Earlier this year, when Stacy King opened her Lulu Designs in the historic Mill Valley Lumber Yard that Matt and Jan Mathews have transformed and revitalized, the benefits were obvious: she was able to bring her studio and gallery under one roof again, and she was surrounded by an array of creative, eclectic businesses, the right space became available.

“The environment we’re working is just magical,” Kings adds. “Being surrounded by nature and redwood trees and having a creek running under us – the quality of life is so vastly improved.”

King and her all-female team have spent the past many months getting situated in their new space, and now they're ready to toast the occasion of their Grand Opening on Thursday, Sept. 19, 5-8pm. Guests can enjoy wine, cheese and catching up with friends, as well as an opportunity to win a $500 shopping spree on all Lulu Designs Jewelry (must be present to win).⁠

“All of our pendants have spiritual and uplifting meanings behind the motifs,” King says. “They’re inspired by botanical and architectural design, moments of beauty from my experiences on hikes and walks. It kind of permeates my consciousness and comes out in my jewelry.”

The 411: Lulu Designs at 129 Miller Ave., Suite 200 in the Mill Valley Lumber Yard, hosts a Grand Opening on Thursday, Sept. 19, 5-8pm. HERE'S THE FULL STORY ON THE JOURNEY OF KING AND LULU DESIGNS.

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The third screening in the 2019 edition of Movies in the Park, the free series of film screenings under the stars on a giant inflatable screen as part of a collaboration from Mill Valley Recreation, the Mill Valley Chamber and the California Film Institute, is going to be a doozy.  

For the first time ever, on Friday, Sept. 13, Movies in the Park is happening on Friends Field outside the Mill Valley Community Center. The film is the 2018 hit Ralph Breaks the Internet, which follows Wreck-It-Ralph characters Ralph and Vanellope, now friends, as they discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure on the World Wide Web as they risk it all to must risk it all to find a replacement part to save Vanellope's video game, "Sugar Rush."

And in a delightful addition to the event for anyone who wants to grab dinner before or during the screening, The Cantina at 651 East Blithedale Ave. – across the street from Friends Field – is offering 10% off (to-go orders only) to anyone attending Movies in the Park who mentions the event. 

To close out the series on Oct. 13 as part of CFI's 42nd Mill Valley Film Festival, the Halloween classic Coraline takes over Old Mill Park. The 2009 stop-motion animated film is based on Neil Gaiman's 2002 novel of the same name and tells the story of a girl named Coraline (Dakota Fanning), who moves into a new home and discovers a secret door, behind which lies an alternate world that closely mirrors her own but, in many ways, is better. She rejoices in her discovery, until Other Mother (Teri Hatcher) and the rest of her parallel family try to keep her there forever. 

Seating is general admission, and attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket and/or low beach chair. The main feature begins at sunset, which is around 7:30pm on Sept. 13.

The Movies in the Park series kicked off in 2014 and has gotten bigger and better every year since. In 2018, the Mill Valley Chamber organized a successful fundraising campaign to raise enough money to purchase all of the equipment required to produce the series, propelled by a $5,000 grant from the Outdoor Art Club.
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"Watching the Movies in the Park series blossom into such a popular, cherished community event has been fantastic," says City of Mill Valley Arts and Recreation Director Jenny Rogers. "Our collaboration on this series with the Mill Valley Chamber and the California Film Institute has been incredible – the City simply could not do it without the generous support of our awesome partners."

The 411: On Friday, Sept. 13, Movies in the Park is happening on Friends Field outside the Mill Valley Community Center with a screening of the 2018 hit Ralph Breaks the Internet. The Cantina at 651 East Blithedale Ave. – across the street from Friends Field – is offering 10% off (to-go orders only) to anyone attending Movies in the Park who mentions the event. ​Seating is general admission, and attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket and/or low beach chair. The main feature begins at sunset, which is around 7:30pm on Sept. 13.
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​Not long after Sophia van der Harst moved Poekie Nook – her kid-friendly business that centers on ​the pillowy stuffed animal that has inspired children to “create, craft and imagine” – moved to Tam Junction, she noticed that she was surrounded by a number of kid-centric businesses.

Seeing an opportunity to give kids an array of summer camp choices, van der Harst teamed up with businesses like Mathnasium and opened Poekie Nook's drop-in format to give kids pre- and post-camp options. The move deepened ties between a number of like-minded businesses in Tam Junction.


So when van der Harst decided earlier this year to sell Poekie Nook, she didn't have to look far: Mathnasium owners Scott Rubin and Christine Bonaccolta jumped at the chance to acquire a like-minded, complementary business.

Rubin and Bonaccolta are celebrating the occasion by hosting an Open House on Saturday, Sept. 14, 10am-5pm. They'll be showcasing their newly remodeled space, food from local eateries and cupcakes, Poekie juice and FREE two hours of sewing for attendees.

For that not in the know, Poekie (rhymes with “spooky”) is a Dutch term of endearment used by many moms in Holland for their babies. In 1998, the Waldorf-trained van der Harst turned that word into a thing – a cute, pillowy stuffed animal that has inspired children to “create, craft and imagine” is the central piece of a sewing system that teaches kids a variety of skills.

The 411: New Poekie Nook owners Scott Rubin and Christine Bonaccolta are hosting an Open House on Saturday, Sept. 14, 10am-5pm. They'll be showcasing their newly remodeled space, food from local eateries and cupcakes, Poekie juice and FREE two hours of sewing for attendees.​ 247 Shoreline Hwy. MORE INFO.

