Wine Country Film Festival

Something is brewing on the Iberian Peninsula!

Perhaps the most exciting cinema of today is coming from the lands of Cervantes and Gaudi where a new energy is being provided for filmmaking far from the main center of Madrid, which could be considered Spain's Hollywood. For the first time in our 21 year history the Wine Country Film Festival is presenting a major focus on a national cinema. We call it "Paseo de España – A Walk of Spain." Our excursion takes us from Andalucia in the South to Catalunya in the South East to Pais Vasco (Basque Country) in the North East to Galicia in the North West.

What strikes me every time I travel to Spain is the purity of the diversity in each of these "Autonomous Regions" is that they have their own cultural heritage, cuisine and in the case of Galicia, Pais Vasco and Catalunya, their own languages. We have films from each of these regions that expresses their uniqueness and we combine this with wines from several regions on a ‘wine walk' to various stations around the plaza for samplings.

When thinking of Spain, we must consider the fact that since the Spanish Civil War of the 1930's Spain was controlled by Franco's fascist dictatorship that, along with censorship and worse, suppressed their languages. It was only after his demise in the 1975 that regional uniqueness began to openly flourish.

It was only recently that the Autonomous Regional Governments of Spain established Film Commissions and fund motion picture development and production. This is leading to a new wave of regionally produced films that not only offer unique story telling but also represent the cultures of their lands.

We have two wonderful films from the Basque Country, in the Basque language. Show Me the Way, Ixabel emphasizes the culture differences between the Spanish and Basque as a young Spanish student takes up residency on a Basque mountain farm to learn Euskara, the Basque language. He learns MUCH more than language... and so do we. Nomadak, TX is world tour of the most unusual percussionists ever. Don't miss this remarkable adventure. And the dramatic films from Galicia, Andalucia, and Catalunya all are unique representations of this "new" cinema. It was the rise of film commissions and regional cinema in the USA in the 1980's that led to the explosion of the American Independent Film Movement. We are predicting and hoping for a similar blossoming of new talent from the Spanish Regions as more opportunities present themselves.

We are deeply appreciative of the Ministry of Culture of Spain, ICAA – (Instituto De La Cinematografia Y De Las Artes Audiovisuales), Andalucia Film Commission, Catalan Film & TV, Latido Film, Manuel Llamas, Antonio Saura, José Luis de Damas and so many friends in Iberia for their patience and inestimable assistance. Be sure to get you Paseo de España Pass or individual tickets to all of these treasures. This is but one section (albeit the largest and most adventurous) of the films in our final week of the festival. Please check out many of them as they are not to found in your local movie house!

Stephen Ashton
Founder / Director