Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival Winners for 2018
Sebastopol Center for the Arts has announced the program for the 11th Annual Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival. The festival will screen 66 documentaries, including one U.S. premiere and two Academy Award® nominated films. March 22-25 with screenings taking place at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts (282 S High St), and the Rialto Cinemas® (6868 McKinley St), in Sebastopol. Tickets are on sale now. Passes are on sale now at the SDFF websitesebdocs.org
Award Winners:
Emerging Filmmaker
A Bastard Child Sweden, Norway, 2017, 57 minutes Director: Knutte Wester USA Premiere “As I child I used to sit in my grandmother’s kitchen and she told me stories about her childhood—stories about growing up unwanted and rejected, stories of an intolerant society." In an exceptional mix of animation and archive footage, artist Knutte Wester tells the remarkable story of his grandmother, who grew up with the stigma of being illegitimate.
Critics Award for Best Feature
The Cinema Travellers India, 2016, 96 minutes Directors: Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya Cannes prize-winningThe Cinema Travellers is a journey with the traveling cinemas of India, which bring the wonder of the movies to faraway villages annually. Seven decades on, as their lorries and cinema projectors crumble and film reels become scarce, their audiences are lured away by slick digital technology. Filmed over five years,The Cinema Travellers accompanies a shrewd exhibitor, a benevolent showman and a maverick projector mechanic, who bear a beautiful burden—to keep the last traveling cinemas of the world running.
Critics Award for Best Short
Three Red Sweaters USA, 2016, 8 minutes Director: Martha Gregory A filmmaker explores memory and the way that we use technology to record our lives; sometimes at the expense of being present for them. She uses her grandfather's 16mm home videos as her medium. This journey into family archives employs a very personal story to examine how memory is captured as a moment in time, and breathes new life into what was once thought lost forever.
Jury Awards for Best Feature
Donkeyote Germany, 2017, 86 minutes Director: Chico Pereira Manolo leads a simple life in Southern Spain. He has two loves: his animals, in particular his donkey Gorrión (“Sparrow”), and wandering through nature. Against the advice of his doctor, he decides to plan one long walk in the USA: the historical Trail of Tears. But not without Gorrión. Their epic journey through America is the subject of Director Pereira's wandering lens.
Jury Award for Best Short
Negative Space France, 2017, 6 minutes Directors: Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata Academy Award® nominated, Negative Space tells the bittersweet story of a relationship between a father and his son, Sam. Always leaving on business trips, the father connects with Sam by teaching him how to pack a suitcase efficiently.
ABOUT SEBASTOPOL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
Designed for independent documentary filmmakers–the voices of our culture–SDFF enters its 11th year under the umbrella of the SEBASTOPOL CENTER FOR THE ARTS.Our theme this year is Destination: DOCS.
Our Mission: The mission of the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is to bring the best independent documentary films in the world, and their filmmakers, to Sonoma County audiences. The event, now in its eleventh year, continues to bring audiences from all across Northern California to meet and engage with filmmakers from around the world in late March.
To learn more, visit www.sebarts.org
