RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Rancho Cordova’s inaugural three-day California Capital Documentary Film Festival took place June 10^th-12^th. In total, 48 documentary features and shorts were screened in a varied lineup with attending filmmakers conducting Q&A sessions after their screenings.  Three of the major sponsors were Comstock’s Magazine, SMUD and the City of Rancho Cordova.

Presented by the California Capital Arts Foundation the festival got off to a slow start but picked up as the weekend progressed. The film festival, which was postponed from October of 2021 due to COVID concerns was a success given that there are still some concerns over COVID safety at public events. Several of the films that played at City Hall Council Chambers were well attended and organizers received positive feedback from attendees.

Charles Lago, one of the festival organizers said, “We are not deterred by the attendance for this documentary festival… as many of the 300 plus people that did attend seemed to really enjoy the lineup of films we presented. We look forward to building this festival to a much larger event year on year which we believe will attract visitors from all over the Sacramento region.”

Lago continued, “Our plan is to continue holding monthly screenings of acclaimed documentaries at various locations throughout the year, which we think will create momentum and attract publicity leading to next year’s festival.”

There were two awards handed out at this year’s festival. Each film was judged on its powerful environmental message and impact it has on the earth.  The first one was awarded by Comstock’s magazine for best environmental document titled “Hell or Clean Water”. The other award was handed out by SMUD for best global documentary called “8 Billion Angels”.

For more information about this year’s festival and future plans you can visit, www.calcapdocfest.org or call the California Capital Arts Foundation at 916-702-2000.