Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival starts tonight and runs through Sunday
Don't miss this celebration of documentary films from around the world
The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival (SDFF) was founded in 1977 to bring attention to North Bay and Bay Area filmmakers, but it soon widened its lens to take in the whole world.
This year, SDFF received nearly 700 submissions from more than 62 countries — a testament to both its growth and its reputation among documentary artists around the world. Over the last year, the SDFF programming team winnowed those entries down to 59 films for this year’s festival, ranging from documentary shorts to feature-length documentary films. (SDFF is an Oscar-qualifying film festival for short-form documentaries.)
Wondering which films to go see? Sebastopol Center for the Arts Executive Director Serafina Palandech suggests that you search by topic by clicking on the little pastel tags at the top of this page. Topics include Animals & Wildlife, Arts, Culture & Ethnicity, Environment, Experimental/Art House, Feminist, Food, Health & Aging, Journalism, Kid Appropriate, LGBTQI+, Local, Memoir/Tribute, Music, Nostalgia & History, Social Justice & Politics, and Sports.
See the full schedule and purchase tickets for individual films here. If you buy a festival pass—a six-film bundle is $75—remember to also reserve tickets for the films you want to see because some are close to selling out.
Despite a difficult breakup with the film festival’s longtime organizers at the end of last year, Palandech said the festival is ready to rock again this year, thanks to the hard work of SebArts staff and 40 committed film festival volunteers. The fingerprints of the original team are still all over this year’s festival, however, because they are the ones who chose this year’s films. Palandech acknowledges that this year’s festival couldn’t have happened without them.
“Yep, all of the programming was done by the programming team—the steering committee—and there was a whole host of reviewers who did such an incredible job selecting these films,” she said.
Palandech said she expects 45 to 50 filmmakers to attend SDFF this weekend, many of whom will be staying in local homes.
“One of the cool things that we’ve done for years is we asked folks to open up their homes to the filmmakers,” she said. “So filmmakers come and stay with local community members in guest houses or guest rooms all over town.”
Honoring Documentarian Barbara Kopple
One of the filmmakers being honored this year is Barbara Kopple, whose film, “Harlan County USA,” won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1976. The film tells the story of the Brookside Strike, a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the owners of the Eastover Coal Company in Harlan County, Kentucky. “Harlan County USA” will be featured at tonight’s (Thursday’s) Opening Night and will be preceded by a panel with Kopple and John Cooper, former director of the Sundance Film Festival. Tickets for the opening night event are $79.88.
Another Kopple film, “Shut Up and Sing,” a 2006 documentary about the Dixie Chicks, which Kopple co-directed with Cecilia Peck, will play on Saturday, April 11, 4:30 pm, at the Rialto Cinemas. The film recounts how a single comment made by a band member against President Bush knocked the group’s number-one hit off the charts and caused conservative fans to destroy their CDs and protest their concerts.
Kopple will also be a part of a panel at Sebastopol Center for the Arts on Saturday, April 11, at 3 pm, called “Directing Challenges: A Conversation with Barbara Kopple and Friends.” This panel features the four directors of the films featured in the opening and closing events of the festival: Barbara Kopple, Emmy-nominated Cecilia Peck (“Escaping Twin Flames,” “Shut Up & Sing”), and Emmy Award-winning duo Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine (“Peter Asher: Everywhere Man”).
Films from local filmmakers
Despite its global reach, SDFF 2026 will feature some films by local directors including:
Vivien’s Wild Ride by director Vivien Hillgrove is an autobiopic by a veteran Hollywood film and dialogue editor who worked on films like “Amadeus,” “Blue Velvet,” “The Right Stuff,” and “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” Her new documentary connects her past as a teenage unwed mother who gave up her child in the early 1960s to the current challenge of losing her vision. Recalling her resilience as a young woman, she reinvents herself as a person with a new way of being and seeing, an artist with a disability. “Vivien’s Wild Ride” (87:20) will be shown on Saturday, April 11, at 11 am, at Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol.
The Dreamers and I, by Marin County director Kenji Yamamoto, is about three global entrepreneurs who immigrate to Silicon Valley to make their high-tech dreams come true. Sometimes they’re uplifted and hopeful, and when their dreams collapse, they try again with a rueful smile, saying, “This is the entrepreneurial life.” At first, Yamamoto thought failure and success would be the themes of his film, but he discovered that it was about something deeper: what happens when dreams and reality collide. “The Dreamers and I” (73:45) will be shown twice: Saturday, April 11, 2 pm, and Sunday, April 12, 3 pm, at Rialto Cinemas.
