The Mendocino Film Festival (MFF) began in 2006, and Thanksgiving Coffee Company has been a steady supporter since the beginning. This 2022 season an innovative program called "Native Cinema: Vision the Future" was lanched. This was created and produced by the Bee Bold Alliance (a project from Thanksgiving Coffee) to help tell the story of Mendocino’s regenerative renaissance.
The overwhelming positive response of the Native Cinema program demonstrated an earnest interest in the Native experience. It was screened to a sold out audience at Crown Hall in Mendocino, CA. and featured many wonderful Native Filmmakers and several remarkable local Native Leaders.
The tone of the evening was set by local coastal Pomo activist and cultural revitalizer Bernadette Smith. With her moving ancestral songs for the land, Smith gave respect and honor to her heritage and for those in the audience, the cultural experince of the original peoples of Mendocino, CA. Priscilla Hunter from the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo joined Smith in this acknowledgment with her prayers and helped amplify the intention for the evening of Native Films to come. (image: Bernadette Smith on left, Priscilla Hunter on right)