The 2026 Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF), March 25–29, concluded a record-setting 29th edition that transformed Sonoma into a premier destination for film, food, wine, and discovery. Over five immersive days, SIFF presented 104 films from 37 countries—including premieres—while welcoming a unique mix of filmmakers, celebrated artists, and top culinary talent.
The program featured 41 narrative features, 16 documentaries, and 47 short films. “This year’s record-breaking attendance and ticket sales underscore the extraordinary appetite for bold, international cinema and immersive cultural experiences here in Sonoma,” said SIFF Artistic Director Carl Spence. “With packed screenings, dynamic filmmaker engagement, and a festival atmosphere unlike any other, SIFF 2026 has truly been a landmark community celebration of film, food, wine, and fun.”
The festival opened with the California Premiere of Poetic License, directed by Maude Apatow. The Centerpiece Film, The Christophers, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh and starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel (the Audience Award winner for narrative feature) and the locally shot closing night film, Under the Lights. The festival featured an evening with Julian Schnabel, honoring him with the Sonoma International Film Festival Visionary Artist Award, and a screening of his film In the Hand of Dante with special guest Tom Waits attending. Alongside these marquee screenings, SIFF audiences experienced an array of premieres, including the US Premiere of Winter of the Crow, the World Premiere of Fork in the Road, special screenings of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, and a 4K restoration of John Woo’s The Killer.
Beyond the screen, aspiring filmmakers gained invaluable insights from industry panels and conversations with the Academy’s newest category and the evolving role of casting in shaping performances and careers including director/writers Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), and casting directors Kerry Barden and David Ruben in “The Art of Casting: The Craft Behind the New Oscar,” industry veterans at the Film Veterans Tell All panel, and learned “The Power of Storytelling” from documentary filmmakers.
The Art of Casting: The Craft Behind the New Oscar panel featuring Variety’s Carole Horst, Lulu Wang, David Rubin, Barry Jenkins, and Kerry BardenFilm Veterans Tell All panel featuring John Cooper Julie Fontaine, Laura Kim, Kirsten Schaffer, and IndieWire’s Anne Thompson
GRAND JURY FILM AWARDS
Grand Jury Award | Best Narrative Feature: Maspalomas (Jose Mari Goenaga, Aitor Arregi | Spain)
Jury Statement from the Narrative Feature Grand Jury: Gregory Ellwood (The Playlist), Max Geschwind (CAA), and Kirsten Schaffer (Women in Film).
“For an authentic and rare depiction of an elder man confronting personal and physical crisis at the onset of the COVID pandemic, we award the Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature to Aitor Arregi and Jose Mari Goenaga for the nuanced and moving queer drama Maspalomas.”
“For its unflinching portrayal of a virtuous teen in WWII era Europe, we are awarding a Special Jury Prize for Directing to Marie-Elsa Sgualdo for her excellence in crafting intimate storytelling and grounded performances in Silent Rebellion.”
Narrative Competition Films: Ky Nam Inn(Vietnam) Directed by: Leon Le, Maspalomas (Spain) Directed by: Jose Mari Goenaga, Aitor Arregi, My Tennis Maestro (Italy) Directed by: Andrea di Stefano, Orphan (Hungary) Directed by: Lászlo Nemes, Silent Rebellion (Switzerland) Directed by: Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, The Soundman (Belgium) Directed by: Frank Van Passel, Sundays (Spain) Directed by: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, and Vainilla (Mexico) Directed by: Mayra Hermosillo
Grand Jury Award | Best Documentary Feature:
State of Firsts (Chase Joynt | USA)
Jury Statement from the Documentary Feature Grand Jury: Jo Addy (SoHo House), Nick Price (Reel South), and Ania Trzebiatowska (Sundance).
