Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival

Welcome to the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival

Sebastopol Center for the Arts is proud to present the second Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, March 6-8, 2009. We have an outstanding lineup of films, 26 features and 18 shorts that were selected from nearly 300 submissions from around the world.

Films will screen at five venues: Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol Cinemas, French Garden, Viva Culinary Institute, and Hopmonk Tavern. The weekend is packed with exceptional films, special programs and presentations, and filmmakers in attendance.

SDFF 2009 Award Winners

The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is very pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s festival awards:

Jury Award for Best Feature: Motherland, by Jennifer Steinman
Jury Award for Best Short: Bob’s Knee, by Michael Attie
Film Critics Award: School Play, by Eddie Rosenstein & Rick Velleu

Special Programs, Events and Presentations

Opening Night Films on four screens, followed by a Gala Reception at Sebastopol Center for the Arts (Friday, March 6, at 7:00 PM)
Independent Distribution Strategies and the Role of Fans: A discussion led by Adrian Belic, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker of Genghis Blues, who has independently distributed his latest film, Beyond the Call, across the USA and around the world; meet at Coffee Catz, 6761 Sebastopol Avenue, Sebastopol; FREE (Saturday, March 7, 10:00 AM)
Composing for Docs: A special presentation by Bay Area film composer Todd Boekelheide, who has scored more than 60 documentary features and shorts (Saturday, March 7, at 2:00 PM)
Special Event: French Garden will offer a special menu immediately following the screening of All in This Tea and Raw, featuring raw oysters, paired wines, and specialty teas (Saturday, March 7, at 2:00 PM)
Latino Program: Three award-winning films from Columbia and Peru, followed by the Filmmaker Party (Saturday, March 7, at 7:00 PM)
Filmmaker Party: Meet visiting filmmakers and dance to the music of Los Fulanos at Hopmonk Tavern (Saturday, March 7, at 9:30 PM)
International Women’s Day Program: Two award-winning films made in 1981 that honor women and women’s work; with an exhibition of quilts created by some of Sonoma County’s internationally-honored artists (Sunday, March 8, at 1:00 PM)
Jury Award Winners: An encore presentation of Motherland and Bob’s Knee (Sunday, March 8, at 3:30 PM)