Nov 16, 2025
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Sonoma International: The Little Festival That Went Big
by Doniphan Blair and Jay Randy Gordon
Author enjoying some sun, rare during California's recent rainy season, in Sonoma, one of his favorite California film festivals. photo: D. BlairPLEASE support our GoFundMe campaign to cover research expenses for our articles and rebuilding the cineSOURCE site.
When I first drove out to Sonoma to attend its international film festival in 2009, I assumed it was a glorified advertisement for the town’s eating and drinking, which are fantastic. I was disabused of that notion utterly the following year when Robin Williams, the late, great Bay Area comedian, interviewed the actress Laura Hutton with uncanny intimacy, while eviscerating himself and teasing the audience, at the town's lovely Sebastiani Theater.
Although the Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF) did come to specialize in films about wine and food, it became so much more. In 2018, I caught “Quest”, an excellent, Oakland coming-of-age story (see cS article), and that trend toward innovative programming was on full display this year, the festival’s 26th iteration, which ran from March 22nd to the 26th.
Kevin McNeely, who ran SIFF for almost two decades with his colleagues Ginny Krieger and Chay Woerz and programmer extraordinaire Steve Shor, and pulled off a pitch-perfect transition last year by passing the torch to Krieger. As the new executive director, she brought in artistic director Carl Spence, of Seattle and Barcelona fame, and the experienced PR person Jill Golden, who are obviously doing a fantastic job, as evidenced by the films.
The two main leads from 'Joyland', out of Pakistan, the fabulous, deep Alina Khan (lf) and moody powerhouse Ali Junejo (rt). photo: courtesy Saim SadiqIndeed, each of the seven films I saw was strong and a couple were masterpieces, notably “Joyland” and “Master Gardener”. The latter is a deep dive into Pakistani family life and its remarkably robust cabaret scene, focusing on a young married man falling in love with a trans singer but also much more, including avant-garde cinematography by Joe Saade. Oscar worthy, it may bring home the gold for Pakistan as well as writer-director Saim Sadiq.
“Master Gardener” is the new heavy weighter from Paul Schrader, of “Taxi Driver” (1976) and “Mishima” (1985) fame. Bookended innocently enough by the daily journal entries of the eponymous gardener, it is an aggressive exploration of modern multiculturalism, a claustrophobic battle of sex, blood and ideology between a white patrician woman, played by Signorney Weaver, her gigolo-master gardener with a severely checkered past (Joel Edgerton), and her niece, a young half-Black woman (Quintessa Swindell).
The 26th SIFF also had two shorts from Ukraine: “Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles”, about artists who switched to making tank obstacles, which I didn’t see, and “Human” (12 min), which I did, after meeting its director and producer at the smoking hot party on Saturday night.
Shuming He, who directed the smart, well written 'Ajoomma', appearing at one of Sonoma's smaller but nice theaters. photo: D. Blair The other amazing features I saw were “Ajoomma” (90 min), the freshman film by Shuming He. About a retired Singaporean woman on an innocuous tour of Korea, it unfolds into a tightly scripted adventure riddled with Korean soap operas, music stars and Yakuza, as well as romance and fantasy.
Yet another international Oscar contender I saw was “Fathers and Mothers” (96 min), directed by Paprika Steen and starring Denmark’s biggest actors. It addresses claustrophobia, political correctness and hipster families in the context of a liberal but all-controlling private school. Its first reel is a tour de force of scathing satire building into absurd but fully motivated scenes.
I also caught two great documentaries: “Judy Blume Forever” an aggressive look into the life of the famous young adult author, from co-directors Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok, which includes some lovely animation, and “Little Richard: I Am Everything”. Produced with help from CNN Films and Sam Wenner of Rolling Stone Films (son of Jann), Lisa Cortés’ portrait of the queer icon, preacher and superstar is one of the best music documentaries I have ever seen. It showed how Little Richard inspired everybody from Bowie and Jagger to Tom Jones and Prince but didn’t get his due until 1997, 20 years before his death.
Funke Fatale, the smoking hot band, at Sonoma's Saturday night party. photo: D. BlairEvery step of the way at SIFF you find yourself stumbling across events, wine tastings and gallery openings, culminating in the always-stellar Saturday night party, this one featuring a great band, Funk Fatale, eats and people.
It was there I met the 29-year-old Ukrianian filmmaker Khachatur Vasilian and his even younger producer Alex Denysov, who are now based in LA. Both Russian-speakers, they are refugees from Mariupol and Crimea, respectively and reflected the melancholic (Vasilian) and buoyant (Denysov) side of Ukrainian personalities. Their film, “Human”, concerns a man who wakes up in a field naked and runs to a lighthouse in the distance, and uses no language.
