2023 Woodstock Film Festival Program

TABLE OF CONTENTS

5 Welcome

6 Staff

8 Yeaxr-Round Programs

12 Feature Narrative

16 QR Codes to Sections

18 Feature Documentary

24 Virtual Festival

26 Shorts

34 Panels

Narcosis, Goodbye Stranger, and Mascot are supported by the Dutch Culture USA program of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York.

38 Special Events

43 Awards

45 Woodstock Map

46 2023 Sponsors

49 Ticket Information 2023

50 Schedule at a Glance

SPECIALTY PROGRAMMING KEY

Focus on Music & Art

Films of the Hudson Valley

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT & TREASURER

CLAUDE DAL FARRA

BOARD VICE PRESIDENT

ILENE MARDER HINCHEY

ADVISORY BOARD

AIDAN QUINN

BARBARA KOPPLE

BILL HORBERG

BILL PLYMPTON

BLAIR BREARD

CHRISTINE VACHON

DAVID STRATHAIRN

EAMONN BOWLES

EMILY ROTHSCHILD

Poster art by renowned animator and artist Bill Plympton

This year’s poster artist, twice-Oscar-nominated indie animator Bill Plympton, is of apple picking upstate. “In one of my earlier trips to the Woodstock Film Festival,” he recalls, “I was able to spend an afternoon visiting one of the many apple orchards in the area with some other festival filmmakers. What a wonderful time that was!”

This is Bill’s second poster since 2002, when he launched WFF’s animation program, and this year, his ninth animated film, Slide, will also show.

PURCHASING TICKETS

INTERNET ORDERS

woodstockfilmfestival.org/tickets

BOX OFFICE LOCATION

13 Rock City Road, Woodstock, NY 12498

phone: 845.810.0131

BOX OFFICE HOURS

Aug 31 - Sept 26 Wed - Sun: 11am - 6pm

Sept 27-29 Wed - Fri: 11am - 7pm

Sept. 30 Sat: 10am - 7pm

Oct 1 Sun: 9am - 5pm

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL EVENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

CHECK THE WEBSITE TO:

 Confirm venues and times

 Read updated information about screenings, special events, and panels.

Social & Political Justice

Future Horror

Sustainability / Reimagining The

LGBTQIA+

BOARD SECRETARY

DAVE BALDWIN

BOARD TREASURER

MARK GOLDFARB

Spotlight on Women in Film & Media

LAURI ANDRETTA

VICKI CHESLER

HAYES CLEMENT

LACEY SCHWARTZ DELGADO

JONATHAN GRAY

KEVIN GREENE

World Cinema

PATRICK HARRISON

SARAH JOHNSON

JEFF MORRIS

NICOLE QUINN

PETER SARAF

ROGER ROSS WILLIAMS

ETHAN HAWKE

FISHER STEVENS

GILL HOLLAND

GRIFFIN DUNNE

HEIDI EWING

JESSICA EDWARDS

JOE BERLINGER

JOHN SLOSS

JUDY ARTHUR

LIEV SCHREIBER

LORI SINGER

MARIAN KOLTAI-LEVINE

MARY STUART MASTERSON

MELISSA LEO

PAMELA YATES

RACHEL GRADY

RICHARD ABRAMOWITZ

ROBIN BRONK

RON NYSWANER

SABINE HOFFMAN

SIGNE BAUMANE

STEPHEN NEMETH

TED HOPE

VINCENT D’ONOFRIO

YORUBA RICHEN

WELCOME TO THE 24 TH ANNUAL WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL

Fall is upon us, and as we near this year’s film festival, I reflect upon how much we have gone through recently with both the film festival specifically and as a community of filmmakers and artists in general.

The current strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are putting a spotlight on some of the changes our world has been going through in the past few years, including the fast-moving development of A.I. in all areas, and the takeover by the giant streamers affecting all areas of film production and viewing. As a result, the power, inspiration, and vitality of individual artists has become only more pronounced, more needed. And that is one of the reasons a film festival like the Woodstock Film Festival is so important. It gives a platform to the individual creators, celebrating their unique voices and connecting them directly with an engaged community. We are all made better as humans and as a society when together we inspire, teach, empower, and support one another. At the Woodstock Film Festival, that is exactly what we do.

Over the past few months, the Woodstock Film Festival played an active role in supporting emerging filmmakers. In our four-week filmmakers’ residency/incubator, we mentored and championed four promising, talented filmmakers, each working on their full-length documentary or narrative project. Our now year-round and summer intensive Youth Film Lab for area teens fostered three amazing and substantive short films created by 15 high school students.

During this past year, the festival showcased many noteworthy films, hosting the filmmakers and connecting them with the audience. Among the highlights were Oscar-nominated Fire of Love, with filmmakers Sara Dosa and Shane Boris; Oscar-nominated Argentina; 1985, with filmmaker Santiago Mitre and the film’s subject, international human rights lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo (by zoom); and, Judy Blume Forever, with producers Sara Bernstein and Marcella Steingart.

On September 27, we will begin our five-day festival, continuing our mission to bring the Hudson Valley community together with both emerging and veteran filmmakers. There will be some familiar faces, like indie horror guru Larry Fessenden (Blackout), iconic actor/director Steve Buscemi (The Listener), animation legend Bill Plympton (Slide), and documentary stalwart Ondi Timoner (The New Americans, Gaming A Revolution) And we will witness the next generation with films by Noah Schamus (Summer Solstice), Henry Nelson (Asleep In My Palm), Brittany Snow (Parachute), and Set Hernandez (Unseen), along with an exciting line-up of films exploring racism, sustainability, climate change, the housing crisis, political discourse, gender, and much more. Of course, there will also be plenty of films that are just plain entertaining, as well as our usual great collection of shorts, live music, panels, and other surprises.

We are thrilled to welcome the many talented filmmakers, actors, and industry members who are joining us from near and far. I look forward to seeing them here, connecting with our audience and with each other, during what will surely be five magical days of cinema, art, and community building.

Once here, please don’t forget to visit and enjoy all the beauty, artistry and unique craftsmanship that Woodstock and the Hudson Valley have to offer. This year’s poster artist, animator Bill Plympton, noted the reasoning behind his poster creation: “In one of my earlier trips to the Woodstock Film Festival, I was able to spend an afternoon visiting one of the many apple orchards in the area with some other festival filmmakers. What a wonderful time that was! With this poster, I'm trying to recreate my beautiful experience of apple picking in Ulster County.” Follow Bill's example: Between filmsand festival events, make some time to visit orchards, wineries and rail trails, stop by the many galleries, unique stores, fine restaurants, and breweries, and enjoy not only the Woodstock Film Festival, but where it's at too: the beautiful and vibrant Hudson Valley.

Finally, and most importantly, a big thank you to the thousands of filmmakers who submitted films this year, to the hundreds of volunteers, to our hard working staff, community members, and supporters, to our diligent board, our dedicated audience, and to all those who make it possible for the Woodstock Film Festival to not only sustain itself, but to keep on growing from year to year.

Welcome to the 24th annual Woodstock Film Festival, everyone! See you at the movies.

