One visionary, hundreds of stars and filmmakers and thousands of films. Throughout the 20-year history of Sonny Bono’s dream, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, at least one thing has remained constant — the coverage of by Desert Sun reporter Bruce Fessier. On the cusp of the 20th anniversary, Fessier, who has attended every Palm Springs festival since the inaugural event in 1990, shares his highlights and personal memories.

Sonny Bono's film festival grew from a desire to draw tourists and offer great cinema.

I served on his founding festival committee, which raised seed money and suggested a foreign film focus in 1986.

I watched him realize his dreams in 1990 after what he called “four years of blood.”

These are my memories of the highlights of the next 20 years:

1990:

The Big Picture: The idea was to mix stars and intelligent foreign film. Included were retrospectives of movies by local icons Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Frank Capra and Kirk Douglas, and Canadian director Denys Arcand. Ball and Capra were dead and Douglas and Hope couldn't attend. But Arcand showed up and so did William Friedkin, the director Sonny launched with the Sonny & Cher movie, “Good Times,” which was given a screening.

By the numbers: 53 films in five days. Attendance: 17,500, with 3,000 from out of town, fulfilling Sonny's dreams of generating tourism. The films booked by programmer Darryl Macdonald and director Jeannette Paulson achieved Sonny's other goal of presenting intelligent films. While lacking important debuts — just 10 West Coast premieres in all — one was a preview of David Lynch's TV pilot, “Twin Peaks,” which created a buzz that helped build the amazing anticipation for its March debut.

The moment: “Cinema Paradiso” was a Miramax film and Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein didn't like to give away prints to film festivals. But Palm Springs got “Cinema Paradiso” and its focus on the magic of cinema captured what Palm Springs was all about. Three months later, the Italian film won the Best Foreign Language Oscar. “Cinema Paradiso” set the tone for Sonny's community event, which had a strong Italian element for years to come.

1992:

The Big Picture: One year after a gala that honored two local dancers from the “golden age of musicals,” Cyd Charisse and Ruby Keeler. Jimmy Stewart received the first Desert Palm Achievement Award at a black-tie event following a reception at the home of a little known supporter named Harold Matzner. Stewart also gave a Q&A after a screening of his film, “Harvey,” the previous night.

By the numbers: 81 films were screened as the festival expanded from five to eight days. Attendance reached 30,000 and the programming also grew in quality. “Enchanted April,” starring attendee Miranda Richardson, brought the same feeling of cinema magic to opening night as “Cinema Paradiso.” The closing nighter, “Toto Le Heros,” was one of the most crowd-pleasing films in festival history. In between were “Flirting,” featuring a young Nicole Kidman, “Raise the Red Lantern,” a brilliant Chinese film, and “Mediterraneo,” which gave its U.S. premiere to Palm Springs because of the festival's strong reputation in Italy. It became Palm Springs' second Best Foreign Language Oscar winner, establishing it as the festival that previews the Best Foreign Language Oscar films.

The moment: Stewart received his award from actress Ginger Rogers and said, “I've been to festivals. You have something here that is better than any of them.” The next year, Frank Sinatra agreed to be the honoree because Stewart was treated so lovingly.

Personal moment: I wrote a negative review of a film at this festival that I've always wanted to take back. “One False Move” featured a little-known Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton. Their acting was over the top and the production was “B” movie quality. But it heralded the neo-noir movement two years before “Pulp Fiction.”

1994:

The big picture: This was a transitional year. Macdonald had resigned. The festival board hired an L.A. lawyer as executive director only to have Sonny fire him and hire a local Desert AIDS Project fundraiser, Craig Prater. Sophia Loren was selected as the gala honoree and a 20-film retrospective of the late Federico Fellini was presented in keeping with the emphasis on Italian cinema. But the choice of Loren seemed designed to attract paparazzi. She didn't do any local interviews, as Stewart had done. She was paraded to the Founder's Party at Sonny's house, a Walk of Stars ceremony and a then reception where she made a disappointingly brief appearance.

By the numbers: 96 films were screened over 11 days. Attendance of 42,000 set another record, as did the gala crowd of 600 at the Wyndham Resort. Most of the celebrities were the local old guard: the Hopes, the Fords, the Autrys, Ginger Rogers and Loretta Young. The film lineup included still another Oscar winner in “Belle Epoque,” but it lacked the thrill of past festivals, except for a Canadian TV movie about the just-unfolding Catholic Church child molestation scandal, “The Boys of St. Vincent.”

