Silicon Valley will transform into a moviegoer’s playground next week as the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival powers its way onto South Bay theater screens.
The massive award-winning celebration of movies and shorts, running March 11-23, boasts a commanding lineup of 238 films, close to half of which are world or U.S. premieres, and many of which have strong Bay Area connections, such as Raymond Telles’ “American Agitators,” an accounting of the life and impact of 20th-century labor organizer Fred Ross, who worked with Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez.
This year, the fest adopts the theme of Luminate, aiming to reflect “the enlightening power of art, innovation and community.”
One of the biggest draws, as well as bragging rights, for Cinequest is its huge swath of premieres.
Cinequest executive director Halfdan Hussey said that it remains in step with the fest’s five guiding tenets — discovery; the connection of artists, innovators and film lovers; the marriage of tech and creativity; the maverick spirit; and love expressed through caring.
“The first is discovery,” he said in a written response. “Discovery of films, art and the technologies that influence and impact filmmaking and distribution.” He added that since the festival was founded in 1990 by producers and innovators “it has always placed an emphasis on discovering new and emerging voices and creators.”
To that point, it has championed new voices.
“It’s unheard of amongst the world’s leading film festivals to do what we do: Program 85 to 95 percent of our films annually from open submissions. Why is this important? It has established us as the breakout bastion for new films rather than an event that rehashes work that was discovered elsewhere.”
Cinequest kicks off March 11 with a screening of “The Luckiest Man in America,” starring Paul Walter Hauser and Walton Goggins in a dramatization of the 1984 “Press Your Luck” game-show scandal; and concludes its in-person programming March 23 with a showing of the Naomi Watts-Bill Murray feature “The Friend,” a drama about a writer and her relationship with a depressed Great Dane.
And the lineup of streaming films, dubbed Cinejoy, runs March 24-31.
Always a Cinequest high point is the Maverick Spirit Award, presented to an artist bridging artistry and innovation. This year’s honoree is Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files,” Netflix’s “Sex Education”), who is slated to receive the honor March 22 after a 5:45 p.m. screening of the outstanding “The Salt Path,” in which she stars opposite Jason Isaacs. Anderson will appear onstage for a conversation afterwards.
The program is stuffed with so much high-quality genre fare; here are 17 feature films we think you shouldn’t miss. Screenings are at California Theatre; Hammer Theatre Center and 3Below Theaters, all in San Jose. For a full program and to buy tickets, visit www.cinequest.org.
“Aguadilla”: A sexually charged cat-and-mouse game unfolds when a desperate Dominican couple (Alina Robert and Rene Moran) ensconce themselves into the lonely life of Benicio, a well-to-do Puerto Rican resident (Lou Diamond Phillips), who’s a former surfer now in a wheelchair. When Benicio catches a whiff of a rat, just how he pounces is part of the appeal of Tom Musca and Alexander Z. Musca’s absorbing noirish thriller. Details: World premiere; 6:45 p.m. March 15, 4:40 p.m. March 19; California Theatre.
“BAR”: Pony up to the California Theatre for Alameda filmmaker Don Hardy’s spirited film, which tags along on the odyssey of six students during the prestigious and intense five-day Beverage Alcohol Resource certification program in New York. Hardy’s engaging portrait of veterans and novices observes them sweating it out over written and practical exams, and is one top-shelf documentary. Details: World premiere; 7:10 p.m. March 14, 1:30 p.m. March 23; California Theatre.
“Boutique: To Preserve and Collect”: Cinephiles, expect to salivate throughout Ry Levey’s irresistible documentary talking to die-hard movie collectors, experts and distributors that are protecting work that’s quirky, porny, gory and unconventional. A word of advice: Bring a notebook so you can jot down the numerous movies and distributors mentioned. I filled six pages. Details: U.S. premiere; 2:30 p.m. March 15, 2:40 March 17; 3Below Theaters, San Jose.
“Canoe Dig It?”: For fans of Christopher Guest’s classic “Best in Show,” this smile-inducing comedy/mockumentary by Samuel Dunning is a plucky look at a kooky “freestyle canoeing” competition. An assortment of eccentric competitors and characters regale us with tips and their nervy inspiration at the Moosehead Regional Finals. Dunning’s deadpan style ensures none of the humor keels over to the snide. Details: World premiere; 2:30 p.m. March 15 at Hammer Theatre Center, 12:10 p.m. March 21 at 3Below Theaters.