Meira Blaustein Co-Founder / Executive Director

Events are subject to change, for latests updates visit

WoodstockFilmFestival.org

Dion Ogust

YEAR-ROUND STAFF

OPERATIONS & ADMIN DIRECTOR

Erin Cass

OFFICE & COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER Teressa DelCampo

DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER

MARKETING & COMMUNICATION MANAGER

FESTIVAL STAFF

HEAD OF PROGRAMMING

FEATURE PROGRAMMER

SHORTS PROGRAMMER

SHORTS PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT

ANIMATION PROGRAMMERS

DEPUTY OPERATIONS MANAGER

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR

PRODUCTION LEAD

TRANSPORTATION COORDINATOR

ART DIRECTOR

ART ASSISTANT

PIPE & DRAPE/OPS

PIPE & DRAPE/OPS

VENUE COORDINATOR

ASSISTANT VENUE COORDINATOR

PANEL COORDINATOR

FOOD COORDINATOR

BOX OFFICE MANAGER

PRINT TRAFFIC COORDINATOR

REGISTRATION

MUSIC COORDINATOR

GRAPHIC DESIGN

PROGRAM COPY EDITOR

GUEST RELATIONS DIRECTORS

VIDEOGRAPHYCOORDINATOR

PHOTO COORDINATOR

HOSPITALITY LOUNGE

SPECIAL EVENTS

PHOTO COORDINATOR

PHOTO EDITOR

CONSULTANTS

SCREENERS

Stacy Anderson

Olga Artemeva

Sarah Artzt

Laura Atkinson

Caroline E. Babson

Jacqueline Bernstein

Leticia Bianco de Moraes Figueiredo

Lisa Black

Andy Borer

Katie Carpenter

Sana Cheema

Shannon Cooke

Steven Crainich

Margaux Delesgues

Mary Dickey

Simon Dunn

Madison Egan

INTERNS

Alison Aaron

Hendrix Bruno

Isabel Cama

Nicholas Gallo

Trevor Roberts

Katy Mejia

Meira Blaustein

Amir Bogen

Amanda Naseem

Hali Traina

Joy Buran & Noelle Melody

Charlee Liebeskind

Chloe White

Madelyn Crews

Phillip Levine

Shannon Cooke

Stacey Anderson

Lou Lacontre

Devin Cabrera

Jason Thurston

Willis Williams

Dan McCallum

Sam Light

Beth Troxell

Hali Traina

Kearin Coonin

Tracy Kamien

Ed Gerrard

Naomi Shmidt

Susan Piperato

Tina Saienni & Lyndsey Alexander

Megan Sperry

Owen Sullivan

Kathy Manley & Gina Owen

Lauri Andretta & Melita Greenleaf

Owen Sullivan

Jason Vasquez

Adam Schartoff, Sage Higgins

Lauren Evangelista

Michael Fasman

Tony Fletcher

Elliot Frances Flynn

Molly Freer

Jordan Fried

Sarah Graves

Janet Grillo

Yazeed Haidaoui

Sarah Hall

Alice Herla

Wesley Hicks

Kate Hoffman

Marylen Irizarry-Moyer

Nolan Johnson

Laura Kelber

Amy Lee

Matthew Gassenheimer

Zoe Harvey

Bernadette Kilkenny

AJ Laqueur

EDUCATION

FILMMAKERS RESIDENCY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

YOUTH FILM LAB PROGRAM DIRECTOR

BLURB WRITERS

PUBLICITY

NATIONAL PR FIRM

PUBLIC RELATIONS

AWARDS

MAVERICK AWARDS PRODUCER

AWARDS MC

VOICE OF GOD

AWARDS CLIP EDITOR

AWARDS TROPHIES

HEAD TECH CREW

TECH DIRECTOR

TECH CONSULTANT

TECH OTHER

Alex Smith

Megan Sperry

Peter Wortmann, Sabina Barach, Kate Sanford, Sierra Slaughter, Adam Schartoff, Ben Rendich Eli Vannata; Michael Taylor

Verdant Communications

Samantha Emson

Joey Vaughan

Zilla Vodnas

Carl Welden

Mark Carranceja

Steve Heller & Fabulous Furniture

Ryan Garfman

Jeff Kantor

Tim Sullivan, Ron Kuhnke, Bruce Berky, Tristan Shepherd, Bob Katz, Arby Schuman, Marc Sidgwick, Michael "Zoot"

Finnerman, Pam Kray, Corrin Straika, Stephen Marlowe, Lisa Burklund, Ben Rollins

Special thanks to Essay Video

Laurann Lento Black

Kellie Malone

Meshia Malone

John Manna

Natalie Marcrum

Kristof Z. Markovics

Damian Masterson

Jamie Mayers

Emily McCann Lesser

Cait McCluskie

Mark McKennon

Rebecca Metcalf

Kimberly Middleton

Beth Moran

Jesse Moss

Claudia Murdoch

Alyce Myatt

Clara Mead

Kaya Middleton

Lina Sanchez

Eli Vannata

Grace Pierce

Corri Plunkett

Robin Richardson

Juliette Richey

Christine Safi

Tamara Stafford Iovanella

Dani Super

Michael Taylor

Alexandra Torterotot

Lillian Ulrich

Liz Van Verth

Stacy Waters

Ken Wenger

J.C. Wenhold

Peter Wortmann

Nixie Vudelle

Hannah White

Ellie Whiteman

Founded in 2000, the Woodstock Film Festival (WFF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that nurtures and supports emerging and established filmmakers, sharing their creative voices through an annual festival and year-round programming to promote culture, diversity, community, educational opportunities and economic growth.

YEAR-ROUND PROGRAMS

The Woodstock Film Festival (WFF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that nurtures and supports emerging and established filmmakers, sharing their creative voices through an annual festival and year-round programming to promote culture, diversity, community, educational opportunities, and economic growth.

WFF provides innovative mentoring and inspired educational programs benefiting filmmakers, students, and diverse audiences, while serving as a powerful cultural and economic engine for New York’s Hudson Valley and beyond.

The Festival is centered in the historic arts colony of Woodstock, with additional events held in nearby towns, including Saugerties and Rosendale. It celebrates the art and craft of filmmaking with screenings, panels, and events throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley.

EDUCATION

The Third Annual Filmmakers Residency/ Incubator took place this year during May and June. In collaboration with White Feather Farm, and with additional support from Gigantic Pictures, four emerging filmmakers of diverse and underrepresented backgrounds came together to develop full-length narrative or documentary films to address the environmental theme of “reimagining our future,” from climate crisis and climate refugees to issues dealing with sustainability and food security, holistic ecosystem stewardship, and/or regenerative practices. With guidance from the program’s Artistic Director Alex Smith, Artistic Consultant-at-Large Sabine Hoffman, eight accomplished mentors (four in documentary film and four in narrative film), the residents focused on developing their film projects throughout their stay. As part of theresidency, the fellows also took part in and witnessed some of the nature-related daily activities of White Feather Farm, enjoying the literal and figurative fruits in creating while being connected to a working organic farm.

By the end of the residency, the filmmakers participated in a series of advisory sessions and craft lectures that helped them develop cohesive foundations for their projects and readied them to embark on the actual making or completion of their films. Following the residency, the participating filmmakers are returning to the festival as guests and will participate on a panel to showcase some of their work.

PROGRAMS

OCTOBER 2022

ALL THAT BREATHES

Screening with Director Q&A

The Woodstock Film Festival (WFF) presented a special screening of the Oscar-nominated All That Breathes, courtesy of HBO Documentary Films, followed by a Q&A and reception with the film’s director, Shaunak Sen.

DECEMBER 2022

THE JANES Screening with Filmmaker Q&A WFF hosted a sold-out special screening of The Janes, courtesy of HBO Documentary Films, followed by a powerful Q&A with the filmmakers and one of the original Janes.

The Sixth Annual Woodstock Film Festival Youth Film Lab successfully came to completion in July. Generously underwritten by the NoVo Foundation, the annual Woodstock Film Festival’s Youth Film Lab has grown from a three-week summer intensive filmmaking boot camp for Hudson Valley teens to a year-round program for teens that culminates in a summer intensive. Throughout the year, Lab students are guided through every stage of the filmmaking process, from inception to production and post-production, in a series of individual courses taught by film industry professionals and program instructors. This year, following months of student workshops and mentorships during the school year, the summer filmmaking intensive concluded with three exceptional films produced by this year’s cohort that screened at Rough Draft in Kingston following the program.

