Films, food, fine wine at NVFF

BILLY BUSH of “Access Hollywood” interviews humanitarian award honoree Jeffrey Wright (“Angels in America”) during the inaugural Napa Valley Film Festival.

Robbi Pengelly/Index-Tribune

The first ever Napa Valley Film Festival, founded by Sonoma residents Brenda and Marc Lhormer, took over four towns last weekend, bringing with it a cultural hurricane of independent films, industry mixers and parties, culinary experiences and a few thousand bottles of wine.

Occurring simultaneously in Napa, Yountville, Calistoga and St. Helena, the event was more like four film festivals in one, as each location had its own unique offerings. Guests wandered from cooking demonstrations at the Bosch Culinary Stage at the former COPIA building in Napa to the wine pavilions in Calistoga and St. Helena to the celebrity tribute at the Lincoln Center in Yountville.

“We couldn’t do it in one village, it didn’t feel inclusive,” Brenda Lhormer said, adding that all four cities were eager and supportive in ushering in a new festival.

“There was really a hunger for art films,” she said.

Saturday was the event’s most star-studded evening as the festival honored Emmy award winning actor Jeffrey Wright (“Angels in America”) for his humanitarian efforts in Sierra Leone and recognized the career achievements of comedic actress Judy Greer (“The Descendants”).

The evening’s program was hosted by Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood,” who said it wasn’t hard to get him to the festival. “I said, ‘It’s in Napa? Done, win,’” he joked.

The Marin County-based nonprofit Roots For Peace, which works to safely remove the 70 million landmines located in 70 countries across the globe, kicked off the evening by presenting its Global Citizen Award to Robert and Margrit Biever Mondavi, the first people to throw a fundraiser for the organization when it began 15 years ago.

“I’m so glad to know you and I’m so proud of what you’ve done,” Biever Mondavi told Roots of Peace Founder Heidi Kühn. “My gosh girl, you did it.”

Greer discussed her life as Hollywood’s popular gal pal, since the actress often portrays the best friend to leading ladies such as Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway and Katherine Heigl. Recently she worked with director Alexander Payne on the George Clooney film “The Descendants,” which screened at the festival. Payne could not be in attendance but wrote a letter about Greer that said, “In her career, she’s been like God, invisible but omnipresent … She is a director’s dream actress.”

To which Greer responded, “Holy buckets.”

Wright was honored both for his lofty film career but more specifically for the work he has done with the Taia Peace Foundation, which seeks to provide opportunities for economic development in the war-torn African country of Sierra Leone. He said he sees his nonprofit work as a counter-balance to the glamorous indulgences of Hollywood.

“I was always, from the start, wary of the trappings of acting,” Wright said.

He added that he was impressed by the “smart people” in Napa Valley. “They sit down and drink here and they’ve made an entire industry around that,” he joked.

The festival wrapped up Sunday with the Awards Ceremony, where the inner-city coming of age tale “Mamitas” took both the jury and audience award for best narrative feature.

The 2012 Napa Valley Film Festival is set for Nov. 7 to 11.