The North Bay is about to host its 10th annual AVFilm Festival, with 10 days of local, thought-provoking, culturally enriching and entertaining cinematic celebrations all across Sonoma’s artistic and eclectic cities.
The AVFest spans from Friday, April 26 through Sunday, May 5 and features local and global films. In total, this year’s festival is set to encompass 21 feature films, 34 shorts, student work, Q&A panels, block parties galore and much more.
Oscar-winning sound designer Ben Burtt is set to attend as this year’s AVFest centerpiece. Burtt’s career spans half a century and includes the original Star Wars trilogy’s soundtrack, as well as E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark and even WALL-E.
“We’re so excited to celebrate our 10th annual film festival,” said executive director of AVFilm, Kathryn Hecht. “We have so much excitement packed into 10 days—incredible independent films from all over the world, our signature dinners and events, and more than 70 filmmakers coming to visit Sonoma County and meet our community. It is shaping up to be a perfect milestone anniversary party.”
April 26, AVFest guests can flock to the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center to see Green Border by Agnieszka Holland at 1:30pm, followed by the opening night of Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person at 5pm. Afterward, the Cloverdale Block Party starts at 6pm, followed by some edgier late-night shorts showing from 8:30pm until midnight.
April 27 promises three screenings at Longboard: Chronicles of a Wandering Saint at 10:30am, followed by local filmmaker Austin Smagalski’s To Die Alone at 1pm and, at 3pm, Goodbye Julia.
Day three of the AVFest is April 28 at Longboard—the day kicks off with Possibilities at 10:30am, followed by the Shorter is Better collection at 1:30pm, Ariane Louis-Seize’s Humanist Vampire at 4pm and the World Shorts Showcase starting at 6:30pm.
April 29 promises some respite from all the cinematic action, with The Grab + Afterparty at Longboard starting at 5:30pm. Then, on April 30, Lo & Behold is hosting a Savor the Night with M.F.K Fisher—The Art of Eating at 5:30pm.
The highly-anticipated Tribute to Ben Burtt and WALL-E screening is set for 5pm on May 1 at Ellis Auditorium in Petaluma. Then, at 6pm on May 2, cinematic enthusiasts can attend Vatelli’s An Evening in Geyserville—Thelma.
May 3 starts at 10am at Longboard with a showing of Tuesday, followed at 12:30pm by A Normal Family and a 3pm showing of Pablo Berger’s Oscar-nominated Robot Dreams. At 5pm, The Raven Performing Arts Theatre is hosting the Student Film Competition, followed by the Healdsburg Block Party at 6pm and Blue Giant, a jazz anime, showing at 8pm.
May 4 screenings begin at 10am at Longboard with another shorts collection followed by a sneak preview of Riley at 12:30pm and Dandelion at 3:30pm, with the J.E.D.I. Award Ceremony set for 6pm. Last but not least is the 9:15pm screening of Werewolf Serenade from none other than Petaluma filmmaker, Bohemian editor and alleged lycanthrope Daedalus Howell.
Sunday, May 5 marks the last day of AVFest’s 10 cinematic celebrations, with three screenings at Longboard. First up is Green Border at 11am, followed by The Unredacted at 2pm and Ghostlight at 5pm, to close the festival and the night.
AVFilm is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that started in 2014 as a local film society for education and entertainment through cinema. To learn more about AVFilm or to purchase tickets, visit the website at avfilmpresents.org.
