'Maspalomas' Wins Grand Jury Prize at Sonoma Fest
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- "Maspalomas" won the Grand Jury Award for best narrative feature at the 29th Sonoma International Film Festival, which wrapped March 29; directors Aitor Arregi and Jose Mari Goenaga's Spanish film was praised by the jury as "an authentic and rare depiction of an elder man confronting personal and physical crisis at the onset of the COVID pandemic" in a "nuanced and moving queer drama."
- SIFF screened 104 films from 37 countries over five days in Northern California, with artistic director Carl Spence citing record-breaking attendance and ticket sales and calling 2026 "a landmark community celebration of film, food, wine, and fun."
- Filmmaker and artist Julian Schnabel accepted the Sonoma Visionary Artist Award at a screening of his film "In the Hand of Dante," with special guest Tom Waits on hand; filmmaker talks and panels featured Barry Jenkins and Lulu Wang.
- "State of Firsts" from U.S. helmer Chase Joynt won the Grand Jury Award for documentary feature; the jury called it "a nuanced portrait of leadership and responsibility" that "showcases the wholeness of a person in an industry and society so quick to tokenize."
- Marie-Elsa Sgualdo took the Special Jury Prize in Directing for Swiss film "Silent Rebellion," cited for its "unflinching portrayal of a virtuous teen in WWII era Europe."
- Steven Soderbergh's "The Christophers" won the Stolman Audience Award for Best Film, while Maude Apatow's "Poetic License" opened the festival; the A3 Audience Award for Best Documentary went to "Jane Elliott Against the World."
- Short film winners included "A Very Normal Seeming Man" (Live Action, U.S.), "Voices From the Abyss" (Documentary, Mexico), and "Two Black Boys in Paradise" (Animated, U.K.).
Why it matters: SIFF's 2026 edition drew record-breaking attendance and ticket sales across 104 films from 37 countries, per artistic director Carl Spence — a concrete data point for appetite at a smaller, curated festival outside the major fall circuit. The mix of an A-lister tribute (Soderbergh audience award, Schnabel visionary honor) and world-cinema premieres positions Sonoma as a prestige stop filmmakers can use to build Oscar-season momentum.
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