All three films—both documentaries and narratives— focus on socially relevant topics that impact the City of Kingston’s community and beyond. The public can catch the films and meet the student filmmakers at the 2023 Woodstock Film Festival during the Teen Screening block.

RETROGRADE Screening with Filmmaker Q&A

WFF presented a special screening of Retrograde, courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films, followed by a Q&A and reception with the film’s director, Matthew Heineman.

TO LESLIE Screening with Filmmaker Q&A

Three additional film screenings also took place in December, including a presentation of the Oscar-nominated To Leslie, which was followed by an in-depth Q&A with the film’s producer, Claude Dal Farra.

ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED Special Screening with Q&A

WFF co-presented with Upstate Films a special screening of the Oscar-nominated All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, courtesy of NEON, followed by Q&A with the film’s editor Amy Foote, hosted by editor Sabine Hoffman.

Film festival staff

THE WHALE Special Screening

WFF also presented an intimate screening of Darren Aronofsky’s drama, the Oscar-winning The Whale, courtesy of A24.

JANUARY 2023

FIRE OF LOVE Special Screening with Director Q&A

WFF presented a special screening of Oscar-nominated Fire of Love, courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers Sara Dosa and Shane Boris.

THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT

Special Screening with Director Q&A

Later in January, WFF co-presented with Upstate Films a special screening of the Oscar-nominated short documentary The Martha Mitchell Effect, courtesy of Netflix, followed by Q&A with the film’s director, Anne Alvergue.

FEBRUARY 2023

ARGENTINA, 1985

Special Screening with Filmmaker & Subject Q&A

WFF presented a special screening of the Oscar-nominated Argentina, 1985, courtesy of Amazon Studios, followed by Q&A with the film’s director, Santiago Mitre, and the film’s subject, international human rights lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo.

THE REBELLIOUS LIFE OF MRS. ROSA PARKS Special Screening with Filmmaker Q&A

Also in February, WFF collaborated with Black History Kingston and Radio Kingston to host a special evening of The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, courtesy of Peacock Productions, followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Yoruba Richen.

MARCH 2023

ITHAKA Special Screening + in-person Q&A with Julian Assange’s Father and Brother The Woodstock Film Festival presented a special screening of Ithaka, a documentary focused on the fight to free Julian Assange, followed by a Q&A with the subjects of the film: Assange’s father John Shipton and brother Gabriel Shipton.

APRIL 2023

COW Screening + Panel Discussion with Woodstock Farm Sanctuary

WFF hosted a special screening of acclaimed director Andrea Arnold’s first documentary, COW, followed by a panel discussion with the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, Catskill Animal Sanctuary, and documentarian Richard Miron.

JUDY BLUME FOREVER

Special Screening with Q&A

Also in April, WFF presented a special screening of Judy Blume Forever, courtesy of Amazon Studios, followed by a Q&A with the film’s producers Sara Bernstein and Marcella Steingart.

MAY 2023

DESPERATE SOULS, DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY with Q&A

In May, WFF hosted a special screening of Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy, a documentary that examines the fascinating people behind 1969’s classic Midnight Cowboy. The screening was followed by a Q&A with film director Nancy Buirski and producer Susan Margolin.

Conversation + Book Signing with Actor / Writer / Filmmaker Tim Blake Nelson Hosted by Actor / Climate Activist Tim Guinee

Later in May, WFF hosted a conversation and book-signing with actor, writer, and filmmaker Tim Blake Nelson about his debut novel City of Blows

JUNE 2023

SUMMER BENEFIT

WFF hosted a special sold-out summer benefit in preparation for the its 24th annual festival and its 25th anniversary in 2024, celebrating community and the art of filmmaking.

LOVE TO LOVE YOU, DONNA SUMMER

Special Screening with Q&A

Also in June, WFF presented a special screening of Love to Love You, Donna Summer, courtesy of HBO Documentary Films, followed by Q&A with Academy Award-winning director and WFF board member Roger Ross Williams.

JULY 2023

SOUL Special Screening

WFF collaborated with City of Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson, Hudson’s First Daughter Asia Johnson, and filmmaker and Second Lady of New York Lacey Schwartz Delgado and her twin sons Maxwell and Coltrane Delgado to co-present a special family screening of the Pixar and Disney classic Soul (2020).

Dinner & Movie on the Hudson with Filmmaker Q&A: OUR IDIOT BROTHER

WFF presented a special screening of Our Idiot Brother (2011) followed by Q&A with director Jesse Peretz and producers Peter Saraf and Anthony Bregman. Before and during the screening, guests were able to enjoy dinner, drinks, and the spectacular views of the Hudson provided by Hutton Brickyards’ River Pavilion restaurant.

AUGUST 2023

THE ETERNAL MEMORY

Special Screening with Filmmaker Q&A

WFF, along with Rhinebeck’s Upstate Films Starr Cinema, co-presented a special screening of the acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory. After the screening, guests were treated to Q&A with Alberdi.

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12 ALIEN INTERVENTION

ASLEEP IN MY PALM AT THE GATES

BLACKOUT CRUMB CATCHER

13 [THE] CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION

EILEEN

FAIR PLAY

FAIRYLAND

FINESTKIND

FORTUNATE SON

GOODBYE STRANGER

14 I USED TO BE FUNNY

IRENA’S VOW [THE] KILL ROOM [THE] LISTENER [THE] MONK AND THE GUN

ALIEN INTERVENTION

Directed by Janet Grillo

USA / 2023 / 103 minutes

An alien visitor entrusts a powerful device to a young girl before disappearing with government officials. When he returns 25 years later, he finds her grown up and struggling to keep her business and marriage alive, and he helps her find inner peace.

Screenwriter: Adam Seidel

Producers: Julie Crosby, David Youse

Executive Producer: Kit Seidel

ASLEEP IN MY PALM

Directed by Henry Nelson

USA / 2023 / 88 minutes

Tim Blake Nelson produced and stars in Asleep in My Palm, a dark drama directed by his son Henry. Nelson plays Tom, an angry man who lives off the grid with his teenage daughter, with every realworld interaction and exposure threatening the end of their way of life. —Adam Schartoff

Screenwriter: Henry Nelson

Producers: Tim Blake Nelson, Vince Jolivette, Shannon Houchins

15

Cast: Carie Kawa, Michael Esparza, Daniel Dorr, Cynthia Mace, Gregory Jbara

Cinematographer: Sarah Brandes

Editor: Soojin Chung

Composer: Lillie Rebecca McDonough

16 SLIDE

COURTESY OF: VISION FILMS

Executive Producer: Potsy Ponciroli

Co-Producer: Eric Williams

Cast: Tim Blake Nelson, Grant Harvey, Gus Birney

Cinematographer: Tatjana Krstevski

Editor: Max Ethan Miller

Sound Design: Andres E. Marthe Gonzalez

w/ Q&A Sept 28

WOODSTOCK

AT THE GATES

Directed by Augustus Bernstein USA / 2023 / 97 minutes

A housekeeper from El Salvador, brings her teenage son Nico to help her clean an affluent family’s Los Angeles home. But after a visit from law enforcement, her employers inform them that ICE officers are searching for them and convince the pair to hide in a basement closet.