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In the six months since they moved their Poet and/the Bench lifestyle store and jewelry atelier from Locust Ave. to 11 Throckmorton Ave. in downtown Mill Valley, Jeffrey Levin and Bonnie Powers have fed off the spike in foot traffic brought on by the move.

For them, that's meant using there gorgeous space formerly occupied by Bossa Nova Clothing on the Throckmorton end of El Paseo Lane to showcase artists that inspire them. They hosted a packed house for a reading by naturalist and author Obi Kauffmann earlier this month, and even threw a Cinco de Mayo showcase including the creative business neighbors. And in the midst of all that activity, they won the "Best Gifts" category in Marin Magazine's 2019 Best of County issue.

Now they're hosting another arts-centric event  on what is quite likely Mill Valley's most artistic weekend of the year, with the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival set for Sept. 14-15 in Old Mill Park. Poet and/the Bench's Group Artist Reception & Trunk Show is Saturday, Sept. 14, 2-4pm, featuring painters Jeffrey Palladini and Laura Roebuck, pop art sculpture artist Austyn Taylor (in town for the Varda Artists Residency in Sausalito) and jewelry designer Mariella Pilato (in town from Bali).

They're also sharing the love, highlighting Richard Habib, their "neighbor in the lane," and his Alexander's Artisan Rugs' shop anniversary party with live and DJ music at 1 El Paseo Lane.

The 411: Poet and/the Bench is at 11 Throckmorton Ave. MORE INFO.

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From the gorgeous new ArtBoxes – an octet of artist-decorated utility box wraps to brighten up the streets and deter vandalism – to the array of eclectic public benches popping up all over town, public art is surging in Mill Valley right now. 

Representatives from the City of Mill Valley, Mill Valley Recreation, Mill Valley Chamber, Outdoor Art Club and Mill Valley Arts Commission gathered in Old Mill Park this week to celebrate and dedicate Big Wave Bench, the creation of longtime of Bolinas artist and arborist-turned sculptor Chuck Oakander, who has a passion for making functional, fun benches and sculptures from tree trunks. 

The arrival of Big Wave Bench earlier this year came courtesy a successful grant proposal from the Mill Valley Chamber's Enjoy Mill Valley Fund to the Outdoor Art Club. Oakander's bench is located just opposite the Old Mill and close to Cascade Drive. At the event, Mayor Jim Wickham unveiled a new plaque dedicated to the Outdoor Art Club for funding the bench.

Not long after Oakander's bench went into Old Mill Park in early 2018, city workers installed acclaimed Bay Area artist Colin Selig's Asymmetric Art Bench at the corner of Miller and Evergreen Avenues – just across from Whole Foods Miller, on property owned by Mill Valley Refuse principal Jim Iavarone. Iavarone, the Chamber and Whole Foods supported this effort.

With the help of contributions from the Outdoor Art Club and an array of generous donors, the EMV Fund has helped repair the Downtown Clock Tower, supported the restoration of the replica Gravity Car, made the free Movies in the Park series sustainable and bigger and better than ever and spearheaded a number of plantings and beautification efforts around town.

In July, another gorgeous redwood bench was installed just outside City Hall, courtesy a donation by Jed Bullard, whose father and grandfather stood guard in 1957 to "save the downtown clock" in downtown Mill Valley, heard that the clock had been restored in 2017 via the Outdoor Art Club's $11,000 grant to the Mill Valley Chamber's Enjoy Mill Valley Fund and was so overjoyed that he and his wife Sherri contributed $5,000. Coupled with a matching donation from a number of local residents that will help add additional landscaping around the bench over time, the bench, made by former longtime city parks supervisor Rick Misuraca, will be around for years to come.

The Chamber established the Enjoy Mill Valley Fund in July 2016 with the cooperation of the Marin Community Foundation to work with local and county agencies and organizations to identify deserving, "shovel ready" local beautification and infrastructure projects that just need a little funding boost to get to the finish line. All donations to the Enjoy Mill Valley Fund are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

Mill Valley Recreation's Public Art Program, Art in Public Places, includes five program elements – much more is on the way.

MORE INFO ON THE CITY'S PUBLIC ART PROGRAM.

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You know you've made an impression in your community when the response to your new shop in town incites not just an abundance of customers, but plenty of people bearing gifts of wine and flowers to mark the occasion.

That's the outpouring Kelly Scott, the former owner of the Alpha Dog shop and current owner of The Goods, shop laden with "unique gifts, vintage finds, locally sourced treasures and lots of cashmere" in that same space at 6 Miller, received on Sept. 7 and in the days since then. She just opened Sundry, her new kitchen ad garden supply shop in downtown Mill Valley at 118 Throckmorton Ave., the former home of Branded Boutique, the Mill Valley Hat Box, a laundromat and a fledgling version of Mill Valley Market before that.

"To have people coming in and shopping throughout the weekend, including my fellow retailer neighbors, and bringing flowers and wine to celebrate the occasion, was just incredibly touching," Scott says.

Scott's quick to note that this isn't some of run-of-the-mill kitchen and garden store. From napkins and tea towels hand-loomed by Loomination to reusable organic canvas covers from Aplat, she spent a ton of time sourcing products that are American-made, sustainable, organic and that tell a story about their creators. 

"This shop is meant for the community, to bring something back to downtown that hasn't been here in a while," she adds, noting that she hopes Sundry fills a need downtown in the wake of the closure of not-exactly-temporary closure of Tyler Florence's store in 2014 and the loss of the Capricorn Gourmet Cookware shop in the former LF space.

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When Mill Valley resident Gabe Burczyk moved his financial services firm WrapManager from San Francisco to 319 Miller Ave. in 2018, he did so to deepen his roots here, but also to spread the company's wings a bit beyond the innovative financial services tools that bring the benefits of investing with money managers to a broader group of investors via data, transparency and service.

