When ancient wisdom traditions are made accessible through the metaphor of tools, children, teachers and families discover ways to relate to each other that surprise and uplift their communities.

A lively, bilingual musical video visit with master woodcarver Ventura Fabian and his family in their small Mexican village of San Martin Tilcajete. Every member of this family works together to create some of the country's most colorful and creative folk art—the hand-carved, hand-painted wooden figures that have become one of Mexico’s most popular contemporary crafts.

85-year-old Rene di Rosa is smitten by art. A former San Francisco Chronicle reporter turned Napa Valley vintner, Rene's goal is neither about interior decorating nor increasing social status, but about the pure joy of discovery. He started buying art in the 1960s and now has over 2,000 works of contemporary art by Northern California artists. Smitten is not only about a man and his vast and extraordinary collection, it also offers a delightful commentary on the “art” of aging successfully. He says, “It is my greatest pleasure. Without it, I can’t function.”

Patrick’s Gallery tells the story of how artist Patrick Amiot and his family settled in Sebastopol, and how one piece of art, The Fisherman, transformed their lives and their community.

What happens to a four-year-old kid who grew up smoking pot and running barefoot on the wild streets of 1960s San Francisco? In Following Sean, a magical blend of deeply intriguing personal narrative and street-level investigation, filmmaker Ralph Arlyck tracks down Sean—the boy who had been the subject of his controversy-sparking 1969 documentary—to find out what he’s like 30 years later.

Vivien’s impressive list of credits as a film editor includes numerous award-winning documentaries, as well as notable narrative features such as Henry and June and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. She will explore the landscape of visual storytelling, including how to make 400 hours of film and video fun to organize, the artistic relationship with the audience, character development, and the marriage of music and picture. Vivien lives in Santa Rosa and has been editing for nearly 40 years.

A youth’s exploration of his grandmother’s struggle to find happiness and a family, stretching from China to the United States. Calvin Wong, the young director, allows the viewer an intimate look at his family roots. The story is one of adversity and triumph. Produced by TILT-Film Arts Foundation.

Haunted by his inability to prevent his father's death over thirty years ago, filmmaker Mark Lipman looks back at its impact and uncovers more than he bargained for. What begins as a personal memorial to his father evolves into a moving exploration of grief, depression, the vagaries of memory and the veneer of family normalcy.

A film about women, tradition, and making sense of modern life. The Return of Sarah’s Daughters is a story of three secular women's journey into the Orthodox Jewish world. As they grapple or embrace, their experiences throw pat answers about tradition, community, and meaning into relief.

Passion & Power is based on Rachel P. Maines’ ground-breaking book The Technology of Orgasm: Hysteria, the Vibrator and Women's Sexual Satisfaction. The film chronicles the invention of the vibrator and its impact on sexual politics by tracing it from a labor-saving device invented by doctors to cure women of “hysteria” to a household product manufactured and sold by mainstream companies like Sears Roebuck, General Electric and Hamilton Beach. This provocative, but tasteful documentary interviews historians Rachel Maines and Katharine Young; feminist pioneers Betty Dodson and Dell Williams; Texas housewife Joanne Webb and her lawyer, BeAnn Sisemore; and New York performance artist Reno.

Ellen Bruno is a San Francisco-based documentary filmmaker whose works have won more than 25 national and international awards. A recipient of both the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Fellowships, Ellen’s films combine extraordinary visual and sound artistry with often disturbing political realities. For more information, visit www.brunofilms.com.

Samsara documents the struggle of the Cambodian people to rebuild a shattered society in a climate of war and with limited resources. Ancient prophecy, Buddhist teachings, and folklore provide a context for understanding the Cambodian tragedy, bringing a humanistic perspective to a country in deep political turmoil. (1987, 29 min)

Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet, more than one million Tibetans have been tortured, executed or starved to death for their role in demonstrations against the Chinese occupation. Tibetan nuns have fearlessly staged demonstrations for independence. Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy focuses on the testimonies of these nuns, revealing continued religious oppression and human rights abuses in occupied Tibet. (1994, 28 min)

Sacrifice examines the social, cultural, and economic forces at work in the trafficking of Burmese girls into prostitution in Thailand. It is the story of the valuation and sale of human beings, and the efforts of teenage girls to survive a personal crisis born of economic and political repression. (1998, 50 min)