Screenwriter: Augustus Meleo Bernstein

Producer: Augustus Bernstein

Executive Producers: Colleen Camp, Bob Berney, Armyan Bernstein, Rodrigo Garcia

Cast: Miranda Otto, Noah Wyle, Ezekiel Pacheco, Vanessa Benavente, and Sadie Anne Stanley

Cinematographer: Alan Torres

Editor: Jacob Ehrlich

Production Design: Frida Oliva, Andrew Kim

Composer: Julia Newman

Music: Julia Newman w/ Q&A

BLACKOUT

Directed by Larry Fessenden USA / 2023 / 103 minutes

US PREMIERE

In iconic horror filmmaker Larry Fessenden’s latest film, every month when the moon is full, Charlie finds himself turning into a murderous werewolf, wreaking havoc on his small town. Only the people closest to him have any chance of stopping his bloodthirsty rampage. —Eli Vannata

Screenwriter: Larry Fessenden

Producers: Larry Fessenden, James Felix McKenney, Chris Ingvordsen

Executive Producer: Franklin Laviola

Co-Producer: Gaby Leyner

Cast: Alex Hurt, Addison Timlin, Motell Gyn Foster, Joseph Castillo-Midyett, Ella Rae Peck, Rigo Garay, James Le Gros, John Speredakos, Marshall Bell

Cinematographer: Collin Brazie

Editor: Larry Fessenden

Animators: John Mitchell, James Siewert

Production Design: Linnea Crabtree

Composer: Will Bates

Sound Design: Abigail Savage

Music: Tom Laverack

CRUMB CATCHER

Directed by Chris Skotchdopole USA / 2023 / 104 minutes

A newlywed couple is held captive at a lake house by a maniacally-optimistic entrepreneur and his bitter wife who are desperate to finance their bizarre invention, the Crumb Catcher, with a halfbaked blackmail plot.

Screenwriter: Chris Skotchdopole

Producers: Brian Devine, Larry Fessenden, Chadd Harbold

Co-Producers: Ruby Skotchdopole, Cameron Crews

Cast: Rigo Garay, Ella Rae, Peck, John Speredakos, Lorraine Farris

Cinematographer: Adam Carboni

Editor: Chris Skotchdopole

Production Design: Matt Weir

Composer: Ethan Starzman

Sound Design: Nathan Hasz

photo by Russell Maynor

[THE] CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION

Directed by James Ivory

USA / 2009 / 114 minutes

English, Spanish with subtitles

Based on Peter Cameron’s novel, The City of Your Final Destination (2009), directed by Oscar winner James Ivory, is a quirky, erotic romance and an elegant mystery. At his literary hero’s Uruguayan estate, a PhD student must decide between love and success. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Screenwriters: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Producers: Pierre Proner, Paul Bradley

Executive Producers: Ashok Amritraj, James Martin, Vincent Mai, Katsuhiko Yoshida

Cast: Omar Metwally, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Cinematographer: Javier Aguirresarobe

Editor: John David Allen

Production Design: Andrew Sanders

Composer: Jorge Drexler

EILEEN

Directed by William Oldroyd USA / 2023 / 91 minutes

Based on Ottessa Moshfegh’s eponymous novel and set in 1960s Boston, young secretary Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes enchanted by Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), a glamorous counselor at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret, throwing Eileen onto a sinister path.

Screenwriters: Luke Goebel, Otessa Moshfegh ( (based on Moshfegh’s novel)

Producers: Stefanie Azpiazu, Anthony Bregman, Peter Cron, Luke Goebel, Otessa Moshfegh, William Oldroyd

Executive Producers: Farhana Bhula, Ollie Madden, Julia Oh, Gregory Zuk, Jamin O’Brien

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Thomasin Mackenzie, S hea Whigam

Cinematographer: Ari Wegner

Editor: Nick Emerson

Production Design: Craig Lathrop

COURTESY OF: VARIANCE FILMS

Q&A: James Ivory, Peter Cameron

WOODSTOCK Playhouse Sat Sept 302:00pm

FAIRYLAND

Directed by Andrew Durham USA / 2023 / 115 minutes

French, English with subtitles

Composer: Richard Reed Parry w/

FAIR PLAY

Directed by Chloe Domont

USA / 2023 / 113 minutes

Hot off the heels of their new engagement, thriving New York couple Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) can't get enough of each other. When a coveted promotion at a cutthroat financial firm arises, supportive exchanges between the lovers begin to sour into something more sinister. As the power dynamics irrevocably shift in their relationship, Luke and Emily must face the true price of success and the unnerving limits of ambition.

Screenwriter: Chloe Domont

Producers: Leopold Hughes, Ben LeClair, Tim White, Trevor White, Allan Mandelbaum

Executive Producers: Ram Bergman, Rian Johnson, Chloe Domont, Anđelka Vlaisavljević

Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Aldren Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan, Rich Sommer, Sebastian de Souza, Patrick Fischler

Cinematographer: Menno Mans

Editor: Franklin Peterson

FINESTKIND

Directed by Brian Helgeland USA / 2022 / 126 minutes

COURTESY OF: NEON

w/ Q&A Sept 27

COURTESY OF: NETFLIX

WOODSTOCK Playhouse Wed Sept 275:15pm

Orpheum S2 SAUGERTIES Thur Sept 284:00pm

FORTUNATE SON

Directed by Remy van Heugten

Netherlands, Belgium / 2022 / 100 minutes

Dutch with subtitles

Based on Alysia Abbot’s memoir of being raised by a single, gay father in 1970s San Francisco, Fairyland tells a remarkably compelling story not only because of the extraordinary events it recounts— though there are plenty of those—but because of the raw richness of its central father-daughter relationship.

Screenwriter: Andrew Durham

—Peter

Wortmann

Producers: Sofia Coppola, Megan Carlson, Laure Sudreau, Greg Lauritano and Siena Oberman

Executive Producers: Roman Coppola, Michael Musante, Alysia Abbott

Cast: Emilia Jones, Scoot McNairy, Adam Lambert, Geena Davis, Cody Fern, Nessa Dougherty

Cinematographer: Greta Zozula

Editors: Peter CabadaHagan, Lawrence Klein

Production Design: Olivia Kanz

Composer: Michael Penn

Sound Design: Trip Brock

In this story, two brothers (Ben Foster & Toby Wallace), raised in different worlds, are reunited as adults over a fateful summer. Set against the backdrop of commercial fishing, the story takes on primal stakes when desperate circumstances force the brothers to strike a deal with a violent Boston crime gang.

Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland

Producers: Gary Foster, Russ Krasnoff, Taylor Sheridan, David C. Glasser

Executive Producers: Jennifer Roth, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari

Co-Producer: Joseph Micucci

Cast: Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega, Tommy Lee Jones

Cinematographer: Crille Forsberg

Production Design: Richard Hoover

Composer: Carter Burwell w/ Q&A

A family’s stability is shaken by a teenage son’s drift towards extremism in this second feature by Dutch filmmaker Remy van Heugten. With Fortunate Son, he offers a loving but harsh warning about the role that consumerism, pornography, male dominance, polarization, and violence have come to play in our lives.

Screenwriters: Gustaaf Peek

Producers: Joram Willink, Piet-Harm Sterk

Co-Producer: Bart van Langendonck

Cast: Liam Jeans, Maartje Remmers, Frederike van Oordt, Leopold Witte, Geert van Rampelberg

Cinematographer: Mark van Aller NSC

Editor: Moek de Groot NCE

Production Design: Minka Mooren

Composer:s Jorrit Kleijnen, Jacob Meijer

Sound Design: François Dumont

photo by Jeong Park

photo by ©Mark van Aller

Supported by the Dutch Culture USA program of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York

NEW YORK PREMIERE

GOODBYE STRANGER

Directed by Aaron Rookus

The Netherlands / 2023 / 81 minutes

Dutch with subtitles

Paul’s got everything going for him: a dream job and a devoted girlfriend. But when he sees his foreign promotion at the world’s biggest music streamer in jeopardy, his carefree summer day turns into one of considering his choices. Did he give up his old life and ideals too soon?

