Well, the 46th annual Mill Valley Film Festival is now in the books, having concluded last Sunday night with a multi-screen unveiling of the much-anticipated new film Maestro, and one last big party that turned the streets of San Rafael into a dance club. Per tradition, the most common conversation-starter among the guests was the…
When you spend a lot of time at a film festival, you tend to adopt certain games to play while waiting for the next film to start. For example, at the annual Mill Valley Film Festival, which concludes its 10-day-run on Sunday, Oct. 15, there is a trailer that is shown before every screening, jammed…
On a warm Saturday, just after noon, João Federici — the Mill Valley Film Festival’s director of World Cinema programming — introduced the film Robot Dreams with a surprising admission. “This, I think, is my favorite film in the World Cinema lineup this year,” he said. “I love the characters and the story, and I…
In describing how he came up with the idea for his new film Day of the Fight, actor-turned-director Jack Huston (Ben Hur, Kill Your Darlings, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) told the opening night crowd at the Mill Valley Film Festival that it was the film’s star, Michael Pitt — with whom he worked on…
I have loved the idea of film festivals ever since I moved to Northern California in autumn of 1981 and ‒ while applying for a job in downtown Mill Valley ‒ saw a stack of programs for the upcoming Mill Valley Film Festival. What is now a world-renowned, 10-day-long cinematic showcase was then celebrating its…
When the first ever Petaluma Pride festival took place last October, organizers weren’t what to expect or how many people to count on showing up. Apparently, those cautious expectations were more than exceeded, because this year Petaluma Pride is expanding to three days, beginning with a dance party on Friday, Oct. 13 and concluding with…
For many people, when they drive past a homeless encampment or encounter a hungry person asking for spare cash, they quickly choose from a very short list of actions: looking the other way, offering help, writing letters to public officials or making a mental note to “do something” in the future. When Petaluma writer Nathaniel…
Four events taking place today (Saturday, May 16) in the North Bay (and viewable around the world!) 1. 4:30 p.m. Dirty Cello Dirty Cello performs love as part of Hopmonk Tavern Sebastopol’s new “In The Meantime’ love concert series. It happens on the Hopmonk Tavern Facebook page. Watch the show, send Rebecca Roudman and company…
Okay, this situation we now find ourselves in is overwhelming for everyone. Certain kinds of “creatives” may not be taking it harder, but one could argue they are taking it differently. When you are accustomed to creating in collaboration with others, what do you do when you are confined to your house for weeks at…
Bring Down the House By Rosa Joshi and Kate Wisniewski Adapted from William Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland is drawing close to wrapping up its ten-year-long commitment to staging all of Shakespeare’s plays within a single decade. That’s 36 shows in ten seasons, with crowd-pleasers like “A Midsummer…
North Bay Stage and Screen 