“This year, the jury wants to recognize a film that represents what authentic truth looks like among the squalor of our politics. The award-winning film is a nuanced portrait of leadership and responsibility that also provides a clear and honest account of the challenges and apparent harms that come from seeking to change the world. The language of change is complex, and sometimes it’s as simple as using the right name. The jury is honored to platform a story that showcases the wholeness of a person in an industry and society so quick to tokenize. The Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Sonoma International Film Festival this year goes to Chase Joynt for State of Firsts.”
Documentary Feature Competition Films:
The Art of Adventure (Canada) Directed by: Alison Reid, Barbara Forever (USA) Directed by: Brydie O’Connor, The Big Cheese (USA) Directed by: Sara Joe Wolansky, Fork in the Road (USA) Directed by: Jonathan Nastasi, Vivian Sorenson, Jane Elliott Against the World (USA) Directed by: Judd Ehrlich, Kim Novak´s Vertigo (USA) Directed by: Alexandre O. Philippe, Newport and the Great Folk Dream (USA) Directed by: Robert Gordon, and Raoul’s, A New York Story (USA) Directed by: Greg Olliver, Karim Raoul, State of Firsts (USA) Directed by: Chase Joynt
Grand Jury Award | Short Films and Jury Statements
All 47 Official Selection short films competed for the 3 Grand Jury Short Awards.
The Short Film Grand Jury included Erik Anderson (AwardsWatch), Kerry Barden (Casting Director), and Schuyler Fisk (Artist).
Grand Jury Award: Live Action Short
A Very Normal Seeming Man (Director Al Pattanashetty | USA)
“As funny as it is heartwarming and creative, this meta father/son comedy is a wonderful representation of familial support while navigating personal and career uncertainty.”
Grand Jury Award: Documentary Short
Voices from the Abyss (Director Irving Serrano and Victor Rejon | Mexico)
“Through stunning editing and black and white cinematography, the dangerous lives of cliff divers, old and young, and what keeps them coming back, opened our eyes to a world we’d never seen and wanted to explore more of.”
Grand Jury Award: Animated Short
Two Black Boys in Paradise (Director Baz Sells | UK)
“For its depiction of the evolution of humanity and innocence corrupted by society, the film shows the life of boys becoming men in the face of the darkest levels of adversity with poetic beauty.”
Special Mention for Cultural, Environmental and Community Impact:Abalone Stories: Loss, Connection, Renewal (USA, Dir. Cynthia Abbott)
Special Jury Mention for Directing
Domingo Familiar(Directed by Gerardo del Razo | Mexico)
SONOMA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AUDIENCE FILM AWARDS:
The Stolman Audience Award for Best Film
The Christophers (United Kingdom) Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
1st Runner-up: You Found Me (France) Directed by: Alice Vial
4th Runner-up: Last Days on Lake Trinity (USA) Directed by: Charlotte Cooley
The five-day festival is curated by Artistic Director Carl Spence, along with senior programmers Amanda Salazar and Ken Jacobson and shorts programmer Oscar Arce Naranjo.
SIFF’s signature initiative–the Media Arts Program started at Sonoma Valley High School in 2002–introduces students to film by providing ongoing support so they may explore their creative pursuits. SIFF has given more than $800,000 in resources to the program since its inception, with hundreds of students graduating through the program to date, in addition to providing college scholarships annually to deserving students.
The Sonoma International Film Festival is supported year-round by Sustaining Sponsor: KHR McNeely Family Foundationand Official Airline: Delta Air Lines.
New producing Sponsor: K3 Innovation. Partnering with schools to achieve reading proficiency for all students through the K-3 Proficiency Project. Learn more at: k3innovation.org
Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
2026 Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF): Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Christophers,’ ‘Maspalomas’ Take Top Awards 
‘Mars is Ours!’: Inside Season 5 of ‘For All Mankind’ as the Next Generation Claims the Red Planet 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 146 – ‘The Red Shoes’ (Powell and Pressburger, 1948) 
With Paul Thomas Anderson Finally Winning an Oscar, Which Multi-Nominee is Next?