Films
We are a wine and film festival. This year we focused film submissions to wine-related films. The theme was and is: wine, passion, and the quest of discovery. Films could be documentaries about wine-making, but could also be fiction with some connection to wine. Perhaps the story is about how wine foments friendships or perhaps ruins them. Perhaps a vineyard is one's safe place, and children playing in the vineyard are memories of a fond past or maybe they are angels foreshadowing one's next chapter.
We want to ensure that you see quality, high-grade films at our festival. Many of the films shown this year have won awards at other film festivals in Europe and worldwide or were selected to be shown at those festivals. Other films we are presenting this year are being premiered at our festival, never having been shown at other film festivals. Our panel of screeners comes from different age groups and backgrounds across the United States. After taking a critical look at the films, our panel recommended them!
In 2013 the viticultural conditions in Napa and Sonoma were absolutely perfect. Our story follows the journey of some of the world’s finest winemakers as they dance to the unpredictable rhythms of Mother Nature, taking advantage of the most epic vintage in years and the rare opportunity to 'call their pick' based solely on taste. Wine is the voice of the vineyard - a living quintessence of all that went into creating it - the land, the weather, the people, and ultimately the fruit - each bottle a liquid time capsule. Beautiful cinematography showcases the stunning beauty of one of the world’s top wine growing regions and the most romantic aspect of terroir - the people. With a backstage pass to Napa, winemakers, vintners, and sommeliers share their passions and techniques in bringing that perfect bottle of wine from the vine to your table - wine being one of the few crafted products where you can trace it's origin back to where it's from and to the people who made it. From pruning to pouring, tasting notes to the point system, watch as both winemakers and wine critics discover that 2013 was truly A Perfect Vintage.
documentary
1h 37m
directed by Troy Christian
documentary
24m
directed by Bianca Butti, Claire Paparazzo
Documentary short from NY Sommelier Claire Paparazzo about Nature & French winemaker Francois Blanchard at Le Grand Clere in the Loire Valley.
Through a colorful mosaic of stories, this documentary film aims to demystify Crete as a winemaking region and offers a rare insider glimpse into the indigenous grape varieties, the people behind them and the challenges they are facing with the eminent climate change. Filmed, edited and directed entirely by Chrisa Giorgi, the project reveals the ancient grape varieties and the unique terroir of Crete.
Professor Emeritus Manolis Stavrakakis and Master of Wine-Konstantinos Lazarakis, give their honest, authentic and critical opinions about each region, grape variety, terroir, and wine. They will also explain what makes the terroirs so unique and how the interested wine drinker can make the best choice wine-wise.
documentary
1h 36m
directed by Chrisa Giorgi
Ángel and Sergio are wine distributors. They are looking for Pardina. They have something important to deliver to her, what she've always been looking for. Their mission makes them travel around the world in search of a needle in a haystack.
short
7m
directed by Alberto Calvo Báez
Archie has known the secret to grapes and children all his life as he nurtures both with a delicate hand and open mind. Dementia has slowly been taking Archie’s thoughts, bringing worry to his wife and daughter but drawn to the unseeing children in his vineyard, Archie searches for the them. Ultimately, he finds them.
short
11m
directed by Francisco C Torres
Tracey and Todd are invited over by friends Mark and Mary to enjoy wine by the fire pit in the backyard under the stars. Mark is employed by the Department of Defense and shares some details of the work he is involved in. When Tracey spots a possible UFO, the evening quickly takes a sinister turn, resulting in a definitive answer to the age old question: "Are We Alone"?
short
10m
directed by Theo Theroux
A late night art class: An unhappily married tutor. A bereaved young man. Their model...
A 15 minute short, shot entirely in one take.
Late one night, a married woman invites a younger man into her art studio to teach him how to draw. Fuelled with wine, what seems like a clear agenda for them both rapidly veers off course when their comfortable intimacy propels him to face his own unavoidable truth.
short
15m
directed by David Wayman
A recent death in the family brings three sisters together where they discover a shared dark past that changes everything they thought they knew about each other and their family.
short
17m
directed by Bill Sorvino
Follow the host, Jack, as he journeys through the Finger Lakes wine region and discovers what this incredible place has in store for the future of wine.
documentary
26m
directed by Jack Kauffman
WINE and WAR is a feature documentary about the history of winemaking in Lebanon and the resilience of the Lebanese entrepreneurial spirit seen through the lens of war and instability. In a time of global angst, the film is a timely reminder that uncertainty is a way of life for many and looks at the challenges of making wine in a region that has always lived with upheaval.
Lebanon’s wine culture stretches back, almost 7,000 years, and the second millennium BC, the Phoenicians, a Canaanite people who inhabited the Levantine coast, created a powerful trading empire that gave the gift of wine to the then known world, including Greece and ancient Rome.
This unique documentary explains this historical journey, with testimonies from those who fought to make wine in the 1975-90 civil war, the 2006 summer war, and those who continue to produce in the shadow of regional instability.
Inspired by the award-winning book, Wines of Lebanon by Michael Karam, their astonishing stories tell of bravery, determination, and survival and how wine can be a unifier and a metaphor for life, hospitality, civilization, and a force for good in a region defined by turmoil and animosity.
But above all, as we brace ourselves for change not seen in our lifetime, Wine and War is a compelling reminder that history is fraught with challenges that have been faced and ultimately overcome. In a region that is not automatically associated with wine, it is a story of epic achievement, one that shows the best side of humanity, it’s history; it’s tradition of hospitality, and its generosity of spirit.
documentary
1h 27m
directed by Mark Johnston, Mark Ryan
A comedic spoof of Goodfellas.
An aspiring winemaker discovers the unscrupulous, criminal underworld of the wine industry. "Wine Doesn't Pay"
