Sonoma International Film Festival

The Great and The Small (2016)

Industry veterans of the 19^th Annual Sonoma International Film Festival

select this year’s festival film favorites

Sonoma, CA (April 2, 2016) – The Film Jury Award winners of the 19^th Annual Sonoma International Film Festival were announced tonight, Saturday, April 2, 2016, in the Sebastiani Theatre.

“The program this year is the most diverse and competitive it’s ever been, including all the wonderful submissions,” said Program Director Steve Shor. “All three juries had a lively discussion about their selections.”

This year’s jury panel included industry veterans such as Steve Chagollan, Assistant Managing Editor of Features of industry magazine Variety; James Cromwell, celebrated actor and stage actor, Emmy-award winner, and Academy-Award nominee; David Dinerstein, accomplished industry executive responsible for co-founding Paramount Classics and building Fox Searchlight; Michael Howell, Founder and Executive Director of Devour! The Food Film Fest in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Devour! The Beach in Ahaco, Bahamas; Michael Repsch, Senior Vice President of Distribution & Sales at Breaking Glass Pictures; Arianne Rocchi, Vice President of Publicity at Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing, Leslie Vanderpool, Founder and Executive Director of the Bahamas International Film Festival; and Lucy Walker, Emmy-Award winning documentary director and two-time Academy Award nominee.

JURIED AWARDS

Best American Independent Feature:

The Great and The Small

USA, directed by Dusty Bias

Scott is living on the streets and trying to find his way back into society while on probation for petty crimes. He attempts to navigate his complex relationships with his two-bit criminal of a boss, an enigmatic detective, and his ex-girlfriend.

Honorable Mention:

Coming Through the Rye

USA, directed by James Sadwith

Jamie Schwartz is stumbling through disastrous relationships at a boy’s boarding school.  He runs away with a local girl to the mountains of New Hampshire in search of J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye.

Best World Feature:

Papa

Cuba, directed by Bob Yari

A young Miami Herald journalist is befriended by Ernest and Mary Hemingway and witnesses Hemingway’s decline into depression and alcoholism with the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution.

Best Documentary:

In Search of Balance

USA, directed by Adam Pfleghaar

Exploring a vision of health, science and nature that recognizes the importance of the interconnections between us, the food we consume, how we produce that food and the natural world at large including the mysterious, invisible world of the human microbiome.

Best Dramatic Short:

The Lake

Canada/USA, directed by Michael Bule

A provocative, ambiguous, moving short film about personal choices, morality, and mortality…and a cat and a dog.                                                                                                           

Best Documentary Short:

Rosa

USA, directed by Sean Kusanagi and Hannah Gregg

Rosa has wrestled with the unimaginable. Now she must overcome her past to follow the dreams she once thought impossible.

Honorable Mention:

A Child for Sale

USA, directed by Fiona Bock

Survivors of child sex trafficking tell their stories in an interview with Fiona Bock.

Best Comedic Short:

rated

USA, directed by John Forston

Maggie wakes to find she’s received a YELP-like rating floating above her head. What’s worse? She’s got only 2.5 stars!

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About the Sonoma International Film Festival

The Sonoma International Film Festival is presented by the Sonoma Valley Film Society, a 501(c)3 dedicated to promoting independent film, supporting filmmakers around the world, and inspiring film lovers. Most films screened at the Festival have attending filmmakers and actors making for spirited Q&As. This unique five-day event offers world-class cuisine from local artisans and exceptional wine from Sonoma vintners. Renowned filmmakers, industry leaders and celebrities such as Bruce Willis Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams and Danny Glover, Demián Bichir and Mary-Louise Parker have walked the festival red carpet and enjoyed its intimate ambiance.

-Official SIFF press release edited by Vanessa McMahon