"Having been a resident and starting my family here in Mill Valley, purchasing our building on Miller Avenue was an opportunity to be closer to home and to participate in the community more fully," he says. "Having been involved in arts and music in San Francisco for so many years, supporting those types of events is very close to my heart – and I wanted to have some fun!"

With that in mind, WrapManager launched Assembly, its community-facing entity that largely focuses on arts and cultural events and seeks to open up its open format first floor to a variety of local events.

One of those ventures is to provide a space for 3 O'Clock Rock school, a kids-centric music program focused on band classes and private lessons for students ages 7 and up. Billy Ribak, whose wife is WrapManager Chief Operating Officer Valerie de Vol, has partnered on after-school enrichment programs and summer camps with a number of schools and community churches in Marin, including Glenwood Elementary, Fairfax Community Church and St. Luke's Church in San Rafael, among others.

Ribak says the school is focusing this fall "on writing our own songs for a new record called 3 O'Clock Rock Takes You to Dinner!, with students from all over the Bay Area – the school also has programs in Oakland, San Francisco, Orinda and Berkeley – writing songs about their favorite foods and local eateries."

"Once the songs are practiced and well rehearsed, we will record them and put them all together for a release on 3 O'Clock Rock Records!" Ribak says. Here are some of the students' songs from the prior summer session.

3 O'Clock Rock students may learn the basics on drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, and vocals, write an original song, draw concert posters and album artwork and learn to complete songs and prepare for a Halloween show performance on Thursday, October 31 at Assembly, 319 Miller Ave.

Burczyk says it's a perfect fit. "At WrapManager, helping investors find fulfillment in their lives and families with the aim of finding their own personal financial security is personally rewarding for us," he says. "We hope that by supporting arts, music, nature, education and creating a space to gather may help us all to thrive."

The 411: 3 O'Clock Rock music school is launching a program in Mill Valley at WrapManager's Assembly space at 319 Miller Avenue. MORE INFO & SIGN UP.

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As the chaos in the world increases, it can be easy to become fatalistic. 

But to hear author and Mosaic Multicultural Foundation founder Michael Meade tell it, "the situation only seems 'hopeless' when viewed from the narrow logic of a collapsing world view. Old ways of seeing the world are blocking more vital paths of imagination, vision and healing."

On Thursday, Oct. 24 (7-9pm), Meade brings "an evening of myths of renewal, tales of transformation, and a resounding call to find unity and wholeness in this time of conflict and confusion" to Mt. Tam United Methodist Church. Meade's nonprofit organization "has initiated innovative projects and unifying events that support and educate at-risk youth, refugees, combat veterans, and communities in need. Mosaic creates community through events involving artists, activists, community builders, healers, and spiritual teachers working in inspired ways to develop cross-cultural alliances, mentoring relationships, and forms of community healing."

“Climate change and eco-degradation can become the context in which the core values of humanity become redeemed rather than lost” Meade says.

The 411: Author and Mosaic Multicultural Foundation founder Michael Meade brings "an evening of myths of renewal, tales of transformation, and a resounding call to find unity and wholeness in this time of conflict and confusion" to Mt. Tam United Methodist Church on October 24, 7-9pm. 410 Sycamore Ave. Tix $15 General / $10 Student. Doors open at 6:30 pm. MORE INFO. 

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​Chabad Mill Valley, the local chapter of one of the largest Hasidic groups and Jewish religious organizations in the world, has been in Mill Valley for more than 17 years.

Chabad Mill Valley founders Rabbi Hillel and Chana Scop, who saw a 20-year dream become reality when they opened Brooklyn, a Project of Chabad Mill Valley, in 2018 in the space formerly occupied by True Botanicals in the downtown strip of shops on Miller Ave. near the Depot Plaza, are now gearing up for the Jewish High Holidays with a series of events open to the Mill Valley community.

First up, on Sunday, Sept. 15, they're hosting a Pop-Up New York Deli, allowing attendees to enjoy an authentic NY deli in Mill Valley, featuring a full kosher menu including pastrami and corned beef on rye, knishes, matzah ball soup, pickles, salads and chocolate rugelach. Meals cane be taken out or eaten at Brooklyn, and all orders music be made in advance online.

All proceeds go to the Brooklyn Educational Fund.

One week later, on Sunday, Sept. 22, Brooklyn hosts a High Holiday Fair, a fun, educational event that invites adults and children to get into the spirit of the holidays by enjoy a marketplace featuring Round Raisin Challah Braiding, Shofar Making Workshop, Honey Dish Craft and Design Your Own Mini Sukkah.

The 411: Brooklyn, a Project of Chabad Mill Valley hosts a Pop-Up New York Deli on Sunday, Sept. 15 (4:30-7:30pm),, and a High Holiday Fair on Sunday, Sept. 22 from 1-4pm. MORE INFO.

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Less than two months after the music-loving family that has brought the world Hardly Strictly Bluegrass took the stage at the Sweetwater Music Hall for the Hellman Summer Stomp, an evening of music, local fare and good times, one of its many musical relations is returning there, as The Well Known Strangers throw a record release party in support of their new album TMI. The free event, set for Sunday, Sept. 15, is free and open to the public and features an evening of country soul and a delicious free buffet from Sweetwater’s café. 

The Well Known Strangers are a sextet featuring a number of well known names in the local music community, including Austin de Lone (Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, The Fabulous Thunderbirds) on keys; Amber Morris (special guest) on vocals; Mick Hellman (The Go To Hell Man Band) on drums and vocals; Joshua Zucker (The Jones Gang, Rowan Brothers, Poor Man’s Whiskey) on bass; David Noble (Poor Man's Whiskey) and Rob Anderson on guitars.
 
