The Mendocino Film Festival emphasizes original and diverse storytelling, the art of cinema, personal engagement with filmmakers, and extraordinary hospitality. Join us festival weekend for over 50 independent films, across 4 venues on the beautiful Mendocino Coast.
For more than a century, celebrated directors have come to this beautiful and breathtaking area on the Mendocino Coast to make films, including East of Eden, Same Time Next Year, Summer of ’42, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!, Overboard (1987) and The Majestic, as well as the long-running and beloved TV series, Murder, She Wrote.
Building on this cinematic and artistic heritage, as well as our remarkable setting, an intrepid group of film aficionados and the legendary director Sydney Pollack helped found the Mendocino Film Festival in 2006. In the years since the Mendocino Film Festival has established a reputation for presenting award-winning international and independent films. We have become renowned on the festival circuit, drawing filmmakers, celebrity guests, and attendees from around the world while maintaining our commitment to the local community.
A scenic three-hour drive from San Francisco through the vineyards and redwoods of Northern California, Mendocino is known for its historic architecture, small-town ambience, rugged cliffs, and spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. Surrounding this coastal gem, Mendocino County is home to the world-famous vineyards of Anderson Valley, the towering redwoods of the emerald corridor, rolling hills, and the roaring rivers of the Upper Russian River Valley.
Step 1: Make travel arrangements. Reserve your lodging: visit our Hospitality Partners webpage. Concessions are available at all of our venues, for a more hearty meal and a refreshing beverage check out our Culinary Partners and Wine, Spirit, and Ale Partners. Out of town or local, we look forward to welcoming you to the Festival!
Step 2: Note screening dates and times. Our Mendocino Village venues are within easy walking distance of each other, but be sure to check the screening times and locations of the films you want to see. Coast Cinemas, our Fort Bragg venue, is a short 15 minute drive north of Mendocino. For venue locations and directions see our Venues page.
Step 3: Become a Member. Festival Members support independent film and arts education and receive invitations to exclusive Member events during the Festival and throughout the year. Plus, at the Producer level and above, your VIP pass will get you priority access to every screening. Passholders must arrive 20 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to ensure your seat.
Step 4: Pick up passes and buy tickets. Ticket sales open to the public on May 2. Members can pick up passes and tickets during box office hours at the Mendocino Film Festival office from May 2 -31 and at Festival Headquarters at Preston Hall (at the Presbyterian Church on Main St) June 2-5.
Please plan to arrive 20 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to ensure your seat. Remember: even if a screening is out of advance tickets, rush tickets may be available at the door. Rush lines begin 20 minutes to an hour before start-time.
Step 5: Let’s Get Social. Connect with us across our social media all year long. Follow us and join the conversation. #MendoFilm
See the festival in action in our Facebook photo gallery, each year attendees enjoy film screenings, Q&A’s, themed dance parties, and special events.
Each year, The Mendocino Film Festival invites you, our discerning audience, to determine the Audience Choice Award recipient. The award will be given to the highest-rated feature-length documentary or narrative film. Be sure to fill out the special ballots distributed at each screening. The winner will be announced on our website.
Made possible by the generous support of Braggadoon Signs & Graphics.
1904: First film, The Sequoia Sempervirens, shot in Mendocino
1940: Noyo Theatre founded in Willits
1954: East of Eden
1965: The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
1970: Summer of ‘42
1978: Same Time, Next Year
1982: Cujo stalks the streets of Mendocino
2006: Sydney Pollack helps found the Mendocino Film Festival
2007: Albert Maysles attends
2009: Danny Glover and Robert Elfstrom attend
2010: Wavy Gravy and Daniel Ellsberg perform magic show; Haskell Wexler wins Albert Maysles Award
2011: Roko Belic attends; Les Blank wins Albert Maysles Award
2012: Fort Bragg and Point Arena programs established
2013: Philo and Willits programs established
2013: Alloy Orchestra accompanies Silent Film Program
2014: Leslie Sbrocco, Claudia Lennear, and Warwick Ross attend
2015: Tenth Anniversary Celebrations.
2016: Q&A panelists include Andre Leon Talley of Vogue (First Monday in May) and Robert Trujillo of Metallica & Paul Marchand (Jaco)
2017: Keely & Pierce Brosnan (Poisening Paradise) and Dolores Huerta (Dolores) attend
2018: Special screening of Mi Familia (1995) with actors Jimmy Smits and Esai Morales, and director Greg Nava
2019: Jonathan Rhys Meyers attends with the film The 12th Man
2020 – 2021: Canceled due to Covid-19
2022: Looking forward to our 15th Annual Festival
Herb Stratford comes to the Mendocino Film Festival with over twenty years of experience. Herb works as a program director for the Napa Valley Film Festival, a program consultant for the Sonoma International Film Festival, and is the founder and programmer for Film Fest Tucson.
Pat Ferrero is a documentary filmmaker whose films have screened at Sundance, San Francisco, New York, and London International Film Festivals as well as on PBS. She has curated exhibits, was commissioned to make films for the Smithsonian, Carnegie Museum in Pittsburg, Oakland Museum, SF Zen Center and SFMOMA. She taught in an InterArts program for a decade and then 20 years in the Cinema program, in film production, at SF State University before moving to the Mendocino Coast 14 years ago. Pat has been active in helping the Mendocino Film Festival grow from year one and was the full- time Program Director for six years. She keeps her hand in with a sidebar called “Pat’s Picks.” We are delighted to screen these outstanding films that she handpicked for this year’s program: Satan and Adam, The Silence of Others, and The Shore Line Project.
