Musings: The very first Sonoma film festival

It seems like only a few years ago that the late Jerry Seltzer came into the Index-Tribune to tell me about his idea for a Sonoma Valley film festival.

I treasure the memory, but my time estimate was way off.

It’s been 25 years — October, 1997 to be exact. Jerry died in 2019 at the age of 87, but his idea and the festival he created is alive and well.

Back then, Jerry was already well-known as the owner of Roller Derby and the founder of BASS Tickets. He was really fired up about the film festival idea and wouldn’t take no for an answer, convincing me that the Index-Tribune should be the festival’s media sponsor. We agreed to not only promote the festival, but create and publish the program.

He got Sonoma Valley’s own artistic genius, Dennis Ziemienski, to create the festival’s first poster, which became part of the program cover. I wish I still had a copy.

Jerry and Carolyn Stolman, his festival co-founder, set October 17-19 for the festival and recruited an advisory committee that included Bob Nicholas, Suzanne Brangham, Jack Burkam, Francis Ford Coppola, Bruce Cohn, Mary Colhoun, Richard Cuneo, Danny Glover, Stephen Havlek, Bernie Krause, John Lasseter, Sonoma Mayor Albert Mazza, Janet Nicholas, Roger Rhoten, Sylvia Sebastiani, Tommy Smothers, Catherine Stone, Robert Stone, Mare Winningham and me.

That first Sonoma Valley Film Festival became a benefit for the Sonoma Sister Cities Association, which at the time included cities located in the Ukraine, Mexico and Italy. Some of the money raised also went to the newly upholstered seating and carpeting for the Sebastiani Theatre.

The event began Friday night with a ‘50s-style film themed dinner and dance in the Plaza that included wine-tasting booths scattered throughout. It was followed on Saturday night with JaMel and Tom Perkins hosting a Casablanca-themed party in the Mission’s courtyard. A neon sign at the entrance announced "Rick's Cafe Americain" and uniformed French gendarmes strolled among the tents full of diners. It was a fantastic party. The highlight of my evening was meeting film star Danny Glover, who asked me for directions to the men’s room.

Jerry and Carolyn and their committee recruited 300 volunteers for the weekend which attracted more than 2,000 film-goers. All of the films were shown at Sebastiani Theater.

Films included the world premiere of "The Man In The Iron Mask.” Cast members Timothy Bottoms, Edward Albert, Dennis Hayden and Dana Barrons and director William Reichert were honored guests; “A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon,” “Four Days in September,” and a film smuggled out of Serbia entitled “Better Than Escape,” and a bunch more.

"Toy Story" creator John Lasseter led a directors' event on the evolution of special effects. His panel included Gary Rydstrom of Skywalker Sound; director Richard Fleischer ("20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"); Disney animator John Musker ("Hercules," "Little Mermaid" and "Alladin"); and Dennis Muren of Industrial Light and Magic.

On Sunday, Napa Valley winemaker Robert Mondavi and Sonoma’s Sylvia Sebastiani were special guests for the showing of the documentary "Little Italy.”

The first festival was small and intimate compared to more recent versions, but it started a grand local tradition. It is gratifying to see that the festival continues on with a great deal of that local spirit that made that premier event so special.

May it always be so.