“The Dreamers & I”: We have heard a lot about the Silicon Valley success stories and high-tech icons such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. But we know less about the new generation of intrepid entrepreneurs struggling to get a foothold in the costly Bay Area. Filmmaker Kenji Yamamoto views their scrappy plight paralleling his own pursuit as a first-time director. He embeds himself with those “dreamers” bunking up at Startup Embassy, a hacker house. Through animation, voiceover, interviews and time spent with three global entrepreneurs — Carlos de la Lama-Noriega, Startup Embassy’s founder who’s from Madrid; scientist Habibe Turfan, who’s from Istanbul; and Lucas Gozálvez, who’s from Seville and specializes in AI — we get an insider’s glimpse into the challenging road ahead as each try to turn an idea into a profitable reality. Esteemed filmmaker and Yamamoto’s wife Nancy Kelly (“A Thousand Pieces of Gold”) produced and wrote the film. Details: World premiere; 4:40 p.m. March 15, Hammer Theatre Center.
“The Friend”: Cinequest arguably saves its best film for closing night. Former Bay Area filmmakers David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s perfectly realized adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s acclaimed novel is an artistic triumph, taking what could have become a standard, perfunctory premise about a woman’s growing affection for a grieving Great Dane and turns it into a profoundly observant and poignant drama about friendship, loneliness, writerly ambition and companionship. Naomi Watts is transcendent as an author saddled with the depressed Great Dane of her late mentor (Bill Murray). It’s a literary film that’s full of heart and honesty. Details: 6 p.m. March 23, California Theatre.
“The Fun-Raiser”: Husband-wife filmmaking partners Wyatt McDill and Megan Huber are three-for-three at Cinequest, their third winner being this peppy, fun and very funny comedy that centers on the harried events surrounding a performing arts school fundraiser (billed as a “fun-raiser”), which goes horribly awry. A cast with serious comedic chops and a bouncy screenplay make this valentine to creative types relatable and relevant. Details: World premiere; noon March 16 at California Theatre, 5 p.m. March 17 at 3Below Theater.
“The House Was Not Hungry Then”: Scottish actor Harry Aspinwall’s directorial debut goes full bore into experimental horror territory and the result is a transfixing and strange (in a good way) experience. Aspinwall constructs the work mostly around static interior shots of a vacated house where a real estate agent brings the curious. They then vanish. When a young woman (Bobby Rainsbury) enters this haunted house, Aspinwall sends the film into an intriguing direction revealing there are many levels at work. Details: World premiere; 4:30 p.m. March 22, 3Below Theaters.
“I See the Demon”: Prepare to get your mind blown into smithereens by director Jacob Lees Johnson’s confined-space (mostly) sci-fi/horror hybrid. A surprise birthday party for Lucy (Alexis Zollicoffer) doesn’t seem too weird at first, but as the night coasts along things get more bizarre with declamatory notes, a discarded stuffed animal and freaky characters appearing. Jon Heder also stars in this massive head trip. Details: World premiere; 7 p.m. March 20 at 3Below Thea6ers, 3:30 p.m. March 23 at California Theatre.
“A Little Fellow: The Legacy of A.P. Giannini”: Documentary filmmaker David Fiore serves up dense slabs of Bay Area history in his winning retelling of how a child of Italian immigrants changed the direction of banking forever. Described as “a man of action and not words,” A.P. Giannini hopscotched from the produce business to banking and advocated treating impoverished customers as well as the rich ones. His way of doing banking – creating branches – didn’t win everyone over at first, but as he went on to open the Bank of Italy, which turned into Bank of America, the respect swelled. Fiore’s film is flush with astonishing photos and gives us an historical time capsule of not only the Bay Area and the man profiled but how Italians weathered discrimination in the United States. It’s a must for Bay Area history buffs. Details: U.S. premiere; 7:10 p.m. March 13, Hammer Theatre Center.
“Nora”: One of the brightest surprises in this year’s lineup is Anna Campbell’s appealing music-infused dramedy that authentically captures the restless spirit of a stalled artist who feels the tug to perform again. But that’s not what life is handing Nora at the story’s start, when her music producer husband jets off on a tour and she’s left tending to her sweet daughter Sadie (an adorable Sophie Mara Baaden). Having put her ambitions on hold for too long, Nora returns to the hometown where her mother (Lesley Ann Warren) lives. She befriends Sadie’s ultra-cool teacher (Nick Fink, who everyone in the audience will be crushing on), a man with his own dreams. Campbell wrote, stars in, directs and produced this film Interspersed with musical numbers and relatable moments. “Nora” doesn’t put any of its characters into conforming boxes, and that’s what makes it such a joy. Details: World premiere; 6:45 p.m. March 15 at Hammer Theatre Center; 12:20 p.m. March 18 at 3Below Theaters.
