Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival

Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival

Contact Info

City
Sebastopol
Website
Website

Event Info

Event Date
March 16, 2023
Event End Date
March 19, 2023

Designed for independent documentary filmmakers–the voices of our culture–SDFF enters its 12th year. It is the year of Destination: DOCS where films and their directors will converge on this small town in Northern California to share their stories.

We present these films to engage our community and stimulate critical thinking. DOCS have the power to catapult adventurous spirits on explorations to the edge of the world and into deepest chasms of the heart.

Our Mission The mission of the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is to bring the best independent documentary films in the world, and their filmmakers, to Sonoma County audiences. The event, now in its eleventh year, continues to bring audiences from all across Northern California to meet and engage with filmmakers from around the world in late March.

Why Sebastopol? The city of Sebastopol has long stood for social justice and direct action for a variety of causes through the years. This has lead to a very engaged, politically, and socially savvy audience that seeks to better understand the world we inhabit and the complex interconnections between people, animals, plants and the broader ecosystem. Sebastopol also provides an unparalleled level of hospitality to the filmmakers who attend. Every year, Sebastopol residents open their homes in order to provide an experience unlike anywhere else in the film festival circuit.

Audiences The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival exhibits on six screens simultaneously along with venue partner Rialto Cinemas Sebastopol, presenting an average of 60-70 films per year to a combined audience of 4,000 documentary film lovers, industry guests, and fellow filmmakers.

Educational Programs The festival provides a number of educational programs during the festival event weekend, including Peer Pitch West, a collaborative opportunity for documentary filmmakers to get constructive feedback on their documentary works-in-progress from an audience comprised of other filmmakers and documentary enthusiasts. Peer Pitch West is produced in partnership with Washington D.C.-based Docs in Progress and online documentary community The D-Word.

The festival also provides an annual panel discussion or a speaker on a specific topic of documentary film production or construction. Subjects have ranged from sound design to cinematography to music composition and more. Each year provides an excellent opportunity to learn from some of the masters of the craft.

This year we are bringing Filmmakers into classrooms to screen and discuss their work. We’re excited for the new educational opportunities that lie ahead.

Festival Presenter The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is presented by Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Sebastopol Center for the Arts is a grassroots, nonprofit arts center created in 1988 by a coalition of art, business and community members to provide art programs and services for all sectors of the community.