The band says the new album TMI is inspired by the information age giving way to the too-much-information age. From life's journey to a simple sunset; from a random bar room encounter to the love of a lifetime; from a long day at work to the tribulations of a generation. It all combines and intertwines, lurching backwards and then inching forward, painting a picture of who we are individually and collectively.  

The 411: The Well Known Strangers throw a record release party in support of their new album TMI at the Sweetwater Music Hall. The free event, set for Sunday, Sept. 15, is free and open to the public and features an evening of country soul and a delicious free buffet from Sweetwater’s café. Doors will open at 4:30 pm; buffet at 5pm; music at 6pm. Tickets are free and open to the public. 19 Corte Madera Avenue in Mill Valley. MORE INFO.

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Once Mill Valley's little hometown secret, the Mill Valley Film Festival has long since graduated to being a landmark stop on Hollywood's festival circuit. As organizers unveiled the lineup for MVFF's 42nd edition today, it quickly became clear that its star continues to rise, with an array of star-studded marquee screenings of likely Academy Award contenders and a whirlwind of spotlights, tributes, special premieres and appearances that will leave cinephiles' heads spinning. In total, MVFF42 will screen 111 features and 98 shorts, including 13 world premieres, 10 North American premieres and 10 U.S. premieres.

“As different as they all are, the films at MVFF have a few things in common: They entertain and have something to say in creative ways; they connect us all as people, despite our differences; and the emotions and ideas they express are universal in nature," ​​MVFF founder and executive director Mark Fishkin wrote in introducing the lineup. 
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Here's a roundup on the 42nd Mill Valley Film Festival:

In Monroeville, Alabama--To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee’s lifelong home—African American Walter McMillian, played by Oscar winner Jamie Foxx), was sentenced to death for killing a white woman in 1988. A real-life, modern-day Atticus Finch in the form of recent Harvard Law grad Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) challenged a corrupt, racist system to free an innocent man. The standout cast includes Brie Larson, Tim Blake Nelson, and Rob Morgan. Both Fox, Nelson and Morgan are expected to appear. The 136-minute film screens at 7pm at both the CinéArts Sequoia & Smith Rafael Film Center​, with the MVFF42 Opening Night Gala to follow at Marin Country Mart in Larkspur. Here's the trailer:

James Mangold directs Academy Award winners Matt Damon and Christian Bale in this energetic, fully loaded biographical drama based on the remarkable true story of automotive designer Carroll Shelby and fearless driver Ken Miles. Ford v Ferrari details how an eccentric, underdog team of engineers battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build the revolutionary GT40 race car for Ford Motor Company. Their purpose? To challenge the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans competition in France. The 152-minute screens on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 4:30pm at Smith Rafael Film Center. Mangold is expected to appear. Here's the trailer:

Edward Norton steps into the director's chair with an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s acclaimed 1999 novel of the same name, an intricate, noir-ish story set in 1950s Brooklyn. When a deceptively routine case for a detective agency proves deadly, the team of gumshoes—led by Lionel Essrog, a man with Tourette’s syndrome and an uncanny photographic memory—dives head-first into their investigation, uncovering a dangerous coverup and high-ranking corruption within the elected city planning committee of Brooklyn. Norton's A-list cast includes Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Gugu Mbathaw-Raw, Cherry Jones, and Willem Dafoe. The 144-minute film screens at the CinéArts Sequoia on Sunday, October 13 at 5pm. Norton is expected to attend. Here's a trailer:

Director Trey Edward Shults’ (Krisha, It Comes at Night) centers on the complicated family dynamics of three couples whose lives and loves hang in the balance. Catherine (Renée Elise Goldsberry, Altered Carbon) and Ronald Williams (Sterling K. Brown of This Is Us) have worked hard to build a comfortable life in Miami for their children Ty and Emily. When Ty’s girlfriend makes a decision that will permanently impact their futures, Ty reacts, with tragic consequences. The story shifts to Emily and her growing intimacy with classmate Luke (an understated Lucas Hedges). Saddled with the weight of unhealed family wounds, the two offer each other comforts neither can find at home. With a score by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Waves is an unflinching and delicately-crafted portrait of family and forgiveness. The 135-minute film screens on Wednesday, October 9, at 7pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center and again on Friday, Oct 11, 11:30am Sequoia. Here's the trailer:

Recognized internationally as one of those in the forefront of the charge towards gender equity in film, Anna Serner has put her money where her mouth is. She was one of the first to commit to financing women’s and men’s films equally in her role as CEO of the Swedish Film Institute. A renowned speaker on this topic, Serner has commissioned several studies, including the recent “The Money Issue,” which is the theme for this year’s Mind the Gap Summit. In 2016, Serner presented the 50/50 by 2020 initiative at the Cannes Film Festival. The movement has spread, inspiring the 50/50 Pledge launched at Cannes in 2018, signed by numerous international film festivals including MVFF. In honor of Serner’s work, MVFF42 has an Eye on Sweden focus and will be presenting Serner with the Mind the Gap Award at the screening of Gabriela Pichler’s Amateurs on Friday, October 4, 6:30pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center.