Screenwriter: Wander Theunis

Producer: Laurette Schillings

Executive Producer: Arnold Heslenfeld

Co-Producer: BNNVARA

Cast: Martijn Lakemeier, Claire Bender, Jake Isaac, Shaelyn Newmarch, Jesse Mensah

Cinematographer: Ton Peters

Editor: Annelies van Woerden

Production Design: Rosie Stapel

Sound Design: Regard Ibrahim

Music: Laura Bell

I USED TO BE FUNNY

Directed by Ally Pankiw

Canada / 2023 / 105 minutes

In Ally Pankiw’s debut feature I Used To Be Funny, Sam (Rachel Sennott, Shiva Baby) is a standup comedian and former au pair navigating PTSD following the search for missing teen Brooke (Olga Petsa). This breathtakingly honest dramedy showcases some of the most poignant filmmaking you’ll see this year. —Sierra Slaughter

Screenwriter: Ally Pankiw

Producers: Jason Aita, Breann Smordin, James Weyman

Executive Producers: Ally Pankiw, Paul Barkin, LiWei Chu, Mark Gingras, Judy Holm

Cast: Rachel Sennott, Olga Petsa, Caleb Hearon, Jason Jones

Cinematographer: Nina Djacic

Editor: Curt Lobb

IRENA'S VOW

Directed by Louise Archambault

Poland, Canada / 2023 / 120 minutes

In 1939, when the Nazis invaded and occupied Poland, the 17-year-old Irish Catholic Irena Gut witnessed a German soldier killing an infant. That moment transformed her life. Irena’s Vow is the true story of how Gut sheltered 12 Jews and attempted to keep them safe. —Peter Wortmann

Screenwriter: Dan Gordon

Producer: Nicholas Tabarrok

Executive Producers: Jeff Sackman, Berry Meyerowitz, Larry Greenberg

Cast: Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott, Andrzej Seweryn, Maciek Nawrocki

Cinematographer: Paul Sarossy

Editor: Arthur Tarnowski

Composer: Alexandra Stréliski

w/

Q&A

Orpheum S1 SAUGERTIES Fri Sept 2912:15pm

Tinker Street Cinema WOODSTOCK Sat Sept 3010:15am

THE] KILL ROOM

[THE] LISTENER

COURTESY OF: QUIVER DISTRIBUTION

w/ Q&A Sept 28 ZOOM

Orpheum S1 SAUGERTIES Thur Sept 282:45pm ROSENDALE Theatre Sat Sept 307:30pm

[THE] MONK AND THE GUN

Directed by Nicol Paone USA

/ 2023 /98 minutes

The Kill Room is a dark comedy/crime-thriller about a hitman (Joe Manganiello), his boss (Samuel L. Jackson), and an art dealer (Uma Thurman) whose money-laundering scheme accidentally turns the hitman into an overnight, avant-garde sensation, forcing the art dealer to play the art world against the underworld.

Screenwriter: Jonathan Jacobson

Producers: Jordan Levine, Jordan Beckerman, Anne Clements

Executive Producers: Robert Kapp, Paul Wedgwood, David Gilbery, Naolmi George, Nicholas Donnermeyer

Cast: Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson, Joe Manganiello, Maya Hawk, Debi Mazar

Cinematographer: Bartosz Nalazek

Editor: Gillian L. Hutshing

Production Design: Maite Perez-Nievas

Composer: Jessica Rose Weiss

Sound Design: Ann Scibelli

Music: Jessica Rose Weiss, Jason Soudah

Directed by Steve Buscemi USA / 2023 / 96 minutes

Directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji Bhutan, USA, France, Taiwan / 2023 / 107 minutes

Dzongkha, English with subtitles

—Adam Schartoff

Actor Tessa Thompson brings a tour-de-force performance to Steve Buscemi’s The Listener as Beth, a crisis counselor who talks to desperate callers over the course of a night. With Thompson as the only character we see, the voices of her callers make this film a mesmerizing experience to watch.

Screenwriter: Alessandro Camon

Producers: Wren Arthur, Oren Moverman, Lauren Hantz, Steve Buscemi

Executive Producers: John Hantz, Eddie Vaisman, Suzanne Warren, Julia Lebedev

Co-Producers: Billy Mulligan, Kat Barnette

Cast: Tessa Thompson, Rebecca Hall, Alia Shawkat, Logan Marshall-Green, Margaret Cho

Cinematographer: Anka Malatynska

Editor: Kate Williams

Production Design: Mboni Maumba

Composer: Aska Matsumiya

Sound Design: Paul Hsu

Music: Susan Jacobs

w/

In 2006, the King of Bhutan decided to abdicate the throne so his country could become a democracy, leading a Buddhist monk to remark, “I need two guns.” This truly unusual story is entertaining, soulful, and shrewd. —Peter Wortmann

Screenwriter: Pawo Choyning Dorji

Producers: Pawo Choyning Dorji, Stephanie Lai, Hsu Feng, Jean-Christophe Simon

Executive Producers: Zhang Xin, William Horberg, Lisa Henson, Kris Eiamsakulrat, Chayamporn Taeratanachai, Janee Pennington

Cast: Tandin Wangchuk, Deki Lhamo, Pema Zangmo Sherpa, Tandin Sonam, Harry Einhorn

Cinematographer: Jigmé T. Tenzing

Editor: Hsiao-Yun Ku

Production Design: Chungdra Gyeltshen

Composer: Frédéric Alvarez

Sound Design: Tu Duu-Chih, Chiang Yi-Chen

EAST COAST PREMIERE

COURTESY OF: UTOPIA FILMS

photo by Janick Laurent

US PREMIERE

photo by Ton Peters

Supported by the Dutch Culture USA program of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York

NARCOSIS

Directed by Martijn De Jong

Netherlands / 2022 / 111 minutes

Dutch with subtitles

In this beautifully crafted drama, when a professional cave diver, doesn’t return from an expedition, his wife and children struggle for answers and shared closure. Martijn de Jong’s debut feature has won multiple Gouden Kalfs (Dutch Oscars) and was an Oscar submission for best international film.

Screenwriter: Laura van Dijk

Producer: Trent

Cast: Thekla Reuten. Fedja van Huet, Lola van Zoggel, Sepp Ritsema

Cinematographer: Martijn van Broekhuizen

Editor: Lot Rossmark

Production Design: Romke Faber

Composer: Jorrit Kleijnen

[THE] NEW BOY

Directed by Warwick Thornton

Australia / 2023 / 116 minutes

When an Aboriginal child with mysterious powers (Aswan Reid) arrives in the dead of night at a remote Australian monastery run by a renegade nun (Cate Blanchett), his presence—and his Indigenous spirituality—disturbs a delicately balanced world in this story of spiritual struggle and the costs of survival.

Screenwriter: Warwick Thornton

Producers: Kath Shelper, Andrew Upton, Cate Blanchett, Lorenzo De Maio

Executive Producers: Gretel Packer, Coco Francini

Co-Producer: Georgie Pym

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and Aswan Reid

Cinematographer: Warwick Thornton

Editor: Nick Meyers

Production Design: Amy Baker

NO RIGHT WAY

Directed by Chelsea Bo

USA / 2023 / 103 minutes

In this buddy movie, when a sunny, disciplined career woman (Chelsea Bo) is made the temporary guardian of her spirited 13-year-old half-sister Georgie (Ava Acres), she takes an increased interest in the girl’s well-being. But could her best attempts at helping only make a tricky family situation all the more complicated? —Ben Rendich

Screenwriters: Chelsea Bo

Producers: Sean Drummond, Vivian Miranda

Executive Producerd: Sean Drummond, Chelsea Bo, David Drummond, Donald Davis, Gina Satriano

Cast: Ava Acres, Chelsea Bo, Eliza Coupe-Marks, Sufe Bradshaw and Jim Hanks

Cinematographer: Peter Soto

Editor: Chelsea Bo

Composer: David Hartley

Supported by the Dutch Culture USA program of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York

Sound Design: Jan Schermer w/

pm

WOODSTOCK Playhouse Sun Oct 14:00pm

PARACHUTE

Directed by Brittany Snow USA / 2023 / 106 minutes

Composers: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Sound Design: Liam Egan Orpheum

COURTESY OF: DIRTY FILMS & SCARLETT PICTURES

Sound Design: Jamie Hardt w/

RACHEL HENDRIX

Directed by Victor Nunez USA / 2023 / 118 minutes

RAMONA AT MIDLIFE

Directed by Brooke Berman

USA / 2023 / 76 minutes

—Peter Wortmann

In a charismatic performance, Courtney Eaton (Yellowjackets) gives us Riley, a young, smart, beautiful woman in emotional freefall, dealing with body image addictions and negotiating a romance that triggers love and desire.

