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Join us for the 4th Annual Bolinas Film Festival!
This four day experience will take place from September 17th to September 20th, 2026. Navigate below for information on featured films, schedules, and purchasing passes.
DUXBURY PASS
The Duxbury Pass is our premiere, all-access pass to the festival. It includes:
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Recognition as a film festival sponsor (on-screen and other)
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VIP access and priority seating at all films Friday and Saturday
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Access to The Opening Gala Night (enjoy chef-created culinary delights,a festival welcoming, and our very first film of the festival)
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Friday's Celebration of Cinema (a theatrical procession to the venue, a delicious meal at Coast Cafe, and a fantastic film)
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A custom gift bag curated with a selection of festival merchandise and local goodies
DUXBURY PASS
This ticket provides proof of purchase and event access.
Sept 17 - Sept 20
GET TICKETS
SOLD OUT
ALAMERE PASS
The Alamere Pass includes:
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Recognition as a film festival sponsor (on-screen and other)
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VIP access and priority seating at all films Friday & Saturday
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Friday Celebration of Cinema event (a ceremonial procession to the theater, a delicious home-style dinner, and a special film screening)
ALAMERE PASS
This ticket provides proof of purchase and event access.
Sept 18 - Sept 20
GET TICKETS
SOLD OUT
Opening Night Gala
thursday, sept. 17th
6:00 PM
The Opening Night Gala includes the festival's welcoming, a catered evening with local goodness by Fork Full of Earth, and select short films.
Opening Night Gala
This ticket provides proof of purchase and event access.
Sept 17 | 6:00PM
The Starlight / Calvary Theater
GET TICKETS
SOLD OUT
DINNER & MOVIE
FRIDAY, sept. 18th
5:00 PM - 9:00PM
Enjoy a bountiful dinner and music at the Coast Café, then step into the story of Luis Valdez, the pioneering playwright and filmmaker known as the father of Chicano theater. American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez, a 2026 documentary directed by David Alvarado, explores his remarkable life, groundbreaking career, and lasting cultural impact. Come experience his story on the big screen and celebrate the legacy of an artist who helped reshape American theater and film.
Directed by David Alvarado
Run time: 93 minutes
individual FILM TICKETS
JOIN THE PRE-festival fun!
surfilmusic
Saturday, September 12th, 8:00-9:30 PM
Bolinas Park, Downtown
Join us for an evening celebrating ocean love and surf culture, big screen films, and community gathering in the park in the heart of Bolinas. The show begins . Featuring SURFILMUSIC, the acclaimed new documentary from Jack Johnson and Emmett Malloy , tracing Jack Johnson's journey from surfer and surf filmmaker to world-renowned musician through rare archival footage, surf films, music, and personal reflections. This special gathering is sure to be an unforgettable evening under the canopy of night.
FREE!
Please note: this is weather permitting.
Saturday short block 1
Saturday, September 19th, 1:00-2:30 PM
Calvary Starlight Theater
Three Short Films
And Life Goes On: Receiving the Unforeseen
Some things arrive without permission: a discovery, an accident, a feeling that surfaces before it's invited. These stories sit inside that moment of interruption. None of these characters get the story they're bracing for. What they get instead is the harder task: living inside what actually happens. And yet, there's nothing else we can do.
Saturday short block 2
Saturday, September 19th, 3:30-4:45 PM
Calvary Starlight Theater
Five Short Films
Between Ruin and Hope
Five stories spanning across five continents that move outward in scale, from the smallest human failures to the largest forces shaping our present and future: greed, disaster, technology, power, and the art we craft to make sense of it all. At every turn, something threatens to overwhelm the simple humanity caught inside it. And at every turn, something deep within resists that total ruin.
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The Life & death of westerly windina
Saturday, September 19th, 7:00-8:45 PM
Calvary Starlight Theater
An intimate and deeply human portrait of a singular life, The Life and Death of Westerly Windina traces a journey of identity, transformation, belonging, and self-invention. Tender, surprising, and moving, the film celebrates the complexity of a life lived on its own terms and the lasting imprint one person can leave on a community.
Presented in person with the filmmakers Jamie Brisick and Alan White, including a post-screening Q&A.
downbeat
Saturday, September 19th, 8:00-9:30 PM
Calvary Starlight Theater
Directed by Danny Madden, 90 mins
Raw, kinetic and driven by the rhythms of the street, DOWNBEAT is a fiercely independent portrait of talent, self-destruction, family and second chances.
Accolades
Official Selection: SXSW 2026, Narrative Spotlight
Winner: Jury Award for Directing, 2026 Stony Brook Film Festival
SUNDAY LOCAL LOVE
Sunday, September 20th, 1:00-2:30 PM
Calvary Starlight Theater
A Collection of Local Films
Short films by local filmmakers, including experimental, documentary, and more. Featuring Nina Venezia, Oliver Whitcroft, Lucian Patton, and more...
Free entrance to this screening!
Reggae gilrz
Sunday, September 20th, 5:00-6:30 PM
Calvary Starlight Theater
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Trish Dalton and two-time Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, 90 mins
REGGAE GIRLZ follows the extraordinary journey of Jamaica’s Women’s National Football Team as they fight their way to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Facing financial struggles, institutional neglect and some of the most formidable teams in the world, the Reggae Girlz refuse to be counted out. With support from Cedella Marley and the Marley family, they emerge as an unforgettable underdog story about perseverance, national pride and the power of women in sport. Featuring a vibrant reggae soundtrack from the Marley family and Tough Gong Records.
Local love free tickets for this!
sunday gallery Films
Sunday, September 20th, 2:30-4:45 PM
Bolinas Gallery
A selection of local and international short films
Block 1: What's Real and What's Imagined (2:30-3:30)
Each of these films holds two worlds at once: the one being lived and the one being imagined. Sometimes we use imagination to delude ourselves and soften a truth, and sometimes it's the only way to survive it. This block examines what we're doing when we choose to believe a different story than the one that exists and what that might cost or enable when reality asks for its due.
Block 2: Surfacing and Becoming (3:45-4:45)
Four stories covering individual struggles to embody something the world hasn't made room for yet. Becoming rarely looks like a triumph while it's happening. These four films catch that messy middle — the desire, doubt, and desperation — long before the world can reflect back any personal change that's transpired. But when it does, it's all the more meaningful knowing where you've been.