The Moment: The Founders Party provided the most fun. It was youthful and so crowded, you had to be careful not to get bumped into the pool. Sonny sang with Jimmy Hopper's band and Trini Lopez joined in.

Personal Moment: One of my favorite films was a short I had seen at the Wine Country Film Festival, “Chili Con Carne,” featuring Mel Gibson in a largely improvised comedy turn. I told Sonny he should feature more shorts and Sonny replied smugly, “Let me ask you. Do you think shorts have a commercial future?”

That same weekend, he declared his candidacy for U.S. Congress. A Palm Springs Short Film Festival began in the summer of 1995.

1996:

The Big Picture: The festival was in trouble. After two years in the black, it lost $75,000 in 1995, leaving it in the red four of its first six years. Then came a title sponsorship from the Nortel Networks telecommunications company: $1 million over three years for a title and the right to use its gala to network with the film industry.

The festival also switched from honoring older stars to younger stars with contemporary movies to generate more media attention. Susan Sarandon, 49, star of “Dead Man Walking,” received the Charles A. Crain Desert Palm Achievement Award and her co-star, Sean Penn, flew in from Ireland to present the award. Her companion, Tim Robbins, had to stay home with their kids.

With its new financial security, the city of Palm Springs renewed its $150,000-a-year grant after the five-year grant Sonny Bono had pushed through the City Council expired after this festival.

By the numbers: The festival expanded from 11 to 17 days and increased its number of films from 100 to 150. Attendance, which had peaked at 42,000 the past two years, rose to 46,000. The program generated more Oscar winners than ever. In addition to “Antonia's Line” winning Best Foreign Language Film, “Anne Frank Remembered” won an Oscar for Best Documentary. Many film goers also were introduced to Italian comedian Roberto Benigni in his brilliant film, “The Monster.”

The Moment: Sarandon and Penn met their fans at a screening of “Dead Man Walking” during the gala. Sarandon walked down an aisle in a long black gown and Penn wore a black suit to make brief statements. “Hope you enjoy the film,” Penn said.

Personal Moment: At a news conference before the gala, I asked the liberal Sarandon if she might have a political conversation with Sonny, our Republican congressman. “Do you think he takes it seriously?” she asked. “I'd probably ask him to sing a little song.”

1998:

The big picture: Sonny's death in a Lake Tahoe skiing accident three days before the festival cast a shadow not even Sylvester Stallone could eclipse.

The 18-month-old MSNBC began covering Palm Springs' reaction to Bono's death on Tuesday. By the festival's opening on Thursday, it and CNN were doing 24-hour coverage and every entertainment news media was in town. Three-thousand people filed through St. Theresa Church over a four-hour memorial vigil. Then 500 people crammed into the 450-seat Annenberg Theater for the opening night film. As daily screenings began on Friday, 2,000 mourners stood in the rain outside of St. Theresa and 1,150 attended the funeral, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Gov. Pete Wilson, former Vice President Dan Quayle, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and dozens of U.S. senators, congressmen and music figures. Cher gave a eulogy, calling Sonny the most unforgettable character she'd ever meet “no matter how long I live and who I meet in my life.”

Bono's widow, the now Rep. Mary Bono Mack, received a long standing ovation at the Saturday gala as she announced the creation of a Sonny Bono Visionary Award to be presented beginning the next year. Later, Stallone walked on stage to the music from “Rocky” to receive the Charles A. Crain Career Achievement Award.

The festival limped to a close the next week when it had to compete against the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, the Sundance Film Festival in Utah and the Golden Globe Awards on TV. An audience favorite wasn't announced at the closing ceremonies, but Mayor Will Kleindienst saluted Sonny.

By the numbers: The festival was shortened from 17 to 12 days, but attendance held steady at 48,000. The program included another Oscar winner in “Character” from the Netherlands and “Stone, Scissors, Paper” from the U.K., which featured a recording of Sonny and Cher's “I Got You Babe.”

The moment: Jurnee Smolett, the 11-year-old star of “Eve's Bayou,” presented her director, Kassi Lemmons, with a Director's Achievement Award and belted out a song with a gut-bucket blues voice. Unfortunately, few people had seen Lemmons' film.

Personal Moment: Crying with Mary Bono as I interviewed her about looking for Sonny on the ski slopes, and laughing with her as she recalled asking what Cher was wearing to the funeral. Cher said, “I'm going like Cher.”

