Microcosm or macrocosm? For the next eight days, both of those words apply to the bucolic towns to the south of Silicon Valley—and that’s thanks to the Poppy Jasper International Film Festival.
With eight hours of film screenings every day, stories from around the United States and the world will unspool in screens scattered across Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Bautista, a reflection of the human condition across the United States and around the world.
Simultaneously, festival attendees can peer into the microcosm that is the South Valley, absorbing its cultural and natural treasures.
At the center is festival organizer Mattie Scariot, who’s more than happy to share the highlights of the 2025 cinematic kaleidoscope. The schedule features films made in more than 35 countries, and also many that were shot right around the corner (see accompanying article).
The screenings are presented in blocks, some thematic—Youth and Student Filmmaker Showcase, Women’s Day, LGBTQ, Mexico y Tu—and others more general, such as groupings of filmmakers from northern and southern California.
On top of all that, there are eight workshops and panels and 21 parties and events. It’s all laid out in a compact but comprehensive festival guide, featuring a cover by artist John Mavroudis.
Scariot is particularly happy with the illustration, saying she was drawn to Mavroudis’ work after seeing his 2019 cover for Time magazine that listed the names of cities where mass shootings had taken place—including Gilroy. Then she discovered he was local. It took a couple years, but she was finally able to commission an illustration.
Now in its 19th year, the festival continues to find new ways to encourage exploration of the South Valley. Passes have been added that provide entry to all of the events in a single city—a lower-priced option than the all-inclusive VIP pass. “If you just want to do stuff in Morgan Hill, it’s $100 and you can go to any film and any event and any afterparty.” And there are similar passes for Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Bautista.
Once again there will be a locally made brew created for the festival and sold at Kelly Brewery Company in Morgan Hill, Settle Down Brewery & Taproom in Gilroy, Mad Pursuit Brewing Company in Hollister and Brewery Twenty Five in San Juan Bautista. “You’ll see the beer around,” Scariot says. “It has the poster logo on it.”
And this year Scariot is incorporating two winery tours for VIP pass holders and filmmakers to get visitors out into the countryside “I’m really excited,” she enthuses. “Let’s get them outside so they can really see this area. Hopefully they want to come back and visit again or maybe make their next film here.”
The April 15 tour will hit Sarah’s Vineyard, Moose Mountain and Lightpost Winery. The April 16 tour will visit DeRose Winery and Calera.
“I really want to change the way people see South and San Benito County,” Scariot says, “and we do that by showcasing [local] venues. I had one filmmaker say, ‘I never knew that anything like this existed in Gilroy.’ They just love all the venues, and they’re all so different from each other.”
Another element of Poppy Jasper are its Icon Awards. This year’s honorees are actor Ed Begley, mime artist Robert Shields, Watsonville Film Festival director Consuelo Alba, artist Ignacio Gomez and actor Daniel Valdez (both associated with El Teatro Campesino), musicians Robert Berry and Jeffrey Babko, and veteran actor Patrick Fabian, who stars in The Way We Speak, which closes out the festival.
“The Way We Speak is a beautiful film,” Scariot rhapsodizes. “It’s hard to believe it was that filmmaker’s first feature film. As a filmmaker myself, I don’t know how you came up with such a perfect-looking film. The editor works with Francis Ford Coppola. … How does a first-time director get such an amazing team?”
In addition, local figures Marty Cheek and Rich Firato will receive posthumous Legacy Awards for their support of the festival. Scariot says of Cheek, “He’s a huge loss. He loved the festival from the beginning.” And Firato supported the festival by providing party space at Morgan’s Cove, his pirate-themed venue. “He was a big part of the festival for many years,” Scariot says, donating space that “looks like a film set. That was such a huge blessing.” Scariot says Firato’s wife and daughter want to honor their father’s memory and keep the event at Morgan’s Cove.
Scariot finds it hard to point out just one or two highlights—“we have so many wonderful films this year”—but she finally relents and mentions Kalamazoo Girls, a documentary about a group of women who made Gibson guitars during WWII. The filmmakers are bringing two of these highly regarded guitars to two open mic nights, where attendees can play these rare instruments.
In her short introduction to the festival guide, Scariot stands up for the cause of diversity, equity and inclusion in a gentle and genuine statement, reminding us all that DEI exists to give opportunity, not take it away.
“This year, our focus is on what we are capable of,” Scariot writes. “No matter what we look like, no matter our gender, sexual orientation, ability, or disability—we all have the power to achieve greatness.”
As she talks about the statement, Scariot provides some background on discussions going on in the film festival industry about whether they should expect attacks from anti-DEI forces. “Do we need to prepare for protests during our festivals because most of us are not complying with pulling DEI out of our festival, or pulling it out of our mission, or pulling it out of our conversations? … It’s nerve-wracking, because it’s nothing I’ve ever had to worry before about. And the numbers in the industry are so low for women and minorities that it’s just like, how can you not talk about it?”
On the subject of diversity, Scariot is excited because one of the filmmakers is Deaf and will do a presentation on how to work with Deaf people on the set and how to include them in films. “She’s in the opening ceremony,” Scariot says. “It’s a perfect way to open the festival, and it just goes with the word capable that has just sort of been my mantra this year.”
The 2025 Poppy Jasper International Film Festival will take place April 9-16 at multiple venues in Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Bautista. To see the full program for this year’s festival and to order tickets, visit pjiff.org.
