Vanessa McMahon

Sold-Out Shows, Celebrity Tributes, and Inspired Films Paired with Incredible Food and Wine.

Capping off a successful week of culinary, wine and film excellence the 4th Annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) announced this year’s juried and audience award winners at City Winery on Sunday, November 16, 2014. The Festival, held from November 12-16 screened 125 films showcasing the year’s best new independent films in 14 unique screening venues in the four postcard-perfect towns of Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga.

Festival Co-Founders and Directors Brenda and Marc Lhormer are proud to announce the completion of another successful festival stating “It's been a tremendous 4th year and we are thrilled by the excellence of the films in our lineup paired with equally as impressive culinary and wine events. It has been our pleasure to host such creative story-tellers and enthusiastic film-loving audiences once again in Napa Valley.”

“2014 was the filmmaking equivalent of a vintage that will go down in history. The films here touched audience in ways that will last for a long, long time. For us as Jury members, it was an honor for us to celebrate these films. My advice to filmmakers: do not hesitate to submit to this festival, you will have an amazing time that you will never forget” said Dan Geller, member of the Jury for Documentary Features and Shorts.

The full list of Juried Awards is below:

Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature presented by Miner Family Vineyards goes to: Amira & Sam.

Jury Award for Best Screenplay presented by Handwritten Wines goes to: East Side Sushi.

Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast presented by Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley goes to: Little Accidents.

Jury Award for Best Animated Short presented by Silverado Vineyards goes to: The Missing Scarf.

Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature presented by Sullivan Vineyards goes to: An Honest Liar.

Jury Award for Best Documentary Short presented by Freemark Abbey goes to: White Earth.

Jury Award for Best Narrative Short presented by Acacia and Jessup Cellars is a tie going to: Looms and Selling Rosario.

Honorable Mention for Narrative Shorts presented by Provenance goes to: Leonard in Slow Motion.

Special Jury Prize – Documentary presented by Reynolds Family Winery goes to #chicagoGirl: The Social Network Takes On A Dictator.

Special Jury Prize - Features (Cinematography & Art Direction) presented by Rombauer Vineyards goes to Kinderwald.

Special Jury Prize - Features (Soundtrack) presented by Sterling goes to Song One.

A full list of Audience Awards is below:

Audience Award for Favorite Actor presented by Rutherford Hill goes to Dev Patel from The Road Within. Audience Award for Favorite Actress presented by O’Brien Estate goes to Zoe Kravitz from The Road Within. Audience Award for Favorite Animated Short presented by Hess Collection goes to The Missing Scarf. Audience Award for Favorite Documentary Feature presented by Priest Ranch goes to States of Grace. Audience Award for Favorite Documentary Short presented by Luna Vineyards goes to Slomo. Audience Award for Favorite Lounge Feature presented by Hill Family Estates goes to Bar America. Audience Award for Favorite Narrative Feature presented by Rutherford Ranch Winery goes to Amira & Sam. Audience Award for Favorite Narrative Short presented by Clos Pegase goes to The Gunfighter. The runner-up for Narrative Shorts presented by Cairdean Vineyards goes to Selling Rosario.

Narrative Features Jury: Christine Vachon, Peter Baxter, Dierk Sinderman, Lissa Gibbs, Don Lewis

Documentary Features and Shorts Jury: Morgan Neville, Tiffany Shlain, Freida Lee Mock, Dan Geller, and Dayna Goldfine

Narrative Shorts Jury: Joshua Michael Stern, Ralph Macchio, Neil Berkeley

Animated Shorts: Bill Plympton, Adam Glick, Ryan Tudhope

Each of the festival winners received a large format wine bottle from one of the festival’s esteemed Vintner Circle winery partners. Amazon Web Services and Intel sponsored the festival’s presentation of Animated Shorts, with films eligible for both audience and juried awards. The winners of the Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature jury were awarded $10,000 courtesy of Meadowood Napa Valley. The winner of the Best Documentary Short received $2,500 courtesy of Freemark Abbey winery.

Directors of the Narrative and Documentary films in competition participate in NVFF’s unique Artists-in-Residence Program presented in partnership with Meadowood Napa Valley. Directors stay at the luxury resort for six nights during the festival and are treated to special events and workshops with their competition group and industry mentors.

The festival actually kicked off one night early with back-to-back sneak preview screenings of Wild, the new Jean-Marc Vallee film starring Reese Witherspoon. On Wednesday, November 12 opening night, festival goers enjoyed the highly anticipated screening of The Imitation Game, directed by Morten Tyldum and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley. Actor Allen Leech attended and -- along side The Weinstein Company executive Dan Guando -- entertained the audience with a thoughtful Q&A on-stage following the screening.

Some of the week’s highlight festivities included a red carpet appearance from Mike Myers and legendary manager Shep Gordon at the screening of Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon. Myers and Gordon were joined by celebrity-chef friends Michael Chiarello, Ken Frank, and Larry Forgione at the screening. Later that day crowds lined the street for the screening of Mike Binder’s film Black or White starring Kevin Costner. Costner and wife Christine Baumgartner walked the red carpet with longtime friend Bill Paxton. Former San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. attended and treated the audience to some thoughtful opening remarks. The day was capped off with a 1,500 person festival gala at 500 First Street.

On Friday, November 14 the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center at Lincoln Theater hosted the Celebrity Tribute Program, honoring screen icon Kevin Costner with the festival’s inaugural BVisionary Filmmaker Award, Rising Star Jeremy Jordan, and Spotlight award recipient Michelle Monaghan. The three stars joined Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush on stage for an intimate conversation about their careers, achievements, and plans for the future. Domaine Chandon’s etoile restaurant hosted the Celebrity Tributes Dinner, and Raymond Vineyards hosted the VIP After-Party. The star-studded events spilled into Saturday with Variety’s “10 Producers to Watch” brunch at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, co-sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, and featuring an Indie Impact Award presented to Shailene Woodley and a contender conversation between Variety Executive Editor Steven Gaydos and Kevin Costner.

The Festival closed the curtains with the powerful film, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me. An intimate, devastating, and inspiring look at the final tour of musical legend Glen Campbell as he faces the end of his career due to Alzheimer’s disease, this special screening took place at the Uptown Theatre in downtown Napa that was the venue for Campbell’s final poignant performance. Director James Keach introduced and answered questions about the two years it took to make the film. Following the closing night screening, the festival announced its award winners at City Winery.

About the Napa Valley Film Festival and Cinema Napa Valley: The Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) is produced by Cinema Napa Valley, a registered 501c3 non-profit organization headquartered in Napa, California. Cinema Napa Valley’s mission is to support the art of independent filmmaking and cinematic storytelling; enhance and diversify Napa Valley’s cultural landscape, and to provide educational opportunities in and out of the classroom for local students.

Major Sponsors: Mercedes-Benz (Official Automobile Sponsor), Amazon Web Services & Intel, Sterling Vineyards & Beaulieu Vineyards, Meadowood Napa Valley. Leading Sponsors: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Stella Artois, Terlato Family Wineries, AVMS, Domaine Chandon, Caesarstone, BRKLY

Supporting Sponsors: ColorZone, The Vintage Estate, The Weinstein Company, Cognition Studio, Classic Party Rentals, Benchmark Wine Group, Indian Springs Resort & Spa, City Winery Napa, Westin Verasa Napa

Top Media and Marketing Partners: Variety, Traditional Home Magazine, More Magazine, Wine Spectator, NBC Bay Area, and XFINITY by Comcast

-OFFICIAL NVFF PRESS RELEASE-

Edited by Vanessa McMahon