Vasilian, who immigrated as a child from Armenia to Ukraine, was inspired by his cinematographer, Olexiy Bardadym, who brought him to the light house location, where he wrote the script in five minutes. An up-and-coming filmmaker to watch, Vasilian is already under attack from rightwingers at home and abroad for “My Young Prince” a short about a teenager who falls in love with an older man, the first Ukrainian film about coming out.
Filmmaker Khachatur Vasilian, of the short 'Human', and his producer Alex Denysov, both Ukrainian. photo: D. Blair We talked for almost an hour in the back but then came out to enjoy the cream cake, champagne and fantastic stylings of Funk Fatale, in keeping with the noble Ukrainian tradition of balancing devastation with enjoyment.
Posted on Mar 31, 2023 - 09:53 PM
by Doniphan Blair and Jay Randy Gordon
Author enjoying some sun, rare during California's recent rainy season, in Sonoma, one of his favorite California film festivals. photo: D. BlairWhen I first drove out to Sonoma to attend its international film festival in 2009, I assumed it was a glorified advertisement for the town’s eating and drinking, which are fantastic. I was disabused of that notion utterly the following year when Robin Williams, the late, great Bay Area comedian, interviewed the actress Laura Hutton with uncanny intimacy, while eviscerating himself and teasing the audience, at the town's lovely Sebastiani Theater.
Although the Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF) did come to specialize in films about wine and food, it became so much more. In 2018, I caught “Quest”, an excellent, Oakland coming-of-age story (see cS article), and that trend toward innovative programming was on full display this year, the festival’s 26th iteration, which ran from March 22nd to the 26th.
Kevin McNeely, who ran SIFF for almost two decades with his colleagues Ginny Krieger and Chay Woerz and programmer extraordinaire Steve Shor, and pulled off a pitch-perfect transition last year by passing the torch to Krieger. As the new executive director, she brought in artistic director Carl Spence, of Seattle and Barcelona fame, and the experienced PR person Jill Golden, who are obviously doing a fantastic job, as evidenced by the films.
The two main leads from 'Joyland', out of Pakistan, the fabulous, deep Alina Khan (lf) and moody powerhouse Ali Junejo (rt). photo: courtesy Saim Sadiq“Master Gardener” is the new heavy weighter from Paul Schrader, of “Taxi Driver” (1976) and “Mishima” (1985) fame. Bookended innocently enough by the daily journal entries of the eponymous gardener, it is an aggressive exploration of modern multiculturalism, a claustrophobic battle of sex, blood and ideology between a white patrician woman, played by Signorney Weaver, her gigolo-master gardener with a severely checkered past (Joel Edgerton), and her niece, a young half-Black woman (Quintessa Swindell).
The 26th SIFF also had two shorts from Ukraine: “Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles”, about artists who switched to making tank obstacles, which I didn’t see, and “Human” (12 min), which I did, after meeting its director and producer at the smoking hot party on Saturday night.
Shuming He, who directed the smart, well written 'Ajoomma', appearing at one of Sonoma's smaller but nice theaters. photo: D. Blair Yet another international Oscar contender I saw was “Fathers and Mothers” (96 min), directed by Paprika Steen and starring Denmark’s biggest actors. It addresses claustrophobia, political correctness and hipster families in the context of a liberal but all-controlling private school. Its first reel is a tour de force of scathing satire building into absurd but fully motivated scenes.
I also caught two great documentaries: “Judy Blume Forever” an aggressive look into the life of the famous young adult author, from co-directors Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok, which includes some lovely animation, and “Little Richard: I Am Everything”. Produced with help from CNN Films and Sam Wenner of Rolling Stone Films (son of Jann), Lisa Cortés’ portrait of the queer icon, preacher and superstar is one of the best music documentaries I have ever seen. It showed how Little Richard inspired everybody from Bowie and Jagger to Tom Jones and Prince but didn’t get his due until 1997, 20 years before his death.
Funke Fatale, the smoking hot band, at Sonoma's Saturday night party. photo: D. BlairIt was there I met the 29-year-old Ukrianian filmmaker Khachatur Vasilian and his even younger producer Alex Denysov, who are now based in LA. Both Russian-speakers, they are refugees from Mariupol and Crimea, respectively and reflected the melancholic (Vasilian) and buoyant (Denysov) side of Ukrainian personalities. Their film, “Human”, concerns a man who wakes up in a field naked and runs to a lighthouse in the distance, and uses no language.
Vasilian, who immigrated as a child from Armenia to Ukraine, was inspired by his cinematographer, Olexiy Bardadym, who brought him to the light house location, where he wrote the script in five minutes. An up-and-coming filmmaker to watch, Vasilian is already under attack from rightwingers at home and abroad for “My Young Prince” a short about a teenager who falls in love with an older man, the first Ukrainian film about coming out.
Filmmaker Khachatur Vasilian, of the short 'Human', and his producer Alex Denysov, both Ukrainian. photo: D. Blair Posted on Mar 31, 2023 - 09:53 PM