Screenwriters: Brittany Snow, Becca Gleason

Producers: Lizzie Shapiro, Jordan Yale Levine, Jordan Beckerman, Brittany Snow

Executive Producers: Gus Deardoff, Nicholas Donnermeyer, Patrick Heaphy, Jeffrey Tussi, David Nasar

Co-Producer: Julia Ebner, Bernie Stern

Cast: Courtney Eaton, Thomas Mann, Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), Joel McHale, Dave Bautista, Gina Rodriguez

Cinematographer: Kristen KII Correll

Editors: Henry Hayes, Matthew Weiss

Production Design: Micheal Mizrahi

Composer: Keegan Dewitt

Sound Design: Brian Berger

Music: Jillian Ennis

A portrait of a widow, mother, professor and author, Rachel Hendrix, finding her way in life after losing her beloved husband. It is a story we all know, yet we rarely get the chance to see with such nuance and intimacy.

Screenwriter: Victor Nunez

Producer: Heidi Levitt, Stewart Lippe

Executive Producers: Paul E. Cohen, Kevin Ambler

Cast: Lori Singer, Catherine Dent, Kim Sandwich, Kersti Bryan,Hugo Armstroong

Cinematographer: Will Sampson

Editor: Victor Nunez w/

Single mom and former literary It GIrl Ramona discovers that she may be the subject of a hot filmmaker’s newest project. As Ramona faces up to past disappointments and wrecked friendships, she finds true creative power and is finally ready to become her best self.

Screenwriter: Brooke Berman

Producer:Kristen Vaganos

Executive Producers: Sara McFarlane, Matthew Spain, Ivan Williams, and more

Co-Producers: Erik Falkenstein, Anthony Argento, Jeffrey Weber, James M Schafer, and more

Cast: Yvonne Woods, Alysia Reiner, April Matthis, Joel de la Fuente, Catherine Curtin

Cinematographer: Dominica Eriksen

Editor: Michelle Botticelli

Production Design: Rhea Michelle D’Souza, Aoshuang Zhang.

Costume Design: Serena da Conceição, Heather “Harley” Davidson

Composer: Robert Kaplowitz

Sound Design: Eric Brown

Music: Elizabeth Mitchell w/ Q&A

Tinker Street Cinema WOODSTOCK Wed Sept 276:20pm

Orpheum S2 SAUGERTIES Thur Sept 2810:45am

EAST COAST PREMIERE

EAST COAST PREMIERE

SLIDE

Directed by Bill Plympton

USA / 2023 / 80 minutes

In Slide, visionary animator Bill Plympton presents a mythical slide guitar-playing cowboy confronting eco-villains uprooting Sourdough Creek. Swinging tunes and surreal animation take audiences on a mesmerizing journey, fulfilling Plympton’s childhood dream to create a Western set against evergreen-covered mountains. Slide is a true indie gem not to be missed. —Joy Buran and Noelle Melody

Screenwriters: Bill Plympton, Jim Lujan

Producer: Natasha Villegas-Cordera

Executive Producers: Edward Jordon, Daniel Neiden, James Hancock, Adam Rackoff, Oliver Ridge

Co-Producers: Space Pilot Media, Folimage Animation, ED Distribution

Cast: Jim Lujan, Tom Racine, Maureen McElheron, Sasha Gordon, Ken Mora

Editor: John Young

Animator: Bill Plympton

Composer: Maureen McElheron, Hank Bones

Sound Design: Weston Fonger

Music: Maureen McElheron, Hank Bones

w/ Q&A

WOODSTOCK Playhouse Fri Sept 2911:30am

Orpheum S1 SAUGERTIES Sat Sept 3010:30am

STOCKADE

Directed by Eric McGinty

USA / 2023 / 88 minutes

English, Arabic, French with subtitles

SUMMER SOLSTICE

Directed by Noah Schamus

USA / 2023 /81 minutes

THREE BIRTHDAYS

Directed by Jane Weinstock

USA / 2023 / 90 minutes

Critically acclaimed director Jane Weinstock’s Three Birthdays follows three pivotal days of a white, middle-class family in the politically turbulent spring of 1970. A rebellious teenager and her two college-professor parents (Josh Radnor and Annie Parisse) wrestle with racial injustice and sexual freedom during their birthdays.

Screenwriter: Jane Weinstock

—Sierra Slaughter

Producers: Andrea Miller, Chris Collins, James Welling

Executive Producer: Allan Jones

Co-Producer: Rachel Ofori

Cast: Josh Radnor, Annie Parisse, Nuala Cleary, Dolly Wells, Jasmine Batchelor, Gus Birney, Uly Schlesinger, Guy Burnet

Cinematographer: Wolfgang Held

Editor: Keith Reamer

Production Design: Jody Asnes

Composer: David Lang

In the noir thriller Stockade, Ahlam, a Lebanese immigrant artist living in New York City and in dire financial straits, is unwittingly pulled into the underworld of illegal ancient artifact trafficking— and in the process, discovers some surprising connections between this criminal world and her own family history. —Eli

Screenwriter: Eric McGinty

ProducerS: Anna Sang Park, Eric McGinty, Adam Vazquez

Executive Producers: Anna Sang Park, Lela Meadow-Conner

Vannata

Cast: Sarah Bitar, Bahar Beihaghi, Guy de Lancey, Paula Pizzi, Ho-Jung, Guy Camilleri

Cinematographer: Guy de Lancey

Editor: Nay Tabbara

Production Design: David Raff

Composer: Alex Wakim

Sound Design: Samuel O’Sullivan

Music: Alex Wakim

Writer-director Noah Schamus’s debut feature follows the evolving friendship between Leo, a trans man, and his cisgender college friend Eleanor. This touching, funny, beautifully rendered film is an exploration of sexual identity and insecurities that is easy to relate to. Starring Bobbi Salvör Menuez (Adam) and Marianne Rendón (Mapplethorpe). —Kate Sandford

Screenwriter: Noah Schamus

Producer: Arno Mokros

Co-Producers: Jesse Miller, Jess Zeidman, Harper Makowsky, Noah Schamus and others

Cast: Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Marianne Rendón

Cinematographer: Jack Davis

Editor: Chris Mckee, Emily Packer

Production Design: Joyce Lai

Composer: Margaux

w/ Q&A

WOODSTOCK Playhouse Fri Sept 298:15pm

Orpheum S1 SAUGERTIES Sun Oct 19:00pm

TÓTEM

Directed by Lila Avilés USA / 2023 / 95 minutes

Spanish with subtitles

Seven-year-old Sol spends the day at her grandfather’s home, helping prepare for a surprise party for her father, but throughout the day, chaos slowly takes over, fracturing the family’s foundations. As Sol’s world changes dramatically, she embraces the act of letting go.