1999:

The Big Picture: The festival seemed to have hit a plateau. Booking the already acclaimed “Life Is Beautiful” gave the festival another Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, but it lacked the excitement of discovery. The overall quality of the films was OK. Gannett News Service critic Jack Garner called “Suits” the festival's only “outright bust.” But Hollywood Reporter critic Duane Byrge said, “It could pocket some significant change for a distributor willing to take a chance on a low-budget, anti-establishment satire.”

John Travolta, the Desert Palm Achievement Award honoree, didn't have a new movie and his next one would be the ubiquitous “Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000.” The gala celebrities were still mostly local, including Barry Manilow, Connie Stevens and Carol Channing.

By the numbers: The lineup grew from 100 to 162 over 12 days. Attendance was up slightly to 51,000. The good news was industry numbers doubled. A program highlight was the 1925 silent film version of “Phantom of the Opera” featuring its original score played by the Coachella Valley Symphony at the Palm Springs High School auditorium. The orchestra's timing was dead on.

The moment: Manilow slipped into a lecture hall in the Palm Springs Convention Center to see “The Harmonists,” a film about a pre-World War II German vocal group that Hitler broke up because three of its members were Jewish. Manilow wrote a full-scale musical based on the group and debuted it at the La Jolla Playhouse in 1997. The original group, the Comedian Harmonists, featured Joseph Cycowski, cantor of Temple Isaiah in Palm Springs from 1974 to 1984. Manilow praised the film.

Personal moment: Travolta, who played a president based on Bill Clinton in the 1998 film, “Primary Colors,” said on the red carpet he was considering an offer to play Frank Sinatra in a film about Dean Martin. I asked if playing Sinatra would be intimidating and he replied, “Not any more intimidating than playing the president of the United States.”

2000:

The Big Picture: Cinematographers Day, brought back by its founder in shorter form Jan. 11 at the Palm Springs Art Museum, became a festival highlight at this festival with top directors and cinematographers showing clips from some of the best films of the past 30 years. There were submarine scenes from “Das Boot,” described by cinematographer Jost Vacano, and scenes from “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “American Beauty” and “Thin Red Line” with revelations of how they told their tales through pictures.

The festival jumped on the Dogme '95 trend, which cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle compared to rock bands playing unplugged.

It also celebrated the inaugural use of the Camelot Theatres, then named the Festival of Arts Cinemas. Garner called the event “the envy of nearly every festival I know simply because it now has a first-class facility to call its own, thanks to the generosity of Ric and Rozene Supple.”

By the numbers: A record 184 movies from 52 countries were screened. Another record of 54,600 tickets were sold, but the festival still finished in debt, even with the city's $150,000 grant. Annette Bening was the main gala honoree. The increased celebrities throughout the fest included China's Zhang Yimou bringing his “Not One Less,” Kirk Douglas with “Diamonds,” Pedro Almodovar with “All About My Mother,” and Haley Joel Osment, Catherine Deneuve, Tyne Daly, Ed Asner, Lynn Redgrave, Roger Corman and the ever-present Kaye Ballard.

Not coincidentally, media numbers doubled from the previous year. “All About My Mother” went on to win the Best Foreign Language Oscar.

The moment: The documentary, “Louis Prima: The Wildest,” was booked into two small auditoriums at the Camelot and many people were turned away, The Desert Sun was flooded with phone calls. It did get a repeat screening as a festival favorite.

Personal moment: Warren Beatty acceded to his wife, Annette Bening, on the red carpet. But a KESQ reporter next to me stuck a microphone in his face and asked how he felt about Bening being honored instead of him. Beatty snapped, “Get a life.”

2001:

The Big Picture: Board chairman Matzner willed this festival to success.

Just two months before it began, a battle between board members resulted in the resignation of Prater, board chairwoman Rozene Supple, and the festival's Hollywood publicist.

Matzner took over as part of a “triumvirate” of board chairmen. Then all of the major honorees except Sean Connery — Nicolas Cage, Ridley Scott, Randy Newman and cinematographer Luciano Tovoli — didn't show up for the gala. Either did many of the stars scheduled to attend, including Cher.

But, even without the stars, the gala earned $200,000 to become its first ceremony to turn a profit. Matzner, who was said to have donated $215,000, credited Nortel for paying for the gala, estimated at $300,000. But he said the festival would have been profitable even without the gala. Board member Ric Supple said Matzner transformed the festival image “from a loser to a winner” as he presented him with the annual Rozene award, named after his wife for her earlier dedication to the festival.

