Festival

Festival presentation: 

5 days, 100+ Films, 1 Unforgettable, Magical Environment ~ Sonoma! 

A unique five day, destination film festival that takes place in the beautiful Sonoma Valley located in northern California 45 miles outside of San Francisco.  All screeing venues are within walking distance of the historic Sonoa Plaza. The "Backlot Tent" (hospitality) is located in the middle of the Plaza which serves as the festival hub where Sonoma's premium wines and delicious cuisine are served in a festive atmosphere.  Industry leaders, media, fimmakers, celebrities, and festivalgoers mix in a very relaxed, pleasant environment.  The 2015 festival program had films from 22 countries (14 represented countries), 220 filmmakers representing 118 fims.  Industry panels, cash awards, and an amazing goup of talented filmmakers make this one of the nation's most top film festivals.

Festival Nickname: 

SIFF

Edition: 

23

Festival Logo: 

Theme: 

Adventure

American Films

Animation

Art, Dance, Music

Art-house films

Awards

Comedy

Documentary

Education

Environnement/Nature

European Films

Family

Fantasy/Science Fiction

Health/Medical

Homosexuality

Human Rights

Independent

International

Jewish Films

Latin American Films

Romance

Sport

Student films

Category/Format: 

Animated Films

Digital / DVD

Documentaries

Fiction Features

Independant

Short films

Student film

5 days, 100+ Films, 1 Unforgettable, Magical Environment ~ Sonoma! 

"2015" - 200 Filmmakers - 14 countries - 110 films

Named one of America's "Top Ten Destination Film Festivals," Sonoma prides itself on giving every filmmaker the royal treatment. Celebrated as one of the friendliest and most uplifting festivals on the circuit. Plus, pretty good wines & food!

The Festival takes place March 30th - April 3rd 2016 in the heart of America's world-renowned wine country, Sonoma Valley, California, just 45 minutes north of San Francisco. The Sonoma International Film Festival values the filmmakers as much as our industry leaders and celebrities. All are treated to our unique accommodations program and have the opportunity to interact with industry professionals and festival attendees in one of the most intimate, relaxed and inspiring settings on the festival circuit. Friendly, relaxed networking opportunities with industry professionals have lead to distribution and advancement with future film projects.

Studio executives, film distributors, accomplished writers and directors along with publishers of national trades and magazines are all accesible to attending filmmakers. High profile actors and celebrities have included Bruce Willis, Michael Keaton, Ray Liotta, Hal Holbrook, Robert Patrick, Matthew Modine, John Ratzenberger, John Lasseter, Blythe Danner, Saul Zaentz, Alexander Payne, Mark Romanek, Danny Glover, Mare Winningham, Christopher Lloyd, and most recently, Susan Sarandon and David Arquette.

In the past, 1 in 10 films that were submitted to us through "Withoutabox" were selected for our Festival, making Sonoma an unusually accessible forum for participating filmmakers. Films are shown at least twice to an engaged, film-savvy audience representing a broad range of ages and back grounds. 2016 films are open to Jury competition and winners will be presented cash awards. SIFF welcomes a stellar array of panelists, media, and industry guests, all very accessible to our talented filmmakers and rising talents.

The 2016 Film Festival will feature the finest films from all countries and continue to show case Spanish speaking films~Vamos Al Cine. SIFF continues to grow its reputation in screening powerful films that focus on social causes, LGBT issues, design and the environment. Many films have gone from early screenings at SIFF to significant success and distribution. We look forward to screening your films and upon acceptance, welcoming you to a unique wine country film festival known for being a launch pad for independent filmmakers.