“Push”: A nightmare of a car accident shatters the life of Barcelona-born real estate agent Natalie Flores (Alicia Sanz) whose showing of an isolated estate could well turn into her last. There’s an abiding zeal for all things Hitchcock in this blood-curdler from the crack team of David Charbonier and Justin Powell (“The Boy Behind the Door,” “The Djinn”). Raúl Castillo plays against type and makes for a menacing, unstoppable presence in a genre homage that’s yell-at-the-scream enjoyable and seduces with its terrific cinematography from Daniel Katz. Details: U.S. Premiere; 7:15 p.m. March 14 at Hammer Theatre Center, 9:30 p.m. March 18 at California Theatre.
“The Salt Path”: Maverick Spirit Award recipient Gillian Armstrong gives another of her rich, multi-layered performances as Raynor Winn, who trekked along the southwestern English coastline with her husband Moth (“White Lotus Season 3’s” Jason Isaacs). The 630-mile walk was born out of necessity since both were left unhoused after a business deal soured. Based on Winn’s best-selling memoir, director Marianne Elliott’s lovely film captures the natural but temperamental beauty of the land but also the indomitable spirit of the married couple at its core, who are facing daunting odds, including a health crisis. “The Salt Path” is already one of my favorite films of 2025. I think it will be yours, too. Details: U.S. premiere; 5:45 p.m. March 22, California Theatre, includes award presentation and a onstage conversation with Anderson.
“Say Less”: With their parents (Roxanne Hart and Philip Casnoff) away for the weekend, Dartmouth-bound Max (Matt Linton) and his less-assured sister Cassie (Jenny Lange) edge their way into some risky familial business. They party and proceed to lash out at each other; and as the night progresses, the taunts and secrets revealed become more and more ugly. Director/writer/producer/editor Michael Kellman’s debut feature is cringeworthy to the nth degree but it’s a real find. Just be ready to get uncomfortable. Details: World premiere; 4:25 p.m. March 15, 9 p.m. March 16; California Theatre.
“The Snare”: Director Merlin Camozzi’s feature debut shows a confident visual grasp for storytelling, which heightens the gritty realism in this tragic story about promising 18-year-old Dani (an impressive Cassady McClincy Zhang). Everything unravels for her after a rotten run-in with the law turns her into an informant. Dani’s been hard-crushing on 20-year-old Marty (a well-cast Dempsey Bryk, effective at not overplaying one scene), an easy-on-the-eyes player who deals drugs when when not caring for his belligerent, video game-playing brother. Camozzi’s stark drama is steeped in truth and toughness, and effectively conveys the blight around Dani that’s threatening to swallow her whole. Details: World premiere; 4 p.m. March 16, 2:15 p.m. March 19; 3Below Theaters.
“A Thousand Cuts”: A popular true-crime-solving couple (Jonas Chernick and Storm Steenson) go “live” to air their suspicions on an infamous 30-year-old homicide. As the camera rolls and they gain followers, the two try to upstage each other while the crime re-enactments warble on. Director/screenwriter Jake Horowitz satirizes a popular genre and delivers twists and turns with Chernick and Steenson each having a ball with their cheeky characters. Details: U.S. premiere; 9:15 p.m. March 15, California Theatre.
“Voices Carry”: Failed restaurateur Sam (Gia Crovatin) learns the hard way that she should never go home again in Abby Brenker and Ellyn Vander Wyden’s atmospheric feminist horror feature. The two filmmakers take a character-driven approach that thankfully spares the gore and favors the ominous and historical as Sam and her workaholic yet amorous hubby Jack (Jeff Ayars) return to her family’s New Hampshire cabin near an Instagrammable lake. But what happened there exerts a powerful hold on Sam, who revives a friendship with the quirky, weed-growing neighbor (Jeremy Holm) she hasn’t seen in 25 years. “Voices Carry” is a moody, supernatural-tinged film you won’t forget. The cast is first-rate. Details: World premiere: 9 p.m. March 15, 4:45 p.m. March 19; 3Below Theaters.
Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.
CINEQUEST
When: March 11-23
Where: Various San Jose venues, including California Theatre, 3Below Theaters, and Hammer Theatre Center
Tickets: Most screenings $8-14; special events and screenings, $15-$30; passes, $110-$900
Contact: cinequest.org