Screenwriter: Lila Avilés

Producer: Tatiana Graullera, Lila Avilés, Louise Riousse, Lila Avilés

Co-Producer: Per Damsgaard Hansen, Jean-Baptiste Bailly-Maitre

Cast: Naíma Sentíes, Monserrat Marañón, Marisol Gasé

Cinematographer: Diego Tenorio

Editor: Omar Guzmán

Sound Design: Guido Berenblum

WHICH BRINGS ME TO YOU

Directed by Peter Hutchings

USA / 2023 / 98 minutes

In Which Brings Me to You, unlucky-in-love strangers Jane (Lucy Hale) and Will (Nat Wolf) share a disastrous hookup in the coatroom at a wedding. In a stunning act of bravery, they spend the night trading stories of first loves, heartbreak, and dating mishaps, hoping this night might be different. —Sierra Slaughter

Screenwriter: Keith Bunin

Producers: Claude Dal Farra, Brian Keady

Cast: Lucy Hale, Nat Wolff

Cinematographer: Karina Silva

Editor: Jason Nicholson

Production Design: Adri Siriwatt

Composer: Spencer Hutchings

18 ANOTHER BODY ANSELM BEYOND UTOPIA DEFIANT

DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE

19 FEEDING TOMORROW FINDING THE MONEY FIORETTA

FOOD AND COUNTRY

GRASSHOPPER REPUBLIC

GUMBO COALITION

20 HOLLYWOODGATE

HUNG UP ON A DREAM: The Zombies Documentary IN THE SHADOW OF BEIRUT INVISIBLE NATION

JOAN BAEZ I AM A NOISE MÙSICA!

21 [THE ] NEW AMERICANS: Gaming a Revolution NO ACCIDENT

OMOIYARI: A Song Film

ANOTHER BODY

Directed by Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn UK, USA / 2023 / 80 minutes

Another Body follows college student Taylor's search for justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating online. Through candid video diaries, synthetic media, and 2D and 3D animation, the film takes you into Taylor's online and offline worlds, humanizing a vast social issue in a compelling personal story.

Screenwriters: Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn, Isabel Freeman

Producer: Elizabeth Woodward, Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn

By Kishi Bashi

RAZING LIBERTY SQUARE STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING TEXAS MUSIC REVOLUTION

22 [THE ] TUBA THIEVES

UNSEEN WITH PETER BRADLEY WHEN THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE

BEYOND UTOPIA

Directed by Madeleine Gavin

USA, Korea, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam / 2022 / 114 minutes

English, Korean with subtitles

The thrilling and heartbreaking Beyond Utopia follows North Korean defectors risking their lives for freedom and democracy. Will these refugees be successful in their quest? This is the beautiful story of an oppressed people seeking peace, liberation, and family while experiencing depression and taking life-or-death risks. —Sabina Barach

Producers: Jana Edelbaum, Rachel Cohen, Sue Mi Terry

Executive Producers: Sharon Chang, Michael Y. Chow, Geralyn Dreyfous, Nina Fialkow, Sue Turley

Co-Producers: Janna Devinsky, Daewon Choi

Cast: Seungeun Kim, Soyeon Lee, Hyeonseo Lee, The Roh Family, Jung Gwang IL

Cinematographer: Hyunseok Kim

Editor: Madeleine Gavin

Animator: Hirotoshi Iwasaki

Composer: Adam Taylor, Taylor Page

Sound Design: Tony Volante, Dan Timmons w/

Executive Producer: Jenny Raskin, Lauren Haber, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Inmaat Productions, Meadow Fund, Bill & Ruth Ann Harnisch, The Harnisch Foundation, Ann Lewnes, Maiken Baird, Mason Orfalea and others

Co-Producer: Avery McCann

Cinematographer: Nausheen Dadabhoy

Editor: Isabel Freeman, Rabab Haj Yahya

Animsator: Cream Projects

Composer: Holland Andrews

Sound Design: Gisela Fullà Silvestre w/ Q&A

Bearsville

ANSELM

Directed by Wim Wenders USA / 2023 / 93 minutes

Legendary filmmaker Wim Wenders’ Anselm is a portrait of Anselm Kiefer, one of the most important painters and sculptors of our time. Shot in stunning 3D and 6K-resolution, the film offers a cinematic experience of Kiefer’s life and work, exploring human existence and history’s cyclical nature.

Producer: KKarsten Brünig

Executive Producer: Jeremy Thomas Cast: Anselm Kiefer, Daniel Kiefer, Anton Wenders

Cinematographer: Franz Lustig

Editor: Maxine Goedicke

Composer: Leonard Küßner

DEFIANT

Directed by Karim Amer

Ukraine, United Kingdom USA / 2023 / 91 minutes

Ukrainian, English, Russian with subtitles

This gripping documentary depicts Ukraine’s resolute stand against Russia’s 2022 invasion. Filmmakers Karim Amer, Mike Lerner, and Odessa Rae provide intimate insight into Ukraine’s survival struggle, highlighting key figures like Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in their determined fight against the odds.

Producers: Mike Lerner, Odessa Rae

Executive Producers: Geralyn Dreyfous, Nina Fialkow, Lyn Lear, David Fialkow, Cast: Dmytro Kuleba, Iryna Vereshchuk, Mykhailo Fedorov, Rustem Umerov

Cinematographers: Misha Lubarsky, Jake Swanko

Editors: Emiliano Battista, Austin reedy

Animator: Jamer Bellis

Composer & Music: : Katya Mihailova w/

All Events are subject to change, for latests updates visit

COURTESY OF: SIDESHOW AND JANUS FILMS

Orpheum S1 SAUGERTIES Sun Oct 16:30pm

DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE

Directed by Jodie Childers, Dan Messina USA / 2023 / 85 minutes

Down by the Riverside is a stirring tribute to the climate activism of legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, as well as his ship, the Clearwater, a 19th-century-style sloop that has served as an interactive environmental classroom for residents of the Hudson Valley for over 50 years.

—Ben Rendich

Executive Producers: Jodie Childers, Dan Messina Cast: Pete Seeger, Toshi Seeger, Jimmy Collier, Gordon Bok, Allan Aunapu

Cinematographers: Jodie Childers, Dan Messina

Editor: Dan Messina

PRECEDING THE SCREENING

Linda Richards will give a live performance see page 36 for more info

w/ Q&A Bearsville

NEW YORK PREMIERE

NEW YORK PREMIERE

FEEDING TOMORROW

Directed by Oliver English, Simon English USA / 2023 / 80 minutes

How can we feed Earth’s 8 billion people in a just, sustainable way? This gorgeously photographed and scored film features interviews with farmers, educators, and nurses whose work decreases food insecurity and disease. —Kate Sanford

Screenwriter & Producer: Oliver English

Executive Producers: Jon Sheinberg, Susan Sheinberg, Matt Feige, Oliver English

Co-Producers: Common Table Creative & Everyday Productions

Filmmaker: Ethan Heathcote

Cast: Mark Shepard, Lisa Mcdowell, Thabiti Brown, Gidon Eshel, Dr. Zach Bush

Cinematographer: Simon English

Editor: Simon English

Animator: Jamer Bellis

Composer & Music: Luke Rothschild

WHITE FEATHER FARM - 7:20pm

Farm to Table Fundraiser for Small Farm Resiliency

Presented by White Feather Farm & Feeding Tomorrow see page 36 for more info

w/ Q&A

Bearsville Theater WOODSTOCK Wed Sept 275:00pm

FINDING THE MONEY

Directed by Maren Poitras

USA / 2023 / 95 minutes

Maren Poitras’s Finding the Money makes the case for the radical Modern Monetary Theory or MMT. Stephanie Kelton, a former economic adviser to Bernie Sanders, belongs to a small group of economists who espouse that because the U.S. issues money, our government doesn’t need to borrow from other countries or tax its citizens. You’ll never think about the national debt and deficit the same way again after seeing this film.