​Actress-producer-director Olivia Wilde soared onto the Hollywood scene in the early 2000s, starring in Alpha Dog, TRON: Legacy, Cowboys & Aliens, Butter, Drinking Buddies, Better Living Through Chemistry, and Her, among others, and recently received widespread acclaim for her directorial debut, Booksmart, a timely coming-of-age, whip-smart feminist comedy. Next up: a role in Clint Eastwood’s next feature and directing and starring in her sophomore film, a psychological thriller called Don’t Worry, Darling. This presentation will delve into the process of developing Booksmart and explore her distinguished acting career and her personal activism. Wilde will discuss her experience as a first time director and how her experience working with other directors— among them, Oscar winners Ron Howard, Stefan Ruzowitzky, and Paul Haggis—as an actor shaped her approach to Booksmart. Screening and Spotlight event is on Friday, October 4 at 8pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center.

Robert Pattinson’s meteoric rise to stardom, launched by the juggernaut Twilight series, saw him opt to stretch his professional skills, leverage his status, and successfully embrace independent projects with a wide array of challenging roles from cinema’s finest auteurs including David Cronenberg (Maps to the Stars), Claire Denis (High Life), Werner Herzog (Queen of the Desert), James Gray (The Lost City of Z), and the Safdie brothers (Good Time). The Lighthouse is director Robert Eggers' anticipated follow-up to The Witch, enlisting Pattinson and Willem Dafoe for a Gothic thriller set on a tumultuous isle off the coast of New England. Shot on stunning black-and-white 35mm film and loosely inspired by the writings of Herman Melville and poet Sarah Orne Jewett as well as the diaries of late-19th century lighthouse keepers, Eggers sets the stage for a wildly impressive acting showdown between two powerhouse artists, who deliver riveting full-bodied performances that rank among the best of their careers. The 110-minute film screens on Saturday, October 5 at 7:30pm at the CinéArts Sequoia. Here's the trailer:

Woodard is one of the most versatile and accomplished actors of her generation. Splitting her time between diverse roles on the big and small screens, her film credits include her Oscar-nominated turn in Cross Creek, Passion Fish, Love & Basketball, and 12 Years a Slave. Woodard won her first Emmy for Hill Street Blues and graced TV screens with recurring roles on True Blood, Luke Cage, and Desperate Housewives. In director Chinonye Chukwu's Clemency, Woodard plays prison warden Bernadine Williams, who has presided over many executions. When a presumably innocent cop killer is slated to die, she finds herself reaching a breaking point. This death-row drama—the Grand Prize winner at Sundance—is one raw nerve look at the toll that taking a life takes on everyone involved. The event features a screening of the 110-minute film, an onstage conversation with Woodard and the presentation of the MVFF Award on Sunday, October 6 at 5pm at the CinéArts Sequoia. 

Kristen Stewart’s star was on a steady rise prior to the Twilight series pushing her career into overdrive, having appeared in numerous films since age 8, including Panic Room and Into the Wild. Stewart’s post-Twilight career has seen her achieve international acclaim, in films like Certain Women, Personal Shopper, Lizzie, JT LeRoy, and Clouds of Sils Maria, for which she won a César Award. In Seberg, Stewart transforms into tragic screen legend and fashion icon Jean Seberg, an American actress who became an instant international film darling following Godard’s Breathless and whose progressive political ties to the Black Panther party made her a person of interest for the FBI. Echoes of both the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements rattle beneath every sumptuous frame of Rachel Morrison’s (Mudbound) cinematography, as Seberg tries to stay afloat amid a Hoover-era surveillance operation run by a promising rookie agent. In English and French with English subtitles, director Benedict Andrews' 96-minute film screens on Monday, October 7 at 7pm, followed by an onstage conversation with Kristen Stewart and the presentation of the MVFF Award.

British director and producer Michael Apted is one of the most prolific and dynamic directors of his generation, known for the ongoing Up documentary series and lauded narratives Enigma, Coal Miner’s Daughter, and Nell. Up, Apted's evolving masterwork has now reached its ninth installation: 63 Up. Unique in the annals of cinema and cultural history, 7 Up was created for British television in 1964, intended as a program that looked at education in the class system in England. Apted has revisited the group of young people he documented at that time every seven years—with varying degrees of cooperation as these kids grew up. The 138-minute film screens on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 6:30pm, followed by a Tribute program featuring an onstage conversation with Apted and the presentation of the MVFF Award.

In a career marked by remarkable performances, from her indelible beginnings in Marin-based Smooth Talk (MVFF 1985) to her 2014 Oscar®-nominated role in Wild (MVFF Award 2014), Laura Dern is having a particularly incredible year. In this onstage conversation, Dern delves into her art as an actor, looking particularly at her most recent works. This year has seen: a reprise of her role as the deliciously intense, crazy-protective mom and tech honcho Renata Klein on Big Little Lies, a role which already won her both an Emmy and a Golden Globe; the compassionate but tough divorce lawyer in Noah Baumbach’s sublime Marriage Story (see below); and the ultimate mother of daughters, Marmee, in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women. What’s notable in all these roles is that Dern has become the master of supporting roles—not just in awards jargon sense, but as an actor at the top of her game who delivers rich performances that demonstrate why she is such a revered and beloved actor: The program, set for Saturday, October 12 at 3pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center, ​will include the presentation of the Mind the Gap Award for Actor of the Year. 

Writer-director Noah Baumbach is known for populating his films with a rich, eclectic mix of Hollywood stars and beloved character actors who vividly bring his characters to life. And with key players Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Merritt Wever, and Julie Hagerty in the mix, Marriage Story is no exception. Baumbach returns to the themes of his acclaimed The Squid and the Whale, offering another alternately funny and deeply moving snapshot of a marriage in its final stages. With divorce proceedings in full swing as the film opens, a married couple have promised to keep their separation amicable, but hurtful admissions and verbal spats quickly sour those ambitions. The 136-minute film screens on Saturday, October 12 at 6:30pm at the Smith Rafael, and Baumbach will receive the MVFF Award on behalf of the ensemble cast of Marriage Story—with Dern and others in attendance.

