It's hats off to the presenters of this year's Lunafest film festival, which benefits Santa Rosa's Sloan House women's shelter and the Breast Cancer Fund. Fittingly, Lunafest presents short films by, for and about women, and this year's emcee is none other than Emmy-award winning KRON-TV film critic Jan Wahl, who will speak on "Fabulous Females in Film."

Sloan House, formerly the Chanate Women's Shelter, has for decades been an emergency haven for women suffering poverty and domestic violence. As sponsors of Lunafest, Community Action Partnership Sonoma (CAP) is hoping the $40 general-admission tickets will help cover the $80,000 to $100,000 operating cost of Sloan House for one year. "If we raised $30,000, I'd be in heaven," says Hazel Whiteoak, resource development manager for CAP. "What's most exciting about Lunafest is that it's a remarkable festival for an exceptional cause that really makes a difference in our community."

Themed "A Little Help from My Friends," Lunafest will screen 11 award-winning films over the course of 90 minutes. Included are Get a Grip, a biopic on Fannie Barnes, who became San Francisco's first woman cable-car driver in 1998 at age 52; Mother of Many, an animated film about a midwife's helping hands; and Love on the Line (above), a stop-motion story of love via the dots and dashes of the telegraph system. A red-carpet Champagne reception starts the afternoon, followed by hors d'oeuvres and beverages, live '60s music by the Rolling Blackouts and a silent auction including a sculpture by Sebastopol artist Patrick Amiot of a mermaid holding the moon.

Also, don't come hatless. Prizes will be awarded for best men's and best women's hats that reflect a favorite film—think Scarlett O'Hara's green velvet number, made from her mother's drapes and rooster's tail feathers. For this cause, Rhett Butler really would give a damn.

Lunafest's projectors roll on Sunday, Nov. 14, at Spreckels Performing Arts Center, 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park. 2pm. $15–$70. 707.544.6911.

Send a letter to the editor about this story.