Our October, 2025 film selection: Checkpoint Zoo documents a daring rescue led by a heroic team of zookeepers and volunteers who risked their lives to save thousands of animals trapped in a zoo behind enemy lines during the initial Russian invasion of Ukraine. Click on the image above to read more about this moving film.

On Sept. 20th Mountain Shadow held its 11th Annual Short Film Competition before a record audience of over 425 attendees! Our 16-member volunteer jury selected our ten Finalists from 477 submissions this year for this one-day event; presenting their animated, live-action and documentary short films. Click on the image above for more details.

Emmanuel Courcol’s film, “The Marching Band” was Mountain Shadow’s selection for August, 2023. This pre-theatrical release is described as a French drama/comedy. It could also be described as a “mellow-drama.” Click on the image above to read a brief review.

“The Last Class” was Mountain Shadow’s July selection; that included a ‘live’ Q&A with the film’s producer. The documentary is a nuanced and deeply personal portrait of master educator Robert Reich teaching his final course and reflecting on a period of immense transformation, personally and globally. To read a Mountain Shadow film review, click on the image above.

“The Time It Takes” was Moutain Shadow’s selection for June, 2025. A pre-theatrical release from Italy, the filmmaker tells a touching personal story about a father and his daughter, with a collage of memories; from childhood through a final life chapter. To read a brief Mountain Shadow review, click on the image above.

Mountain Shadow’s film selection for May, 2025: Based on Bill Bennett’s best selling Camino memoir, “The Way, My Way” is the charming and captivating true story of an Australian who decides to walk the 800 kilometre-long Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route through Spain. He doesn’t know why he’s doing it, but one step at a time it will change him and his outlook on life forever. To read a brief Mountain Shadow commentary and review of the film click on the image above.

Our April’2025 film was a pre-theatrical release comedy/drama from Italy. A grade-school teacher from Rome moves to a remote village in the Abruzzo National Park and discover a different world that faces many of the challenges as the world “out there.” Click on the image above to read a brief Mountain Shadow review.

When a widow in Paris hears on the radio that an NGO is putting in touch homeless migrant refugees with people who are willing to welcome them -- she decides to welcome Reza who is a young Afghan broken by war and exile. Our March selection was a pre-theatrical release from France. Click on the image above to read a Mountain Shadow review of this film most appropriate for the times in which we find ourselves.

In advance of the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 2nd, our show in February presented a variety of the Animated, Documentary and Live-Action shorts that have been nominated for an Oscar, for our own audiences to judge. For the complete list click on the image above.

In January, Mountain Shadow kicked off our 2025 Season with this wonderful pre-theatrical "literary" Irish drama, “That They May Face the Rising Sun,” based on the great Irish novelist, John McGahern’s book by the same title. Click on the image above to read a film review by Mountain Shadow’s director, John Bennison.

Our pre-theatrical release of the Italian film, “Gloria!” concluded our 11th Season with a delightful musical drama for December, 2024. You can read the Mountain Shadow director’s brief review by clicking on the image above.

In the wake of the U.S. elections, Mountain Shadow’s November, 2024 film selection was a pre-theatrical release from Italy that offers a redemptive and hope-filled conclusion; with a reminder there’s still a tomorrow. Click on the image above to read a brief film review.

Straight from the Toronto International Film Festival, Mountain Shadow’s October selection was an uplifting docu-drama, along with Toronto filmmaker Q&A via Zoom. BORN HUNGRY is a gritty, life-affirming human drama about a young boy in India, abandoned on the streets, then adopted by a compassionate Canadian couple; only to become a renowned 5-star chef. Click on the image above to read a brief commentary on this film.

Mountain Shadow's 10th Annual Short Film Competition brought eleven Finalists out of 344 submissions -- selected by our volunteer member jurors -- to Walnut Creek on Sept. 14th; to present their animated, live-action and documentary short films in person for audience choice awards. Click on the image to read more about this terrific show.

"Daaaaali!" was Mountain Shadow's zany bio-pic selection for August, 2024. To read a brief review and filmmaker's statement about the surrealist artist, click on the image above.

The bio/drama of the life of literary genius, Samuel Becket, was Mountain Shadow’s pre-theatrical release film selection for July, 2024; based on his life’s maxim, “Dance first, think later.” Click on the image above to read a brief Mountain Shadow review.

Mountain Shaodw’s selection for June was the premiere of “THE GRAB,” a documentary global thriller combining hard-hitting journalism from The Center for Investigative Reporting with the compelling character-driven storytelling; taking you around the globe from Arizona to Zambia, to reveal one of the world’s biggest and least known threats. Click on the image above to read a review and a link to a post-screening Q&A with the main reporter.

Margreth Olin’s film, “Songs of Earth,” is far more than a nature documentary, or family biography about her aging parents. It’s a meditation walk, shot with breathtaking cinematography and set against the backdrop of life-altering environmental changes. This was Mountain Shadow’s selection for May 2024. To read a brief review, click on the image above.

Set against the backdrop of the filmmaker’s quixotic quest to build an ark in a field in Maine, the film heads far afield – to pursue an answer to the question: What in this world, if anything, is worth saving or will endure? To read a Mountain Shadow review of our selection for April, 2024, click on the image above.

An annual Mountain Shadow tradition: The "Best" of the Oscar Shorts. From 15 nominees (5 animated, 5 live-action and 5 documentary), Mountain Shadow selected six wonderfully-creative short films for our March show, 2024. Click on the image above to read a bit about each one.