By the numbers: Denis Pregnolato, returning to the executive director job he held in the early 1990s, said box office sales jumped more than 20 percent over the previous year's record of $313,210 although the films were reduced from 184 to 139. Attendance dipped to 51,000, but, after raising ticket prices from $6 to $7, revenue was $372,680. More celebrities than ever received awards and talked with fans at local theaters. Ed Harris explained his 10-year odyssey to an Oscar nomination for “Pollock,” Neil Simon discussed his Showtime film, “Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” Lasse Hallstrom discussed his film, “Chocolat,” desert resident William Devane described doing three films for absent Palm Springs director John Schlesinger, and Chinese director Ang Lee discussed his fantasy action film, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” before a sold-out crowd at the Palm Springs High School auditorium that built momentum for its Best Picture Oscar nomination.

The moment: Matzner declared the festival “the most successful ever” before the first movie even began. Unfortunately, after the Nick Nolte film “The Golden Bowl” ended, many first nighters were agreeing with Mike Clarke of USA Today, who said, “even the film's better performers seem to be acting in a vacuum.”

Personal moment: I stood next to Connery at a reception before the gala and found him charming until I said I was a reporter. Then he clammed up and moved away. But he had the quip of the night when he said Cage was “probably drunk in Las Vegas.”

2002:

The Big Picture: The gala glitz had come to this. After years of big stars such as Stewart, Sarandon and Travolta, the Desert Palm Achievement Award went to Andy Garcia, a co-star of “Ocean's Eleven.” The selection of director Baz Luhrmann for the Sonny Bono Visionary Award was inspired, but the stars at the invitation-only ceremony included Daniel Baldwin, John Savage, John Saxon and Hector Elizondo. Many were invited by Rancho Mirage-based agent Norby Walters, who ran a popular celebrity poker game in Hollywood.

But the ceremony was just four months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.. Nortel had announced it couldn't afford to fund another gala in the Palm Springs convention center because of the economic downturn. In that context, it was amazing the festival not only finished in the black for the second straight year, but smashed the box office record with $461,700.

It was also the year Matzner began his quest to make Palm Springs one of the nation's two biggest festivals. The largest, Seattle, had more than twice its attendance of 150,000, but Matzner boasted Palm Springs was already in the top five. He agreed to run for chairman again to fulfill his goal of bringing “large numbers of people into this city and to fill hotels and restaurants.”

By the numbers: A record 274 films were seen by a record 64,500 people. But Matzner had to secure a $100,000 “emergency” allotment from the city of Palm Springs to throw its party. That was after the $150,000 a year the city had been allocating.

The Moment: Orange County critic Henry Sheehan of the five-member FIPRESCI jury said Palm Springs seemed to be moving up in importance in the festival world.

“It can't be a Cannes,” he said, “but it could be the Southern California film festival that Southern California doesn't have right now.”

Personal Moment: Seeing Gary Busey flirtatiously tell Sean Young after the awards gala at the Palm Springs Art Museum, “We ought to work together some time...”

2004:

The Big Picture: Nortel bowed out as title sponsor, the city of Palm Springs stepped in with a $350,000-a-year sponsorship and the Supples paid off a $250,000 festival debt leading up to this festival. Macdonald also returned as executive director in October after film and theater artist Mitch Levine was dismissed a year after replacing Pregnolato. Macdonald brought an excitement to the programming with the return of Arcand and his Oscar-winning film of that year, “The Barbarian Invasions,” and such remarkable documentaries as “Capturing the Friedmans,” “The Fog of War: 11 Lessons of Robert McNamara” and “My Architect.”

The caliber of gala honorees also made a paradigm leap, thanks to board members Earl Greenburg, Michael Childers and a few colleagues who underwrote the gala. Recipients included directors Anthony Minghella and Jim Sheridan, actresses Naomi Watts and Scarlet Johansson, writer Sidney Sheldon and Career Achievement in the Art of Cinema honoree Kevin Costner.

Costner proved to be the most popular honoree since Stewart. He gave a Q&A in the large Camelot auditorium that included a question about why he played a catcher in “Bull Durham” when he pitched on his high school baseball team. The questioner turned out to be his high school baseball coach, Mel Grabel, who had a Cathedral City home. Grabel said later Costner's team won its league title.

After 12 days, Macdonald declared, “Sonny's vision was realized.”

By the Numbers: 197 films came from 65 nations, including a record 53 Oscar submissions. The underwritten gala made $436,000 and the record attendance of 92,000 put the festival within Matzner's goal of being the nation's second largest film festival.