Little Singer, by filmmakers Zaya Ralitza Benazzo and Maurizio Benazzo, traces how the legacy of historical trauma echoes through generations among the Diné (more familiar to Americans as the Navajo). The film focuses on a medicine man and a small school, where grief and resilience meet in song, teaching, and k’é (kinship). Sebastopol Times readers may be familiar with this Sebastopol-based, husband-and-wife filmmaking team from our previous coverage of their films, The Eternal Song and When Olive Trees Weep. “Little Singer” will be shown on Sunday, April 12, at 11:45 am at Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol.
Another film of local interest is Leaving the Point by directors Michael Fearon and Nadia Boctor, about environmental restoration and the end of the ranching life in Point Reyes National Seashore. The short film (19:46) is being shown as part of Block 1: The Ticking Clock, which is showing on Friday afternoon, April 10, in the Little Red Hen room at Sebastopol Center for the Arts.
Deeply moving, deeply funny and deeply weird
SDFF has a proudly progressive bent, and many of the films focus on the disappearing natural world, the agony of immigration, the challenges of being disabled, and hard times at the bottom rung of American Society. But there are also stories of triumph and the healing power of art. Here are just a few of the 55 films on offer this weekend:
ENVIRONMENTAL FILMS: In “Chasing Whales,” multiple agencies and volunteers come together after the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles to rescue an endangered fish population before they are wiped out by a mudslide. “Chasing Whales,” a short documentary film, follows a team of scientists on their journey to the Antarctic as they seek to understand climate change’s effects on whales. “Between Moon Tides” follows an intergenerational group of citizen scientists trying to save the Saltmarsh Sparrow from extinction, one nest at a time.
IMMIGRATION TALES: In “Diminishing Returns,” Ernesto keeps a positive outlook while he hunts the streets and dumpsters of LA in the hope of finding enough recyclables to pay for his daughter’s chemo treatment back home in the Philippines. In “Como si la Tierra se las Hubiera Tragado,” a young woman living abroad returns to her hometown in Mexico in the hope of reconnecting with her past. In “An Alien in New York,” a Mexican immigrant crosses the border in search of a better future for his family and finds himself caught between nostalgia and hope.
ARTS OF ALL SORTS: In “Horndribbles,” puppeteer Lucas Richards builds connection, community, and meaning through the art of puppetry. “Women Laughing” features intimate conversations with women cartoonists from the New Yorker. In “Speak,” five top-ranked high school oratory students spend a year crafting spellbinding spoken-word performances with the dream of winning the world’s largest and most intense public speaking competition. “Any Other Way” details the life of trans soul singer Jackie Shane.
We asked Palandech for her pick for the funniest flick of the bunch. She recommended a 20-minute short called “Being Bublé,” in which a stand-up comedian is inexplicably hired as a Michael Bublé impersonator for a rich stranger’s party. Despite no resemblance, no singing ability, and just one week to prepare, he gives it everything he’s got. This film shows as part of the Music-Minded block on Saturday aftrnoon, April 11, at the Robert Brent Auditorium at Sebastopol Center for the Arts.
In terms of sheer cinematography, Palandech suggested the Canadian short “Mirrorpond,” which is a part of Block 8: Listening, Watching, which will be shown on Sunday afternoon. “It’s very controversial,” Palandech said. “It’s only six minutes long. There’s no speaking. It’s literally just visual. It’s very beautiful, it’s very interesting, and it kind of messes with your mind.” Though Palandech called it “very compelling,” she said, “It might drive some people crazy, because nothing happens.”
Closing Night Party and Film: Everywhere Man
The Closing Night Party features the film, “Everywhere Man,” a feature-length documentary about musician, producer and manager Peter Asher. The film traces an extraordinary life lived at the center of modern music history. Asher emerges as a Zelig-like figure in the culture of the era: one half of the pop duo Peter and Gordon; the first head of A&R at Apple Records; and later as a producer for Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Neil Diamond, Ringo Starr, Bonnie Raitt, and more.
The film will be followed by a live Q&A with directors Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller.
After the Q&A, Palandech said, “The Sun Kings are gonna be playing Beatles songs, and we’ll have a big Beatles sing-along. It’s just gonna be a great way to end the event.”
Tickets for the Closing Night Party are $53.59.
SDFF’s Virtual Festival continues the experience
If you can’t make it to the in-person festival, you can still enjoy the festival’s documentaries during the virtual festival that happens online from April 14 to April 26. Learn more about the virtual festival here.
Find out more about SDFF and get tickets here.