Filmmaker John Lasseter will receive a star-studded Tribute during the upcoming Tenth Anniversary Sonoma Valley Film Festival scheduled to be held in the heart of California wine country from April 11-15, 2007. Actor John Ratzenberger, whose voice can be heard in each of Lasseter’s animated movies, will serve as host of this special event on Saturday, April 14. Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin plus other luminaries also plan to share their reactions concerning Lasseter’s remarkable career and accomplishments.

Marc Lhormer, Executive Director of the Sonoma Valley Film Festival, calls Lasseter “the world’s premier storyteller” and “a legendary creative force inspiring a whole generation of filmmakers.” Lasseter directed the innovative movies Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2 and Cars. He also executive produced Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. It’s no surprise that all of these films have become extremely popular and well-loved throughout the world -- or that Lasseter earned a Special Achievement Oscar® in 1995 for his inspired leadership of the Toy Story team -- or that Finding Nemo became the highest grossing animated feature of all time as well as the Oscar® winner for “Best Animated Feature Film” of 2003.

Lasseter currently serves as Chief Creative Officer of Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and Principal Creative Advisor of Walt Disney Imagineering. As part of the Lasseter Tribute, the Festival will include a theatrical showing of Toy Story, a screening of rare and classic Pixar shorts, and a “Storytellers’ Panel” featuring top Pixar story artists.  

The Sonoma Valley Film Festival will also screen over 75 new independent films from various countries this year in a program that includes feature length narratives, documentaries, shorts and student films. Here are a few of the movie highlights illustrating the diversity of film offerings:

Do It for Johnny. Independent filmmaker Haylar Garcia’s mission to present a special guitar and movie script to actor Johnny Depp is chronicled in this terrific documentary. The impossible dream? Maybe, but “If someone looks at you and says, ‘That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,’ you should do it right away,” Garcia declares.

Canvas. Joe Pantoliano delivers his best performance yet as a family man dealing with his wife’s mental illness in this compelling drama. “It’s not a downer,” Pantoliano says. “This is an entertaining movie about hope and unconditional love. So many people are touched by mental illness and it goes undiagnosed. People need to know about this.”

Park. Over a dozen characters converge in a secluded park overlooking Los Angeles in this quirky comedy starring Billy Baldwin and Ricki Lake.

Big Night. Two brothers from Italy decide to open a restaurant in America. The wonderful Tony Shalhoub shines as a temperamental Master Chef in an exceptional film that’s definitely worth seeing more than once!

Black Irish. Brendan Gleeson and Michael Angarano co-star in this powerful coming-of-age movie about a teenage Irish-American boy who longs to gain the attention of his distant father.

After the Wedding. This family drama from Denmark was nominated for a 2007 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®.  

The Ghost of Sam Peckinpah.  Who do you call to save the Western genre?  Claymation cowboys, of course. At least that’s the idea behind this clever animated short.

For more information about the Sonoma Valley Film Festival, please visit www.SonomaFilmFest.org.   

(Photo: Festival Honoree John Lasseter.)