Leper provides a rare and intimate glimpse into a contemporary society of lepers in a remote village in Nepal. Villagers speak openly and emotionally about their relationship to their sickness, to the “healthy” community outside the village boundaries, and the myriad stigmas and misunderstandings which surround a disease that has marked their bodies and their lives. (2005, 25 min)

Sky Burial follows the ritual of “jha-tor,” the giving of alms to birds in a northern Tibetan monastery, where the bodies of the dead are offered to the vultures as a final act of kindness to living beings. (2005, 15 min)

Just Because You Can features a professional volcanologist in her sixties who cracks a whip for environmental change.

What happens when an 89-year-old idealist decides to walk across the country to demand that Washington lawmakers clean up their act? Granny D. Goes to Washington chronicles the extraordinary march across the U.S. by political activist Doris Haddock. Passionate about democracy, she walked 3,200 miles to dramatize the need to restore representative government in America and reduce the role of special interest money in politics. The film records her travels and conveys the infectious enthusiasm Granny D. inspired in the people she met.

This documentary focuses on the post-dictatorial turned democratic society of Santiago, Chile, and the important and changing role of women, activism, and creativity within that transitory structure. Santiago, as the center of the militarized state during the dictatorship, was once littered with torture sites large and small. Today, these sites have been replaced with art, memorial, and the endless search for the disappeared. In the Heart of Chile explores how memory manifests itself into forms of expression, and how the formerly oppressed are now affecting manifestation culture.

Every Beat of My Heart is a personal and musical biography of Johnny Otis, the musician, bandleader, producer and songwriter who is often called the Godfather of Rhythm & Blues. But it is more than the biography of one man, as the story of R&B is about much more than music. Johnny's six-decade odyssey through the world of African American music is a window into aspects of race and culture that have defined and transformed contemporary America and, in turn, have touched the rest of the world. We will be screening a “fine cut” of this exciting new documentary about a music legend who lived in Sebastopol for many years. Several scenes in the film take place in Sebastopol.

Johnny Otis Tribute Concert: The Jackie Payne/Steve Edmonson Band with Nicky Otis (Johnny’s son) on drums, plus special guests.  Jackie Payne was the featured singer in the Johnny Otis R & B Revue, and appears in the film.  Live at French Garden in Sebastopol on Saturday, November 10th, at 9:00 p.m. (after the film screening).  For more information, call 707-824-2030.

Forced from their homes by the Burmese government, more than 100,000 Karen people live in refugee camps along the border between Burma and Thailand; hundreds of thousands more hide in jungles. Don't Fence Me In chronicles the life of 70-year-old freedom fighter Major Mary On and her people's struggle for self-determination.

Against the backdrop of Saharan dunes and the sandy streets of the legendary cultural crossroads of Timbuktu, Mali, West Africa, this award-winning music documentary follows songwriter Markus James and three legendary masters of traditional Malian music as they travel, live, create, and perform original music together at the source of the ancient roots of Blues music.

A groundbreaking film that documents San Francisco’s highly controversial graffiti art movement. A story told by those who live the experience, Piece by Piece offers an intimate journey into the most intriguing and misunderstood artistic movement of modern youth culture. By detailing the last 20 years of San Francisco’s graffiti, this tale offers the most candid and accurate story behind the writing on the wall in Northern California.

This short documentary film paints a portrait of Abraham Elterman, a Mexican-Jewish Oakland-based artist, who has long dealt with issues of power, individuality and connectedness.

Noisy People opens a window into a tightly knit group of unusual sound artists and musicians from the San Francisco improvisational music community. Filmmaker Tim Perkis, himself a well-respected player in the Bay Area experimental music scene, followed his subjects for a year, filming them in their homes and studios, rehearsals and performances. What emerges is a set of funny and lively portraits of some very creative and quirky people—and a portrait of a way of life outside the commercial musical mainstream of America.

Imagine proclaiming yourself Emperor of the United States and having citizens go along with it. It happened in 1859 and San Francisco played the game. Watch as historian Peter Moylan reveals how Emperor Norton was able to charm San Francisco.