A space-traveling scientist in When Worlds Collide, a mother fighting for her family in Nicholas Ray’s groundbreaking 1950s substance abuse drama Bigger Than Life, and a delectably diabolical villainess in the 1960s Batman TV series—these are just a few of the characters played with panache by acclaimed actress Barbara Rush. Few in Hollywood have had as diverse a career on both the big and small screens. Rush has excelled in genres as varied as drama, science fiction, westerns, horror, and comedy, and was featured in some of America’s most beloved television programs from the 1950s through the 1980s. She starred opposite legendary leading men like Paul Newman and James Mason and worked with celebrated directors including Douglas Sirk, Nicholas Ray, and Edward Dmytryk to name just a few. MVFF presents a tribute to Rush featuring trailers from some of her best-known Hollywood films and hear from Rush herself about her storied and eclectic career on Sunday, October 13 at 2pm at the Lark Theater.

In addition to those highlighted above, MVFF42 also features a quintet of special premieres (from top left): Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo with Danny Trejo in person; The Great 14th: Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama in His Own Words by local director Rosemary Rawcliffe; Palm d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film The Truth; Blackbird starring Susan Sarandon and Kate Winslet; and British actor Simon Bird’s directorial debut Days of Bagnold Summer.​

MVFF42 also features ​screenings of a pair of landmark restorations: Thousand Pieces of Gold, director Nancy Kelly's beloved masterwork, a harrowing and inspiring tale of resilience, survival, and unexpected romance, as well as The Unbearable Llightness of Being, Philip Kaufman’s sweeping adaptation of Milan Kundera’s classic novel, once thought to be unfilmable. Kaufman and actress Lena Olin are expected to attend the event, set for Saturday, October 12 at 5pm  at the Smith Rafael Film Center.

MVFF42's regular screenings also include The Irishman, Martin Scorsese's epic, 210-minute mafia tale of Frank Sheeran maintains ties with the Bufalino crime family and claims to have killed fellow Teamster Jimmy Hoffa.
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The 411: The 42nd Mill Valley Film Festival is Oct. 3-13 at venues in Mill Valley, San Rafael, Corte Madera and Larkspur. Advance ticket packages and passes are on sale now. CFI members can purchase single tickets in advance of the general public beginning Sunday, September 8. General Public single tickets on sale Saturday, September 14. MORE INFO & TIX.

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The executive committee of the Milley Awards for Creative Achievement has set the 2019 Milley Awards dinner for Sunday, October 20 at the Mill Valley Community Center. This year’s ceremony, the 24th, will be hosted by Don Sanchez, former ABC7 on air personality for 40 years. Milli Trio will perform prior to the awards ceremony and dinner, while honoree Lorin Rowan will be joined by his brothers Peter & Chris for a musical interlude to close out the evening. 

The Milley Awards, Mill Valley’s annual celebration of the community’s vast amount of creative achievement and distinguished accomplishments in the arts, unveiled its 2019 class of winners in July. As usual, the honorees come from a wide array of fields, all providing yet another reminder of the vitality of the local arts and entertainment scene in the 94941.

The Milley Award recipients are selected by a panel of judges from nominations received from the community, based on one or more of three criteria: Outstanding achievement in creating, performing or teaching in the arts; Demonstration of a significant body of work; Service to the arts community. Recipients must have a close association with Mill Valley and were born, educated, worked or lived in the town of Mill Valley or performed a large body of their work  in Mill Valley. This year the judges were Marin Theatre Company Literary Manager/Resident Dramaturg Laura A. Brukner, Marin Theater Company, Seager Gray Gallery co-owner Suzanne Gray, MV Chamber co-director Jim Welte, Mill Valley Librarian Anji Brenner and Throckmorton Theatre sound engineer Edwin DeShazo.
 
The 2019 Milleys marks the 31st anniversary of the very first Mill Valley Award for Creative Achievement, the precursor of the present Milleys, in 1988. It also marks the first year since founders Abby Wasserman and Trubee Schock handed the reins to the organization's executive committee as the driving forces behind the event. The Milley’s annual gala, produced by a volunteer board under the auspices of the Mill Valley Art Commission, is set for October 20 at 6pm at the Community Center. Longtime ABC-TV arts & entertainment editor Don Sanchez hosts. Email at MVMilleys@gmail.com or by phone at 415-846-9813 to receive an invitation.

The following standouts will be honored:

Karen Benke for Literary Arts. Karen is the author of three popular and imaginative books that focus on creative writing for kids and kids at heart. Karen has coached and mentored writers of all ages, specializing in using creative techniques to tap into memories and experiences and risk putting their hearts on the page. Karen has been a teacher and collaborator in the California Poet in the Schools for over 20 years and brings her “magic ticket bag” to book fairs and community events to write poems-on-the spot for kids. Her Teacher’s Guide meets the Common Core Standards for 6th grades and up.

Bob and Elza Burton for Contributions to the Arts Community. Bob and his late wife Elza Burton, joined Sali Lieberman and other local art activists in founding the Mill Valley Center for the Performing Arts (now Marin Theatre Company). Bob supported numerous artistic endeavors, such as the original Sweetwater. He served on the Board of Directors of Marin Theatre Company in the 1980’s. He served as Mayor of Mill Valley for two years. In 2018 Bob was recognized by the City of Mill Valley/County of Marin for 50 years of volunteer public service.

