Wine Country film fest opens this week (w/video)

The 28th annual Wine Country Film Festival opens Wednesday, offering an early look at Reese Witherspoon’s newest movie, and a personal appearance by actor and musician Keith Carradine.

The festival runs through Sept. 22 at five venues in the Valley of the Moon, presenting some 55 films from all over the world.

“Our films inspire us to ask ourselves who we are as human beings and how we can come together in understanding,” said Stephen Ashton, the festival’s founder and director.

Carradine plays a wealthy connoisseur searching for a mysterious wine in “Terroir,” screening outdoors at 7:50 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Deerfield Ranch Winery in Kenwood. Before the film, he’ll chat with the audience and sing his Oscar-winning song “I’m Easy” from the 1975 film “Nashville.” There will be a reception for Carradine at 6 p.m. Sept. 20 on the lawn at the winery. The price is $50 per person and includes the film.

“The Good Lie,” starring Witherspoon as an American who takes in a young Sudanese refugee, isn’t scheduled to open until early October, but will be shown at 7:50 p.m. Sept. 21 outdoors at the Deerfield Ranch Winery.

Other highlights:

“Druid Peak,” about a troubled teen who finds a home for himself tracking wolves in Wyoming, will be shown at 7:45 p.m. Sept. 18 outdoors at Deerfield Ranch Winery.

“One Shot,” a contemporary Croatian crime drama, will be shown at 1 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Kenwood Restaurant’s festival theater space.

“Bobby Jo: Journey of a Singer-Songwriter,” a documentary Sonoma county singer-songwriter Bobby Jo Valentine, screening at 6 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Cave Theatre at the Deerfield Ranch Winery.

Individual film tickets run from $5 to $20. Festival tickets: $25 for a weekday pass; $45, weekend day pass; $85, festival pass for local residents only: $100, festival pass. For a full schedule: wcff.us. Information: 935-3456.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com.