she explores the secrets ton Post printed an article about the everyone’s talking about race. Sending and shows the solitary, vulnerable life genetic condition albinism, Rick re- the beginning of the film, becoming a of the universe. Air Force’s $5,000 refurbishing of a a powerful message about commu- she leads in this forbidding place of focused his lens on those too often war weary soldier determined to fight hospital room for the First Lady. The Saturday, March 28, SCA Brent Auditorium, President blew a gasket when he nity and hope, one block in Athens unending snow, encroaching men and relegated to the shadows to change an unwinnable war or die as a martyr. 7:00 p.m. affords us a window into the underly- real possibility of losing the only home the way we see and experience With cameras on the ground captur- saw the story, picked up the phone, ing dynamics of race relations in the she’s ever known. beauty. Rick’s photos challenge both ing the war first hand, we watch the and immediately dialed an Air Force changing American South, and how to mainstream media’s narrow scope of city crumble over the three years they general at the Pentagon. The resulting Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, conversation was captured for poster- take crucial steps forward. 11:45 a.m. beauty and the dehumanizing black- followed Basset. bar convention of medical textbooks. ity by the White House telephone Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #3, Saturday, March 28, SCA Brent Auditorium, taping system. 2:15 p.m. Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, 4:30 p.m. 11:45 a.m. Friday, March 27, SCA Little Red Hen, 7:00 p.m.
16 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 17 15F ILM S 15F ILM S
Silvered Water Solitary Plains States of Grace Tough Love Tracing Roots Under My Skin Syria, France, 2014, 92 minutes USA, 2014, 10 minutes USA, 2014, 75 minutes USA, 2014, 83 minutes USA, 2014, 31 minutes USA, 2014, 15 minutes Directors: Ossama Mohammed & Director: Christian Jensen Directors: Mark Lipman & Helen S. Director: Stephanie Wang-Breal Director: Ellen Frankenstein Directors: Alex Ivany, James Parker, Wiam Simav Bedirxan Kevin Wolf, & Samantha Schoenberg A lonely boy in the middle of a cruel Cohen SDFF Alum Stephanie Wang-Breal Tracing Roots is a heartfelt glimpse From his forced exile in France, film- North Dakota winter muses about the After surviving a near-fatal head-on (Wo Ai Ni Mommy) returns with her into the world of Haida elder and mas- When a star high school athlete is maker Ossama Mohammad strikes oil boom that has drawn his father collision on the Golden Gate Bridge, a new film, Tough Love, giving audiences ter weaver Delores Churchill. The film is severely burned in a school science an unlikely online collaboration with and thousands of others to America’s revered HIV/AIDS physician, Dr. Grace a rare look at the inner workings of the a portrait infused with her passion and experiment, his identity is shattered. As Kurdish activist Simav Bedirxan, who Northern Plains in search of work. Dammann, struggles to come to terms American child welfare system. Chroni- curiosity. It is also a mystery. Tracing he recovers he initially enjoys some ce- makes a life endangering decision to Solitary Plains is a stand-alone vignette with her injuries and discover new cling the lives of two parents fighting Roots follows Delores on her journey lebrity, but ultimately feels lost, until he smuggle a camera to the besieged from the Oscar nominated short White meaning in her radically altered life. to be reunited with children taken out to uncover the origins of a spruce begins to find a new identity through city of Homs, Syria. Drawn from 21st Earth, and is a return to SDFF for direc- Her longtime partner cares for her and of their custody – one in Seattle and root hat found in a retreating glacier his music. century technology: YouTube videos tor Jensen. their disabled teenage daughter as the one in New York City, Wang-Breal’s in- in the Northern Canada. Her search Saturday, March 28, SCA Little Red Hen, of horrors in Syria, cell phone cameras Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #3, family embarks on a journey of loss, timate, verité footage of both families to understand the roots of the woven 11:45 a.m. with unfriendly aspect ratios and elec- 2:15 p.m. resilience, and renewal. unveils the struggle to appease the hat crosses cultures and borders, and tronic sounds of Skype calls, the result Sunday, March 29, SCA Brent Auditorium, bureaucracy of America’s family courts involves artists, scholars and scientists. of their collaboration is a masterpiece 1:00 p.m. and the oft-overlooked role that social The documentary raises questions that stands witness to the power of workers, lawyers, and parent advocates about understanding and interpreting cinema in the face of war. play in reuniting families. ownership, knowledge and connec- Features graphic war footage that will Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #3, tion. shock the sensitivity of some viewers. 6:45 p.m. Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #4, Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 9:30 p.m. 1:15 p.m.
