MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – On Saturday, Sept. 18, there will be two screenings of “Paperback Dreams” with filmmaker Alex Beckstead on hand for audience question and answer after each screening.

The afternoon matinée is at 1:30 p.m. and evening screening at 7:30 p.m. at Cartwright (Calpine) Geothermal Visitors Center, 15500 Central Park Road, Middletown.

Admission is $10 at the door and $5 kids 16 and under.

“Paperback Dreams” is the story of two landmark independent bookstores and their struggle to survive.

The film follows Andy Ross, owner of Cody’s Books, and Clark Kepler, owner of Kepler’s Books, over the course of two tumultuous years in the book business.

If you're worried that a movie about bookstores could be boring, “Paperback Dreams” features multiple bombings, political intrigue, major political figures and at least one bona fide rock star.

Independent bookstores function as literary laboratories, and publishers rely on them to champion new and controversial work.

To passionate booksellers, selling books remains revolutionary. “Paperback Dreams” celebrates what these stores offer our local communities, and mourns the cultural loss that comes when a good bookstore closes its doors.

Producer and director Alex Beckstead is a San Francisco-based documentary filmmaker. “Paperback

Dreams” is his second ITVS-funded project as a director.

The first was “Trailer Park Blues,” an observational portrait of his grandparents, Bill and Peggy Heiner, is an honest but sensitive portrait of Bill’s lifelong struggle with alcoholism in a trailer park north of Phoenix, Ariz. It aired on public television stations in more than 30 markets.

He produced segments in Kenya and Uganda for the 2005 PBS special “Ending AIDS: The Search for a Vaccine.”

Other credits include associate producer of “Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet,” a two-hour prime time PBS special that was both a biography of Islam’s founding prophet, and a profile of contemporary American Muslims.

He also served as associate producer and sound recordist for several companion documentaries for the DVD release of the HBO dramatic series “Deadwood.”

Beckstead’s first film, the short documentary “SXE,” screened at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.

There is plenty of parking, large restrooms, refreshments for sale and a great time.

Coyote Film Festival is the fundraising arm of EcoArts of Lake County, a 501(c)(3) non profit arts

organization dedicated to providing visual art opportunities to the residents and visitors of Lake County.

Contact Karen Turcotte at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.