Were you wondering if movie buffs at Portugal's 2013 Duoro Film Harvest and the crowd at the 2013 Humboldt premier were the only people who'd ever see the The Wine of Summer? Well, so was local filmmaker Maria Matteoli for a minute there. But come Oct. 6 the film, shot both in Spain and here in Old Town Eureka, will open at the Fine Arts Beverly Hills theater — the whole Hollywood red carpet treatment. In a phone interview, while wrangling her 2-year-old son, Matteoli says it's a big deal for such a small film.

"I'm so shocked that it even got theatrical release," she says with a laugh. The hunt for a distributor started in 2012, but Matteoli feels winning a prize at the film fest in Portugal helped the movie land the deal with New Films International. The Wine of Summer is slated for release in 10 cities with the possibility of wider distribution depending on ticket sales. 

Not that Matteoli has been sitting around waiting. "I already have financing and we've already started casting for my new film," she says. While she won't say who, she hints that an Academy Award-winning actress is interested in the lead role in Lady of the Canyon, about explorer/author Isabella Bird, who traveled in Colorado in 1874. Set to be shot in Colorado and England, the film spans Bird's life but is focused on her early 40s, if that helps you speculate on the actress any.