This Ain’t No This is Not the End Tommy! Unstill Lives Unwinding Waiting for August Mouse Music USA, 2014, 6 minutes USA, 2014, 31 minutes Australia, 2014, 10 minutes Ireland, 2013, 5 minutes Belgium, Romania, 2014, 88 minutes Director: Hilary Campbell Director: Rodrigo Dorfman Director: Daz Chandler Director: Carl Dixon Director: Teodora Ann Mihai USA, 2014, 92 minutes Director: Maureen Gosling A young woman documents the Tommy is autistic and 40 years old. The Refugee Art Project was founded Glenda Powell won the 2006 World Liliana is forced to leave her family recent history of her family through He’s in a group home, sings in a choir by artists and academics united by Championship for Distance Casting. in Romania for work in Italy to sup- In the 1960s Chris Strachwitz began handmade signs. The more signs we and works at the Goodwill store. This their concern for the plight of refugees All the rivers that she has fished since port her family. Her six children, aged a relentless quest to track down and see, the more secrets are revealed. isn’t a story of overcoming adversity stuck in Australian detention centers. childhood are etched into her memory. 6 to 16, live by themselves in a tiny record the best of American roots This is a documentary that plays like a and despair. This is Tommy living his The collective runs weekly art classes She recalls her late father and finding apartment. She won’t return until the music. Strachwitz traveled to wher- personal essay, a wholly original and life to full capacity. No stereotypes inside these security facilities. During solace on the river after he died. Now summer. During her mom’s absence, ever the music took him. His record deeply felt take on the form. here. He’s funny, wise and endear- this process, extraordinary talents have she prefers to teach on the Blackwater Georgiana, the eldest, is head of the label Arhoolie Records revolutionized ing. This is a very sweet film about an been uncovered and a true passion for River in Ireland rather than compete. family. Turning 16 this winter, we see the sound of popular music; and his Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #1, 12:45 p.m. enthusiastic guy who gets a chance art awakened. Alongside the trauma of Life on the water and the beautiful her adolescence cut short by respon- later collaborations with filmmakers to sing Sinatra with a big band and incarceration and the endless anguish places she has fished have brought sibilities. Phone conversations with brought these musicians to the screen. swinging jazz as a bonus. stemming from living in a state of per- contentment. Mom are her only lifeline. Unfettered His obsessive collecting leads us into manent limbo, for many detainees, art by the filmmakers’ presence, we’re part the musical soul of America and right Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 9:30 p.m. is the only dependable source of com- 11:45 a.m. of an intimate family journey always into the very DNA of rock’n’roll. fort and an outlet for self-expression. aware of the fragility of their daily Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #3, Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #4, balance. 1:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. Sunday, March 29, Rialto Cinemas® #3, 3:30 p.m.
18 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 19 THANK YOU
15F ILM S Kenneth A Zankel Foundation Rick Theis
Michal Alexander William & Wendy Cole Michael Litle & Spencer Sherman Wendy Cassel John Boland & Kathryn Fong Gail Kissin & Walking Under Water Wallas on Velos Werner Herzog James Carroll Larry Martin JoAnn Smith Germany, Poland, UK, 2014, Belgium, India, 2014, 22 minutes Eats His Shoe Barbara Hirschfeld & & Madeleine Waldman 77 minutes Director: Alton Valadares Robert Brent David Sussman Cynthi Stefenoni Director: Eliza Kubarska USA, 1980, 22 minutes Wild rides down busy streets: with a Director: Les Blank, Sound Recordist/ Michael & On the edge of the Sulu and Celebes bike in Bombay, anyone can make a Editor: Maureen Gosling Stephen Bursch Jeffrey Kahn Cheryl Thomas Seas lives a tribe of ocean nomads: the living. The city is poor, people impover- Jean McGlothlin Badjao, master free divers and fisher- ished, yet these wallas ply their trades If Werner Herzog cooking and eating Rob & Cie Cary Coby LaFayette & men. This underwater documentary earning what they can to sustain life. his own shoe sounds crazy—it is! To Elaine & Donald Scully about the last days of the Borneo sea Precarious as it looks, their services are encourage his student and friend Errol Kevin Kelleher nomads is told through the touching vital threads in the fabric of their city’s Morris to finish his long-talked-about story of a young boy, a tired fisherman, daily life. Stunning photography of film, Herzog vowed that if and when it and their unique bond with the ocean. Mumbai and its surroundings. was ever completed he would eat his Amazing underwater footage of their shoe. The result is a rather touching Friday, March 27, Rialto Cinemas® #4, film about what artists do for the sake subsistence fishing life is juxtaposed 4:45 p.m. with the nearby tourist resort’s lure of of art. easy money and the painful trade-off Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #3, of being stuck on shore. 6:45 p.m. Saturday, March 28, Rialto Cinemas® #4, 7:15 p.m.
