Seventh Annual Napa Valley Film Festival Films,
Special Events and Celebrity Tribute Honorees
Honorees Included Will Ferrell (Maverick Actor Tribute), Nancy Meyers (Legendary Filmmaker Award), Michael Shannon (Trailblazer Tribute) and Michael Stuhlbarg (Spotlight Tribute)
Rising Star Tributes Were Awarded to Ana de Armas, Odeya Rush, Austin Stowell, Gregg Sulkin and Alex Wolff
A Special Humanitarian Tribute was given to Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder
Additional actors who attended included David Arquette, Zoey Deutch, Lou Diamond Phillips, Thomas Middleditch, Haley Joel Osment, Dennis Quaid, Jim Rash, Eric Stoltz, Lea Thompson, Elijah Wood and many more.
The seventh annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) complete film line-up included Opening and Closing Night, as well as special events and tributes. NVFF returned this fall with its five-day festival showcasing the year’s best new independent films November 8-12. Organizers showcased Napa Valley’s finest food and wine at all special events, including the Festival Gala, VIP receptions and Vintner Circle dinners, and featured a lively series of filmmaker-chef collaborative demonstrations at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA)’s new facility, the CIA at Copia, in downtown Napa. The nine screening venues located throughout the valley included the historic Cameo Cinema, Charles Krug Winery, CIA at Copia Theater, Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch, Freemark Abbey, JaM Cellars Ballroom at the Margrit Mondavi Theater at the Napa Valley Opera House, Lincoln Theater, Native Sons and the Uptown Theatre.
“We are delighted with the diversity and quality of this year’s films, food and wine programming and special events,” said Marc Lhormer, co-founder and Executive & Artistic Director. “Our cinematic harvest table is truly overflowing with the stellar results of copious blood, sweat and tears from so many talented artists; truly a feast for lovers of film, food and wine.”
CELEBRITY TRIBUTES
NVFF's line-up of Celebrity Tributes saluted the highest levels of cinematic achievement. The festival honored Charles Krug Legendary Filmmaker Nancy Meyers (It’s Complicated, The Intern), Raymond Vineyards Trailblazer Michael Shannon (The Current War, The Shape of Water), and Spotlight Tribute honoree Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name; The Shape of Water). New this year, The Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch Humanitarian Tribute was presented to Nikki Reed (Twilight, Ian Somerhalder Foundation) and Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries, Ian Somerhalder Foundation). The Celebrity Tributes program took place on Thursday, November 9 at the Lincoln Theater in Yountville and included video highlight reels and intimate on-stage conversations with Access Hollywood’s Natalie Morales.
In addition to the Celebrity Tributes program, Will Ferrell (Anchorman; Daddy’s Home 2) was honored with the Caldwell Vineyards Maverick Tribute on Friday, November 10, and the first annual Rising Star Showcase at Materra | Cunat Vineyards on Saturday, November 11 honored a handful of young talent including Ana de Armas (War Dogs; Blade Runner 2049), Odeya Rush, (Lady Bird, Goosebumps), Austin Stowell (Battle of the Sexes, Bridge of Spies), Gregg Sulkin (Runaways, Faking It) and Alex Wolff (My Friend Dahmer; Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle).
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
NVFF kicked off with their Sneak Preview Night on Tuesday, November 7 with a special presentation of Fox Searchlight Pictures’ The Shape of Water. The film, directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg, is an other-worldly tale of Elisa whose life is changed forever when she and a co-worker Zelda discover a secret classified experiment at the hidden high-security government laboratory where they work.
The festival’s official opening night film was The Weinstein Company’s The Upside, directed by Neil Berger and starring Bryan Cranston, Nicole Kidman and Kevin Hart. This crowd-pleasing film is a comedic look at the relationship between a wealthy paraplegic and an unemployed man with a criminal record who’s hired to help him. Closing the festival was the STX Entertainment film Molly’s Game, directed by Aaron Sorkin and starring Jessica Chastain, Kevin Costner and Idris Elba in the true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target.
The festival also played host to an incredible selection of films, including many of this year’s award-contenders, such as:
OTHER FILM AND EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
As part of the festival’s Sneak Preview Night, Blue Note Napa, in partnership with NVFF, featured two performances by Dennis Quaid and The Sharks on Tuesday, November 7.
The Award Ceremony took place at the Uptown Theatre on Saturday, November 11 during which the winners of the Juried and Audience Awards was revealed, and each winner was presented with a large format collectible bottle of wine from one of the festival’s Vintner Circle partners. The winners of the Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature each received a $10,000 check courtesy of Meadowood Napa Valley.
The Festival Gala immediately followed the Award Ceremony at the CIA at Copia and featured cuisine from many of the Valley’s local culinary stars, wines Napa Valley’s vintners, Stella Artois beer and cidre, and craft cocktails from local mixologists. Many of the festival’s attending filmmakers and celebrity guests were in attendance.
NVFF proudly partnered again this year with Lexus and The Weinstein Company (TWC) for the 4th season of Lexus Short Films. This year four new filmmakers were chosen from thousands of applicants by a prestigious selection committee helmed by renowned storytellers Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer; Training Day), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman; Monster) and Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water; Wind River). The winning filmmakers were announced at a special private event at Charles Krug Winery on Thursday, November 9, with Patty Jenkins in attendance, and were acknowledged at the NVFF Awards Ceremony on November 11.
The rest of the NVFF film line-up was as follows:
Core Competitions (previously announced)
Narrative Features:
Documentary Features:
The Lounge
Features:
Special Presentations
The festival also featured Short Film Programs: 8 Lounge Shorts: 20 Narrative Shorts; 21 Documentary Shorts; and 12 Short Features (short films that have a run time between 25 and 50 minutes).
About The Napa Valley Film Festival
The ultimate celebration of film, food and wine, NVFF lights up wine country at the most colorful time of year, November 8-12. NVFF presents over 120 new independent films and studio sneak previews in 9 beautiful venues throughout the Valley. Attendees interact with over 300 filmmakers at screenings, and enjoy wine tastings, culinary demos, winemaker dinners, Celebrity Tributes, the Awards Ceremony and Festival Gala, Opening and Closing Night parties and more. The Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization headquartered in Napa, California. Visit www.nvff.org for more information or call 707.226.7500
Presenting Sponsor: Lexus Short Films
Major Sponsor: Meadowood Napa Valley
Leading Sponsors: Stella Artois, HP, Charles Krug Winery, Westin Verasa Napa, Raymond Vineyards, Cognition, Colorzone, AVMS, DoNapa
Supporting Sponsors: Bank of America, Freemark Abbey, Whole Foods Market, Materra | Cunat Family Vineyards, Farmstead Long Meadow Ranch, Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch
Media Sponsors: Travel + Leisure, Wine Spectator, Variety, NCM, Xfinity