Film Screenings & Events | Communication Studies

Discover how SRJC is building community through the art of film. Read about programs and events offered to students and the public.

film makers on stage for discussion at PET film fest

Petaluma Film Alliance is a program of the SRJC Foundation dedicated to building community through the art of film. Santa Rosa Junior College, community businesses and individual members partner together to create year-around film programs with an emphasis on film education. PFA also offers regular internship opportunities for students to gain experience in programming and festival management at the Petaluma campus cinematheque and Film Fest Petaluma, the city’s annual short film festival.

PFA produces three major programs:

1. Petaluma Cinema Series: Wednesday night screenings from September through May of classic, foreign and independent films in the Carole L. Ellis Auditorium at the SRJC Petaluma Campus with guests, lectures and post-screening discussions.

cinema series lecture with guest in Ellis auditorium

Director, Daniel Kwan discusses the Film, "Swiss Army Man" at the Cinema Series

2. Film Fest Petaluma: an annual film festival held the first weekend of May at Petaluma’s historic Mystic Theatre, featuring the best new short films from around the world with filmmakers in conversation. Entries for the festival are accepted via FilmFreeway until early March. The 2023 Film Fest will was held on Saturday, May 6th.

Mystic Theater, downtown Petaluma where the Annual Film Fest Petaluma is held

3. Sonoma County Student Film Festival: an annual film festival usually held on a Friday in late March/early April, featuring the best student work from schools throughout Sonoma County. Entries for the festival are accepted via FilmFreeway until early March.

Winners of Sonoma Co student film competition

Finalists in the 2019 Student Film Festival

Watch the 2021 Sonoma County Student Film Festival here.

Visiting Filmmakers

Gabriel Osorio Oscar winner short animation speaking to students

Oscar Winner, Gabriel Osorio, talking to SRJC students about film animation

SRJC attracts acclaimed filmmakers from Hollywood and around the world to meet and work with our students. Past filmmakers include Finn Taylor (winner multiple Sundance Awards), Dean Cundey (legendary cinematographer of "Halloween" and "Jurassic Park"), Mark Ulano and Patrushkha Mierzwa (Quentin Tarantino’s Academy Award winning sound team) and Gabriel Osorio and Antonia Herrera (Oscar winners for "Bear Story").

Mark Ulano, Oscar Winner for Best Sound, discuss techniques with SRJC students