Stars Janelle Monae, Regina Hall, Laura Dern come out for the 2022 Napa Valley Film Festival

This weekend, Cinema Napa Valley partnered with The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Copia to host a fresh take on the 2022 Napa Valley Film Festival, one centered on food and wine, as well as cinematic stars. Honorees included Laura Dern, Luis Guzmán, Stephanie Hsu, Janelle Monáe, and Regina Hall.

On Saturday, NVFF hosted a screening of “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” a film that shocked reviewers upon its early 2022 release with its stunning visual effects and brilliant blend of genres. A mixture of comedy, action, sci-fi and drama, the film pulls from every depth of the cinematic reservoir.

At the heart of the film is a touching story about a family struggling to stay together, and a mother-daughter relationship at its breaking point. The film stars screen legend Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wang and Stephanie Hsu, who was given the NVFF Rising Star award, as her daughter and semi-villain, Joy, AKA Jobu Tupaki.

Starting out in New York’s underground theater scene, Hsu always figured she was just going to make experimental art and work at a bar for the rest of her life, never imagining she would get such a big break.

“The success of ‘Everything Everywhere’ has been profoundly life changing for me,” she said. “The depth and reach for his movie has proven what I have always hoped to be true, which is that art can be both experimental and commercially viable. This movie is the most honest handshake I’ve had with Hollywood, because it allowed me to bring my whole art-heart, freak-flag soul and my ulterior motives as an artist to life … and it somehow worked.”

On Sunday, the festival presented a special screening of “Glass Onion: A Knives out Mystery,” a film that won’t hit theaters until Nov. 23. The movie is an off-shoot of the hit 2019 murder-mystery, “Knives Out,” which captivated audiences with its enigmatic story of twists and turns, as well as its star-studded cast. “Glass Onion” follows that legacy closely, both in its puzzling plot and stacked cast. The call sheet includes musical artist and actress Janelle Monáe, who was honored at the screening with the NVFF Trailblazer award.

Monáe is an eight-time Grammy nominee whose last two albums charted at top 10 and whose screen portfolio includes critically acclaimed films such as “Hidden Figures,” “Moonlight” and “Antebellum.” During her Q&A, she mentioned how thankful she was to have been a part of those projects, so that she was ready when this “dream” role came around.

“I would not have been prepared for this role if I hadn’t had those experiences,” she said. “Rian Johnson is one of the greatest film directors of all time. I’d seen ‘Knives Out’ and I said, if I ever get a chance to work with this guy, it’s a yes. It’s the role of a lifetime.”

Also Sunday, the NVFF presented “Honk for Jesus: Save Your Soul,” a mockumentary starring Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall as the Pastor and First Lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch struggling to heal their reputation following a salacious scandal.

While expertly deploying satire and comedy to expose the hypocrisy of these supposed Christians, the film also earns the concern of audiences, eagerly waiting to see if this couple in crisis can revive not only their marriage and careers, but their faith and core identity as well.

Hall, who was given the NVFF Maverick award, emphasized the importance of empathy in considering such complicated characters.

“You think you’re going to not like them,” she said, “but you do have deep compassion, because they are two people who can’t live truthfully. It’s easy to pass judgment on them, whether they stay or go, and sometimes people don’t recognize the strength that it takes to do either. When you take the judgment away from that though, you get understanding.”