Mission
The mission of the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is to showcase strong, independent documentary films.
Additional goals of the Festival are to:
- Bring together the local film community.
- Develop a strong Latino film program to showcase work representative of the large Latino population in Sonoma County.
- Develop a strong youth program for local children and teens to experience the art of independent filmmaking.
- Become a catalyst for educational and other film programs, such as monthly film screenings and salons, showcasing other genres of independent film, including narrative and experimental work.
Festival Presenters
The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is presented by Sebastopol Center for the Arts.
Sebastopol Center for the Arts is a grassroots, nonprofit arts center created in 1988 by a coalition of art, business and community members to provide art programs and services for all sectors of the community. For more information about SCA Click Here.
Film Festival Staff
Linda Galletta, Executive Director
Jason Purdue, Program Director
Kathy Douglas, Festival Coordinator
Film Festival Founder
ELIZA HEMENWAY founded the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival in 2007 with a vision to showcase strong, independent documentary films in West Sonoma County, and to network the local film community. She is currently serving as a member of the festival's film selection committee and acting as a consultant for SDFF. She is also a working documentary filmmaker. For more information about Eliza visit http://www.hemenwaydocs.com.
Film Selection Committee
LORENA GOMEZ-BARRIS served on the Board of Directors for Cine Acción, one of the nation’s oldest Latino media arts organizations, from 2002-2005. While there, she curated several film programs and helped organize their acclaimed independent annual film festival in San Francisco. She now brings her passion for showcasing and celebrating Latino independent film to Sonoma County and is working with the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival to develop a Latino program for SDFF 2009.
ELIZA HEMENWAY, M.A., is a documentary filmmaker and media artist who has worked in still photography, radio and film. She is the founder and director of Trinity Productions, as well as the founder of the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, which she directed in 2007. Eliza works as a film reviewer for KRCB-FM, and serves as a judge for the Red Cross Young Filmmakers Showcase. She is currently working on a new documentary project, Family Matters, a series of short films exploring marriage, divorce and raising children.
VALERIE A. LANDES is the Emmy-winning series producer of KRCB-TV’s Natural Heroes. The nationally distributed series showcases independent filmmakers’ short films about people helping the environment. She is also independently producing Hideaway for Kids, a short film about the Holocaust for young students.
JASON PERDUE has been a member of the San Francisco Film Society for the past 13 years. He has traveled to film festivals around the country, and brings a film fan's perspective to the Committee. Jason is a native Sonoma County resident whose family has been in West County since the 1930s.
TOMMIE DELL SMITH is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, and currently serves on the Executive Committee of New Day Films, a national film distribution cooperative. She lives with her family in Forestville.
JENNIFER VIALE, M.A., has more than 10 years of experience in all aspects of film exhibition. A loyal fan of the neighborhood movie theater, she loves exploring the community through film. Jennifer has most recently worked as a collective member and co-programmer at the Red Vic Movie House in San Francisco. In addition, she has a career in education, and is a staff member at San Francisco State University.
TERESA BOOK WEBSTER spent 16 years working in production and post-production on feature films and documentaries in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. She served as the Associate Director for the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival 2007. Teresa lives west of Sebastopol with her husband and son.