Robert Holmes for Visual Arts and Design. British photographer Robert Holmes launched his distinguished career covering the 1975 British Everest Expedition for the London Daily Mail. At the invitation of Ansel Adams, in 1976 he visited California for the first time, moving to Mill Valley three years later. He has made it his home ever since. Widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost travel photographers, his accomplishments were acknowledged when he was invited to be one of the World’s 100 best photojournalists to participate in A Day in the Life of Africa. The first person to twice receive the Travel Photographer of the Year Award from the Society of American Travel Writers, he has been given the award an additional three times since. 

Phil Pastuhov for Performing and Film Arts. Phil, a longtime Mill Valley resident, is an Academy Award-winning aerial director of photography with over 120 feature films and hundreds of commercials to his credit. He pioneered the use of drones to capture aerials and was a featured speaker at last Spring’s National Association of Broadcasters’ annual convention. For four decades he has created some of the most iconic movie scenes ever, from his “helmet cam” days shooting Bond films to the sweeping helicopter-fueled imagery of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, from the The Matrix and Jupiter Ascending to adrenaline-rush films like Mission Impossible 2, The Fast & the Furious, and the final scene of 2012’s The Bourne Legacy.

Lorin Rowan for Musical Arts. Following graduation from high school in the early 70’s, Lorin and brother Chris teamed up as a vocal/guitar pop duo along with mandolinist David Grisman, formerly of Earth Opera. They moved to Marin County where they met with Grisman’s old bluegrass friend The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia. Garcia played pedal steel guitar on some of their demos, as well as on their first record for Columbia Records, “Rowan Brothers”, produced by David “Diadem” Grisman.  An early gig was opening for the Grateful Dead at the closing of the Fillmore West. Lorin, Chris & brother Peter recorded as “The Rowans” on three albums for Warner/Asylum. “The Cross” was the title cut from Ricky Skaggs Grammy nominated Gospel/Bluegrass CD. Lorin performed at last year’s Milley salute to his good friend, the late Marty Balin.​

Past Milley Award winners include: Gary Yost, Gini Wilson, Eve Pell, Michael Painter, Betty Goerke, Lisa Kristine, Jimmy Dillon, Jim Lange, Jane Hirshfield, Bill Champlin, Dan Hicks, Paul Liberatore, Si & Max Perkoff, Lucy Mercer, Suki Hill, Kathleen Quinlan, Rob Nilsson, Cyra McFadden, Bob Weir, Pirkle Jones, Scott Mathews, George Duke, Barry Spitz, John Goddard, Lee Sankowich, David Harris, Maria Muldaur, Dart Cherk, Jacques Leslie, Gretchen Mentzer, Mimi Farina, Martin Cruz Smith and Rita Abrams. Organizations and businesses have been honored as well, including the Mill Valley Chamber Music Society, the Mountain Play Association, the Outdoor Art Club, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts and the Depot Bookstore & Café.

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For the past year, it's been a new day at Wagstaff + Rogers Architects on Miller Avenue, as Eric Rogers officially took over the business from founder and longtime principal Brock Wagstaff. But for several hours a week, it's just like old times.

Wagstaff continues to serve as a consultant to Rogers to scratch his architectural itch – "he can't keep himself from it," says Rogers, who joined the firm in 2004 and became a partner in 2014. 

"He's basically a father figure to me for much more than business and architecture," Rogers says. I still have him here as a sounding board – I use him as way to keep my bearings in the world."

The transition for the firm, which has long been at the forefront of green design across an array of custom residential and commercial projects in Marin County and well beyond, wasn't a tectonic shift by any means. Rogers had been running the business for several years, having been initially drawn to Wagstaff by their shared focus on “traditional craftsmanship with a passion for new technologies, materials and a strong philosophy about art in architecture,” as well as their shared love of the outdoors.

"It wasn’t a big transition for me to jump into the driver's seat – he just handed me the keys," Rogers says, noting that he intends to remain the same kind of "one-on-one focused kind of firm" that's looking to "get invested in more capital projects with local municipalities."

Rogers has spent considerable time focusing on the northern California communities recovering from the devastating fires of the previous two years. He co-authored "Home Reimagined: Rebuilding After the Northern California Wildfires," which walks homeowners displaced by the fires through the process of settling with the insurance company, getting approval for subsequent permits and thinking creatively about the outcome you seek.

Rogers designed one such post-recovery replacement home for one lost in the Nuns Fire in October 2017. "Treehaven" will be a Green Building by GreenPoints Rated as well as CALGreen standards and conform to the 2016 California Building Codes as allowed by Sonoma County after the ruination of so many neighborhoods throughout the community. "Located on a site that has a spectacular view of the Sugarloaf Ridge and in particular a small 1,680-foot peak directly across the valley that will become the landscape focal point of the design, the home's major design strategy is using heavy timber, steel rafter tie rods, stone and/ or concrete to create a relationship to vernacular architecture of the valley with a modern influence."

Rogers remembers the exact moment he knew that he wanted to be an architect: he was an eighth grader in his hometown of Pocatello, Idaho, and had been given an art class assignment to draw a house from a two-point perspective. He did just that, and the experience, along with the inspiration of watching his father practice his carpentry trade for most of his young life, convinced him that he wanted a career in designing buildings.

That lifelong professional pursuit came despite the fact that his house drawing was, in his own unambiguous terms, “Ugly.”
“It was a one-story house and the perspective that I picked was so extreme that the stairs were so huge that it looked like the Jolly Green Giant would have been comfortable on them,” he says with a chuckle.

He recalls that when he went to interview with Wagstaff those many years ago, he worried a bit about showing up on his motorcycle, his long-preferred method of travel. Wagstaff, an avid rock climber, didn’t flinch.