Award Finalists SDFF Members Sara Alexander Richard & Ron Marley Jim & Wendy Evans Sandy Shelton This year we will present Jury Awards to our Features Jon Allen Larry Martin Kat Anderson Rebecca Evert Iliani Matisse Allen Shumway best feature length and short documentaries Almost Friends Carlene Ferguson Elizabeth Ballard Suzanne Maxson Elissa Slanger representing the best in non-fiction filmmaking Kathy Fong Almost There Ron Bartholomew Kathleen & Vicki Smith being presented at the 2015 Sebastopol JP Furch Frank Mayhew Paul Berg Hilda Snum Documentary Film Festival. We are proud to David & Me Teresa Book Diana Glassman Carolyn McAleavy Susan Spencer announce our finalists for this year’s award Natalie Boothe Marcia Hart Marcia How to Change Mengelberg Cynthi Stefenoni ca that represent SDFF’s dedication to bringing Sharon Bouton Beth Hartmann the World James Metcalfe important, challenging, and artistic films to Maria Bragonier Linda Heath Patrick Stewart Dale Miller Sebastopol every year. Old South Steve Bursch Jeanne Hennessy Debra Stretch Barbara Hirschfeld Franny & Glenn William Carlsen Minervini-Zick Raini Sugg Barbara Iannoli Jurors Max Caruso Paul Munson Robert Swanson Carolyn Johnson Rob & Cie Cary Kathleen O’Shea Jean-Pierre Shorts Suman Kalanithi Feature Jury Simma Chester David & Sarah Ore Swennen Sharon Keating Sushrut Jain, Director Beyond All Boundaries, After Auschwitz Carolina Clare David Parkinson Rick Theis Fine Art Kevin Kelleher Design, Graphics, SDFF 2014 Programmers Award Barbara Coen Susan Parkinson Connie Kellogg Cheryl Thomas Logos & Illustration Photography Gignéville Terry & Janice & Othmar Jan Krawitz, Director Perfect Strangers, Joanne Dale Jane Kennedy Kathleen Torgerson A Hole in the Sky Peters SDFF 2014 Audience Award Arvada Darnell Prudence Kent Cheryl Pike Victoria Trautvetter Leah Warshawski, Director Finding Hillywood, Los Olvidados Kathryn Davy Helen Kwon Anne Richards Steve Vallarino SDFF 2014 Critics Award Karin Demarest Coby LaFayette Ellie Rilla-Laherty Madeleine Waldman Solitary Plains Sonya Derian Patrick Laherty William & David Walker Sally Lambert Kathleen Rueve Short Jury John & Christine Sara Winge Tracing Roots Dicker Lars Langberg Dalyla Sarlo Vivian Kleiman, Director Families are Forever, Michael Zander SDFF 2014 Audience Award Holly Downing Karin Lease Kate Schaffner Barbara Elliot Tiana Lee Don & Elaine Jeffrey Zankel Kalyanee Mam, Director A River Changes Course, Arlene Elster Suzanne & Scully Eeva & Wilfried Sundance 2013 World Cinema Jury Award Lilliana Llamado Daniel Shanahan Zimmerman Dennis Bolt (707) 829-3722 • [email protected] www.dennisbolt.com
20 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2015 www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org 707.829.4797 21 NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID SEBASTOPOL, CA 282 S. High St. Sebastopol, CA 95472 PERMIT #114 www.sebarts.org | 707. 829. 4797
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