May 5–7, 2023 · Sonora, California
Six films. Three days. Weng Weng. From a Tokyo café where the future is only two minutes away, to the mines of Io where Sean Connery is the last honest cop in the solar system — the 2023 Sonora Film Festival assembled the most improbable roster of secret agents, space marshals, and pint-sized operatives ever committed to celluloid.
A café owner discovers his TV shows the future — exactly two minutes ahead. Shot in a single continuous take with zero budget and infinite imagination, this micro-budget Japanese gem turns a paradox into pure joy.
A federal marshal on a titanium mining colony on Io uncovers a drug conspiracy that reaches all the way up the chain. Sean Connery is the law in the grittiest, most shotgun-drenched space western ever filmed.
A 2'9" secret agent armed with gadgets, jet packs, and unstoppable machismo dismantles an evil syndicate one flipped henchman at a time. Weng Weng delivers the most spectacularly improbable stunt work in the history of recorded cinema.
A chainsaw-wielding maniac terrorizes a college campus in search of the perfect jigsaw puzzle. A gleefully unhinged Spanish-American slasher with a twist ending so committed, so audacious, it demands to be seen in a crowded room.
An overweight, mustachioed Italian superhero battles villains with espresso, machismo, and deep contempt for everyone around him. A shot-for-shot parody of Eurospy trash that somehow transcends its own joke and becomes something great.
An alien soldier arrives on Earth to prepare its destruction — until he hears music for the first time and becomes a bluegrass performer instead. A deeply strange, deeply charming sci-fi comedy that earns every bit of its absurdity.
"The Most Exclusive Event in Film"
Founded in 2022 in the Sierra Nevada foothills, the Sonora Film Festival is Northern California's premier film festival, featuring the finest selection of overlooked, forgotten, underrated films—hand selected by our panel of experts.