“I threw the jacket and tie aside and been wearing jeans everyday since,” Rogers says.

Born in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and raised in Pocatello, Rogers enlisted in the U.S. Navy, later returning home to build houses and go to architectural school, attending Idaho State University before getting his undergraduate and master’s degrees at University of Idaho. He did an internship at a firm in Baltimore, Md., working on the extension of the BWI Airport, and also did an internship with a commercial firm near the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

“I had a great experience seeing the city from that vantage point,” Rogers says. “That time out here established that I wanted to live and work in the Bay Area. It’s such a diverse culture and it’s very rare that you find that in other places in the country.”

He later took a job at that same firm, staying for more than three years before that fateful interview with Wagstaff. He commuted back and forth from the city for a while before moving to Mill Valley.  

“The outdoors just won me over,” he says. ”For 95 percent of the year, I can go hiking and biking and ride my motorcycle – all in a place that is world renowned.”

The 411: Wagstaff + Rogers Architects is at 275 Miller Ave, #202. MORE INFO.

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It's the quintessential artistic quest: how to pursue your passion and make ends meet at the same time.

For Mill Valley native Zach Gilmour, a third generation artist literally surrounded by artists – both his parents and grandparents, on both sides, were artists in many forms – that pursuit initially proved elusive. He first sought to blaze a new trail, garnering a certificate in cooking from the California Culinary Academy and working as a baker for a time, but came to the conclusion that whether he liked it or not, art with a capital A was too important to be a hobby.

Gilmour, who grew up in Blithedale Canyon, enrolled in the printmaking department of the San Francisco Art Institute, transferring to what is now the California College of Art and graduating with a BFA in printmaking. He dove deeply into his art, but that whole "make ends meet" thing was hit and miss. A stint in the retail world proved unrealistic, and a foray into the design world ended with the bursting of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s.

But when earned his teaching credential in art from Sonoma State University in 2007, Gilmour found that balance, which he's leveraged into a multi-faceted impact with both his own art and that of a generation of young artists. Gilmour teaches art at Tam High.

"I love teaching art, but it also feeds other things for me, particularly working with teenagers and drawing on my own experiences as a teen," says Gilmour, who lives in Forest Knolls with his wife and the son they just sent off to college. "What they need is a person who gives a damn and who is willing to meet them where they are. The arts is definitely a place where I can do that."

​But the teaching calendar also allows Gilmour to immerse himself in his art, as well as in the larger Mill Valley artistic community. He's been helping to curate the annual Tam High artist exhibit at the festival for many years, and also works with students to apply to MVFAF's Emerging Artist scholarship that the festival gives to two seniors and two juniors each year. This year's winners are seniors Maren Curtis and Logan Paglinawan and juniors Lily Kun and Ilaria Montenecourt.

Gilmour also serves on the MVFAF Committee – his mother Susan was a past MVFAF board president – and will be exhibiting at MVFAF for the fourth straight year. Gilmour primarily does monotype printmaking of abstract landscapes, a printmaking process that is similar to etching or blockprinting. Each print is one of a kind. "Even though I'm using a printmaking process, it's more akin to painting," he says. 

That's the process Gilmour used to design the MVFAF poster above. But he gets equally animated about garnering a grant from the Tam High Foundation to acquire an etching press for his classroom.
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"It's all been really exciting," he says.

The 411: The 63rd Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival is set for Sept. 14-15 in Old Mill Park. in Old Mill Park, 10am-5pm. MORE INFO & TIX. In addition to Zach Gilmour, the fest also features Mill Valley artists Tina Fossella (ceramics), Sarah Suloff (jewelry), Lance Kennedy (photography), Judith Lemmens (ceramics), Mike Moir (photography), Eric DaBreo (photography) and Erica Honig (jewelry). MVFAF's featured exhibit is "Green Change: Artists Consider Our Climate Crisis," which explore the climate crisis through the lens of contemporary art, in collaboration with Green Change, a grassroots environmental network.

ALSO: Organizers are encouraging those who can ride their bikes to do so by offering a $5 discount voucher to those that park their bicycle for free on the Depot Plaza (85 Throckmorton Ave.) via a partnership with the Marin Bicycle Coalition and sponsor Tam Bikes to host a safe, free bike parking corral.

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A star-studded lineup strolling the red carpet, one of the best bands in Marin, delicious barbecue fare and plenty of eye candy? Sounds like the opening night gala for the upcoming 42nd Mill Valley Film Festival, right?

What if we told you this describes the upcoming fundraiser for the nonprofit Ocean Riders of Marin, which has developed a vaunted reputation over 15-plus years on a pair of fronts: providing opportunities for under-served communities to connect with horses and nature, empowering them through their interactions with a 1,000-pound animal – and throwing one heck of an annual fundraiser to support those efforts?

The organization is back at it again on Saturday, Oct. 5, with “Blues in the Barn 3,” as Bruce Barlow leads a live performance from a band of all-star musicians that includes Steve Freund and Norm DiCarlo. There will also be barbecue from Maverick's and a silent auction. The event is held at the organization's home, the Golden Gate Dairy Stables within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) in Muir Beach. 

Unsurprisingly, the stars of the evening are the horses themselves. The 15 privately owned horses living in the stable will be on the "runway" as the centerpiece of the event.

The 411: Ocean Riders of Marin hosts its “Blues in the Barn 3” fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 5 (2-6pm) at its home, the Golden Gate Dairy Stables within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) at 1760 Shoreline Hwy. in Muir Beach. MORE INFO & BUY TIX. Can't make it? DONATE HERE.

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