The Moment: The festival launched with a solid opening night film, “Big Fish,” featuring hometown girl Alison Lohman, who walked down the red carpet a star. Unfortunately, she came down with a little stage fright and didn't address an audience including her parents and boyfriend. That provided a chance for another hometown boy, best-selling author Sidney Sheldon, to get the recognition he had never received in Palm Springs.

Personal Moment: Sidney Poitier and his wife, Joana, came unannounced to a Regal theater (then called Signature) and sat a row in front of me. Their daughters wrote, directed, produced and starred in “The Devil Cats” and I watched this proud dad react to every big moment in the film. Sundance hadn't accepted his daughters' work, but the viewing audience applauded and cheered after the credits. I approached this Jackie Robinson of film after his daughters, Anika and Sydney, did a Q&A. “I was overwhelmed,” he said. “It's a wonderful effort and, as their father, I must say it was totally on their part that this came to be.”

2005:

The Big Picture: The festival took a more commercial turn with the feel-good, but tepid opening night film, “Coach Carter,” starring Samuel L. Jackson. New board chairman Greenburg recruited a star contingent led by Jackson and 2003 Oscar winner Nicole Kidman that eclipsed the previous year's lineup and made the gala arguably the most glamorous at a serious U.S. film festival.

By the numbers: The festival eclipsed the 100,000 attendance mark for the first time to earn a record-smashing $743,210. Indian Wells and Palm Desert became sponsors, although not to the extent of Palm Springs' generosity. The gala, chaired for the first time by Jackie Lee Houston, drew 1,200 people to raise almost $250,000 more than in 2004.

The moment: Kirk Douglas, now living in Santa Barbara, gave Palm Springs a slogan when he told the gala crowd, “If you want to see movie stars, come to Palm Springs!”

Personal moment: I was talking to Variety critic Robert Kohler about the poor turnout for his Cine Latino seminar about the burgeoning film industry in Latin America. In two years, the Latino market would become obvious to paparazzi at the gala. But it didn't bother him that TV journalists didn't want to be on the cutting edge.

“I've attended this gala once,” he said. “The gala has nothing to do with the festival. Television covers that event. It doesn't cover this event.”

2007:

The Big Picture: The festival found the right recipe for an opening night film after over-correcting for the commercial “Coach Carter” in 2005 with the stunning but slow “The New World” in 2006. The U.S. premiere of “Outsourced” by Seattle indie director John Jeffcoat addressed a news issue and was so accessible it was named a runner-up Audience Favorite and Jeffcoat won the John Schlesinger Award for Outstanding First Feature.

The audience showed its taste in selecting the eventual Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, “The Lives of Others,” as Audience Favorite over such strong films as “The Way I Spent the End of the World” from Romania and Pedro Almodovar's “Volver.”

Greenburg got the gala right again by giving his Chairman's Vanguard Award to “Little Miss Sunshine,” a film that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival the previous January. It illustrated how the festival circuit begins at Sundance and ends at Palm Springs just before the Oscar nomination announcements.

The festival also secured the two actresses of their generation in Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett, and recognized the rise of Mexican directors in mainstream film. It made Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Director of the Year for “Babel,” which would win the Best Picture Oscar, and gave Guillermo Del Toro an International Filmmaker Award for “Pan's Labyrinth,” which won the FIPRESCI jury award for Best Foreign Language Film.

By the numbers: The festival smashed the record for most films and Macdonald vowed it would never have that many again. Attendance and revenues increased to 119,800 people and $979,301. But 2008 would prove screenings don't always equate to top dollars. The 2008 festival would offer 222 films and produce $1.08 million. Likewise, the gala attracted a record 1,650 people to generate $856,100, but in 2008 it would eclipse $1 million with 1,600 attendees.

The moment: Sal Ladestro, executive vice president of marketing for Sony Pictures Releasing and a Palm Springs home owner, sees a “blurring of the line” between “foreign” and “American” with the crossover success of directors such as Ang Lee and Guillermo del Toro.

“I think this reflects a growing interest by directors to make films in Hollywood and in their native languages, and the growing acceptance of audiences,” said Ladesto. “Palm Springs is getting more and more important every year.”

Personal moment: The gala's line of the night reflected the international flavor that had permeated event.

Blanchett, an English actress working for a Mexican director, teased her Japanese co-star, Rinko Kikuchi, about her scene that earned “Babel” an “R” rating.

“In honor of Rinko's extraordinary performance,” she said, “I'm not wearing any underwear.”