The 29th edition of the food- and wine-laden Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF) — March 25–29, 2026 — opened with the California premiere of the raucous college comedy “Poetic License” from debut writer Raffi Donatich and rookie director Maude Apatow, which played well at the venerable Sebastiani Theatre. The narrative audience award went to Steven Soderbergh’s UK art-world drama “The Christophers” (Neon, April 10), starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel, while the Documentary audience award went to “Jane Elliott Against the World,” which has been seeking distribution since this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Spain’s queer drama “Maspalomas” took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature.
“Poetic License” filmmakers Donatich and Apatow have promising futures. Apatow directs her mother Leslie Mann (“This is 40”) as a disaffected professor’s wife auditing a poetry class who befriends bumbling students Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) and Andrew Barth Feldman (“Saturday Night”). After the screening and Q&A, Donatich addressed the situation with financially distressed distributor Row K, which refused delivery of the film, which had been scheduled for May 15 release. She told me that she hoped some of the eager bidders at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival would be willing to step up again. Sonoma Artistic Director Carl Spence was relieved to get delivery of the film to the festival in time for his opening night.
Spence has elevated the festival since he joined in 2022. He’s figured out how to curate crowdpleasers for Northern California audiences, and with executive director Ginny Krieger, there’s the lure of top local wineries and fine restaurants to support the festival and host culinary delights.
SIFF 2026 presented 104 films from 37 countries, 41 narrative features, 16 documentaries, and 47 short films. Ticket sales were up, yet again, as audiences flocked to the centerpiece film, “The Christophers,” a delightful two-hander that attending screenwriter and frequent Soderbergh collaborator Ed Solomon (“No Sudden Move”) wrote for McKellen and Coel, he told me. Neon picked up the film a month after its TIFF debut. Assuming audiences turn up for this charming movie, an Oscar campaign could be on the horizon.
Moviegoers also packed the house for “In the Hand of Dante” (Netflix), directed by Sonoma International Film Festival Visionary Artist Award recipient Julian Schnabel. His Venice entry triggered multiple walkouts in Sonoma, though, especially during a scene featuring the always solid Oscar Isaac getting tortured. Because the filmmaker sat through the movie in a theater featuring two front exits, he saw every departure and expressed his displeasure to moderator Eugene Hernandez, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, who valiantly tried to keep the digressive director on track during the Q&A.
At a festival dinner, Schnabel told me he preferred the audiences at the Venice and Santa Barbara International Film Festivals. We will see how the movie fares at the New York premiere in June at Tribeca, followed by a booking at Netflix’s Paris Theatre. (Netflix will surely program a Schnabel retrospective.)
Filmed on multiple locations in Italy in gorgeous color and black-and-white, Schnabel’s ambitious, indulgent, sprawling two-tiered period drama based on Nick Tosches’ 2002 novel about Dante’s lost 14th-century manuscript for “The Divine Comedy” will play to select audiences only. It’s a pity that Schnabel chose not to trim down the film, which looks far more expensive than $18 million euros. There’s a terrific movie buried in a two-and-a-half-hour runtime — which cost him a competition slot at Venice.
SIFF audiences also watched 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.”
Sonoma always mounts a few engaging panels. I moderated the Industry Veterans Tell All panel which featured hilarious stories of film festivals gone wrong from ex-Sundance director John Cooper, now launching The Film Festival of Love in California’s Russian River Valley; Cohen Media executive Robert Aronson, who worries about the sustainability of theatrical arthouse releases; marketing execs Julie Fontaine (IMAX) and Laura Kim (Mubi), and Women in Film CEO Kirsten Schaffer, who is dismayed by the backsliding in the hiring of women in the film industry.
Variety’s Carole Horst moderated “The Art of Casting: The Craft Behind the New Oscar,” a fascinating conversation about 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 Rubin, who helped to push through the new Oscar category when he was Academy president.
And three festival juries gave out awards including the Narrative Feature Grand Jury — Gregory Ellwood (The Playlist), Max Geschwind (CAA), and Schaffer (Women in Film); The Documentary Feature Grand Jury — Jo Addy (SoHo House), Nick Price (Reel South), and Ania Trzebiatowska (Sundance); and The Short Film Grand Jury — Erik Anderson (Awards Watch), Kerry Barden (Casting Director), and Schuyler Fisk (Artist).
Winners are listed below.
GRAND JURY FILM AWARDS
Grand Jury Award | Best Narrative Feature:
“Maspalomas” (Jose Mari Goenaga, Aitor Arregi | Spain)
Jury Statement: “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.”
Special Jury Prize for Directing
“Silent Rebellion” (Marie-Elsa Sgualdo | Switzerland )
Jury Statement: “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.”
Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature:
“State of Firsts” (Chase Joynt | USA)
Jury Statement: “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.’”
Grand Jury Award | Short Films
Grand Jury Award: Live Action Short
“A Very Normal Seeming Man” (Director Al Pattanashetty | USA)
Jury Statement: “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)
Jury Statement: “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.”
Special Mention for Cultural, Environmental and Community Impact: “Abalone Stories: Loss, Connection, Renewal” (USA, Dir. Cynthia Abbott)
Grand Jury Award: Animated Short
“Two Black Boys in Paradise” (Director Baz Sells | UK)
Jury statement: “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 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
2nd Runner-up: “Primavera” (Italy) Directed by: Damiano Michieletto
3rd Runner-up: “Colors Of Time” (France) Directed by: Cedric Klapisch
4th Runner-up: “I Swear” (United Kingdom) Directed by: Kirk Jones
The A3 Audience Award for Best Documentary
“Jane Elliott Against the World” (USA) Directed by: Judd Ehrlich
1st Runner-up: “The Six Billion Dollar Man” (USA) Directed by: Eugene Jarecki
2nd Runner-up: “The Art of Adventure” (Canada) Directed by: Alison Reid
3rd Runner-up: “The Balloonists” (USA) Directed by: John Dower
4th Runner-up: “Raoul’s, A New York Story “(USA) Directed by: Greg Olliver, Karim Raoul
The McNeely Award for Best Short Film
“Abalone Stories”: Loss, Connection, Renewal (USA) Directed by: Cynthia Abbott
1st Runner-up: “Sense of Emergency” (USA) Directed by: Madeline Down
2nd Runner-up: “Sauna Sickness” (Sweden) Directed by: Malin Barr
3rd Runner-up: “Check Please” (USA) Directed by: Shane Chung
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.
