Full slate announced for Alexander Valley Film Festival including ‘Parasite,’ ‘The Cave,’ ‘Clemency’

The 5th Alexander Valley Film Festival, nestled in the heart of wine country in Northern California, has announced the full slate of its 4-day festival, which runs October 17-20, 2019.

International Feature Film Oscar contenders Parasite (South Korea) and Ága (Bulgaria) along with non-English language hits Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Cannes winner) and By the Grace of God from François Ozon will screen beside Alfre Woodard in Clemency, the Miles Davis documentary Birth of Cool and the gripping Syrian War doc The Cave from Feras Fayyad, the Oscar-nominated director of Last Men in Aleppo.

The AVFF lineup consistently feature conscious films that depict characters in the richness of their culture and identities; works from directors of color; Latinx-, LGBTQ+-, and female-driven narratives; Youth-oriented stories; Classics; and Indie hits or soon-to-be hits/Arthouse films.

The festival also features student filmmakers, who benefit from the donations and sponsorship of festival goers and benefactors, and get to show their films during the weekend. The Alexander Valley Film Lab works to bridge this gap in Media Arts programming. Through creative collaborations, innovative program design, and broad community support, Alexander Valley Film Lab will bring Film Studies and Project- Based Filmmaking to more than 1,000 Sonoma County students. It provides programming to youth, ages 3-18, across Northern Sonoma. 55% of the youth we serve come from low-moderate income families and are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch. We serve approximately 60% Latinx and 40% Caucasian students.

Here is the full lineup of feature narratives, documentaries and short films as well as guests who are scheduled to appear.

FEATURE NARRATIVES

ÁGA (Bulgaria) Directed by Milko Lazarov (Official Selection of Bulgaria for the 2020 Academy Awards®)
BY THE GRACE OF GOD (France) Directed by François Ozon
CLEMENCY (USA) Directed by Chinonye Chukwu
GREENER GRASS (USA) Directed by Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe
HIGH NOON (USA) Directed by Fred Zinnemann
MICKEY AND THE BEAR (USA) Directed by Annabelle Attanasio
PARASITE (South Korea) Directed by Joon-ho Bong
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (France) Directed by Céline Sciamma
STRAIGHT UP (USA) Directed by James Sweeny
TEMBLORES (Guatemala/France) Directed by Jayro Bustamante
*WINDOWS ON THE WORLD (USA) Directed by Michael D. Olmos

FEATURE DOCUMENTARIES

BIRTH OF THE COOL (USA) Directed by Stanley Nelson
THE CAVE (Syria/Denmark) Directed by Feras Fayyad
CUNNINGHAM (Germany, France, USA) Directed by Alla Kovgan
DON’T BE A DICK ABOUT IT (USA) Directed by Ben Mullinkosson
*THE GREAT AMERICAN LIE (USA) Directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom (AVFF ALUM) 
*MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND (USA) Directed by Midge Costin
MIDNIGHT FAMILY (Mexico/USA) Directed by Luke Lorentzen
*RAISE HELL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS (USA) Directed by Janice Engel
*TRUEHUMANS (USA) Directed by Malinalli López
*UNSETTLED (USA) Directed by Tom Shepard
THE WOMAN WHO LOVES GIRAFFES (USA) Directed by Alison Reid​

SHORTS

*25 TEXANS IN THE LAND OF LINCOLN (USA) Directed by Ellen Brodksy (AVFF ALUM)
*BABY STEPS (USA) Directed by Kira Findling
*BLIND ADVENTURE CAMP (USA) Rod Murphy (AVFF ALUM)
CON FUERZA (USA) Directed by Andrés Wewer
*THE FEAR WE SHARE (USA) Directed by Miles Crawford
*HELPING HANDS (USA) Directed by Alexander Gustaveson
*I’M NO HOLIDAY (USA) Directed by Rick Gomez (AVFF ALUM)
*PARENTS, INC (USA) Directed by Harald Zwart
PINCHPOT (Australia) Directed by Greg Holfeld
REFUGE IN THE ROCKIES (Canada) Directed by Kaio Kathriner 
*WITHOUT (USA) Directed by Jacob Combs

*Filmmaker(s) expected to be in attendance

The ALEXANDER VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL (AVFF) is the culmination of all of our year-round programs and is celebrated annually the third weekend in October. The Festival features domestic and international narrative features, documentaries, short films, special programs, winners from the Student Film Competition, community events and screenings, a thrilling Opening Night Celebration, and more.

Get tickets HERE.

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Erik Anderson

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), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) 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.

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