—Adam Schartoff

FIORETTA

Directed by Matthew Mishory

USA, Czech Republic / 2023 / 126 minutes

Matthew Mishory’s documentary Fioretta presents a slice of history through the lens of one man’s family story. The film follows E. Rand “Randy” Schoenberg, the grandson of the classical composer Arnold Schoenberg, and his son across Europe as they discover and celebrate their Jewish family’s history in real time. —Adam Schartoff

Screenwriters: Matthew Mishory, Rob Levine

Producers: Bradford L.Schlei, Álvaro Fernández

Executive Producers: Rob Levine, E. Randol Schoenberg

Co-Producer: Anneta Furdecká

Producer: Maren Poitras

Executive Producers: Marc Smolowitz, Doug Blush

Filmmaker: Maren Poitras

Cast: Stephanie Kelton

Cinematographer: Maren Poitras

Editors: Maren Poitras, Richard Levien

Composers: Andrew Gross, Gil Talmi, Simón Wilson

Sound Design: Joel Raabe

Music: Konsonant Music

w/ Q&A

Tinker Street Cinema WOODSTOCK Sat Sept 301:00pm

Orpheum S2 SAUGERTIES Sun Oct 112:00pm

FOOD AND COUNTRY

Directed by Laura Gabbert USA / 2023 / 99 minutes

America’s cheap agribusiness creates impossible financial burdens for small farmers, ranchers, and chefs, and during the Covid lockdown these inequities became heartbreakingly pronounced. Veteran food writer Ruth Reichl interviews independent workers who struggle heroically in both fields and kitchens. Featuring restaurateur Alice Waters and directed by Laura Gabbert (City of Gold) —Kate Sanford

Producers: Laura Gabbert, Ruth Reichl, Paula P. Manzanedo, Caroline Libresco

Executive Producers: Jamie Wolf, Nathalie Seaver, Sigrid Dyekjaer, Patty Quillin, Melony Lewis, Adam Lewis, Jana Edelbaum and others

Cast: Ruth Reichl, Alice Waters, Marcus Samuelsson, Lee Jones, Will Harris, Angela Knuth, Steve Stratford, Karen Washington, Minh Phan, Reem Assil

Cinematographer: Jerry Henry, Martina Radwan

Editor: Philip Owens

Composer & Music: Ryan Rumery

w/ Q&A Sept 28

GRASSHOPPER REPUBLIC

Directed by Daniel McCabe

USA / 2022 / 94 minutes

luganda with sub subtitles

In the high stakes world of grasshopper trapping a group of young Ugandans risking it all for a chance to escape poverty upset the balance between nature and mankind.

Producers: Daniel McCabe, Michele Sibiloni, Alyse Ardell Spiegel

Executive Producers: Ian Hague, Bryn Mooser, Kathryn Everett

Cast: Siraje Lubwama Ojuku, Tabula Magezi

Cinematographers: Daniel McCabe, Michele Sibiloni, Michael McCabe

Editors: Alyse Ardell Spiegel

Composer: Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe

Sound Design: Antonio Porem Pirés

Cast: Randy Schoenberg, Joey Schoenberg, Serena Nono

Cinematographer: Maciej Twardowski

Editor: Marc Cohen

Production Design: Magdalena Zemanova

Composer: Ohad Stemati

COURTESY OF: RUBBER RING FILMS

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

Live classical string performance by The Maverick Sextet see page 37 for more info

w/ Q&A

Bearsville Theater WOODSTOCK Sat Sept 302:15pm

GUMBO COALITION

Directed by Barbara Kopple USA / 2022 / 112 minutes

Two-time Academy Award winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple follows two Civil Rights leaders through turbulent years in America. The film’s intimate, humorous journey into their lives shows what motivates their mission to achieve a more just and equitable country.

Screenwriters: Barbara Kopple, David Cassidy, Ray Nowosielski, Williams Cole

Executive Producer: Nina Easton, Pattie Sellers

Filmmaker: Barbara Kopple

Cast: Marc Morial, Janet Murguía, Rose Escobar, Bradley Cobb, Jamie Dennis

Cinematographer: Jim Ball, Asad Faruqi, Gabriella Garcia-Pardo, Gary Griffin, Thomas Kaufman, Bradley Rayford

Editor: Hannes Hosp, Rob Kuhns

Production Design: Title design - Big Sky Edit

Composer: Chris Paultre

w/ Q&A

EAST COAST PREMIERE

NEW YORK PREMIERE

photo by Will Harris

WORLD PREMIERE

NEW YORK PREMIERE

HOLLYWOODGATE

Directed by Ibrahim Nash'at

Germany, USA / 2023 / 92 minutes

Dari, Pashto, English with subtitles

When an American journalist is allowed access to an Afghani airbase after U.S. troops withdraw, the Taliban initially seem friendly. But as they attack insurgents, teach their children that killing is divine, and show off their newfound firepower and weaponry for other totalitarian nations, the Taliban’s quiet inhumanity is revealed.

—Sabina Barach

Producers: Talal Derki, Shane Boris, Odessa Rae

Executive Producers: Mehmet Elbanna, Sahraa Karimi, Diane Becker, Katherine Embiricos, Jim and Susan Swartz, Melony and Adam Lewis

Cinematographer: Ibrahim Nash’at

Editor: Atanas Georgiev, Marion Tuor

Composer: Volker Bertelmann

Sound Design: Frank Kruse

Music: Ansgar Frerich

w/ Q&A Oct 1

Orpheum S2 SAUGERTIES Sat Sept 306:45pm

Bearsville Theater WOODSTOCK Sun Oct 17:00pm

HUNG UP ON A DREAM: The Zombies Documentary

Directed by Robert Schwartzman USA / 2023 / 116 minutes

When rock critics and classic rock fans discuss the British Invasion, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones usually get mentioned, but not the Zombies. Now filmmaker Robert Schwartz (The Argument) sets the vinyl record straight with the charming and humorous Hung Up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary. —Adam Schartoff

Producer: Russell Wayne Groves, Robert Schwartzman

Executive Producer: Cole Harper, Rick Krim, Jonathan Gordon, David Ruttenberg, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Cindy da Silva, Chris Tuthill

Filmmaker: Robert Schwartzman

Cast: Rod Argent, Paul Atkinson, Colin Blunstone, Hugh Grundy, Chris White

Cinematographer: Michael Rizzi

Editor: Meryl Goodwin

COURTESY OF: UTOPIA DISTRIBUTION

PERFORMANCE FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of the Zombies see page 37 for more info

w/ Q&A

Bearsville Theater WOODSTOCK Fri Sept 298:00pm

IN THE SHADOW OF BEIRUT

Directed by Stephen Gerard Kelly, Garry Keane

Lebanon, Ireland, Germany, USA / 2023 / 92 minutes

Arabic with subtitles

This documentary film follows four families over several years in two incredibly tough Beirut neighborhoods where impossible choices are made under immense pressures. Intimately crafted, beautifully filmed and with an ennobling quality to the storytelling, audiences will be left with a subtle change in their worldview, one with a greater respect for the complexities of other peoples’ lives.

Producer: Brendan Byrne, Myriam Sassin

Executive Producers: Celine Haddad, Siobhán Sinnerton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Johnny Webb

Co-Producer: Alison Toomey, Christian Beetz

Cast: Abeed family, Kujeyje family, Daher family, Ziani family, Asali family

Cinematographer: Stephen Gerard Kelly

Editor: Iseult Howlett, Zeina Aboul Hosn

Music: David Holmes

w/ Q&A

ROSENDALE Theatre Fri Sept 2912:00pm

Bearsville

INVISIBLE NATION

Directed by Ted Hope

Taiwan, US / 2023 / 85 minutes

English, Mandarin with sub titles

With unprecedented access to Taiwan’s sitting head of state, director Vanessa Hope investigates the election and tenure of Tsai Ing-wen, the first female president of Taiwan. Thorough, incisive, and bristling with tension, Invisible Nation is a living account of Tsai’s tightrope walk as she balances the hopes and dreams of her nation between the colossal geopolitical forces of the U.S. and China.

Screenwriters: Ted Hope, Ivan Orlic, Sylvia Feng

Executive Producers: Geralyn Dryfous, Cassandra Jabola, Ming Chiang, Patrick Pfupajena, Danielle Turkov-Wilson

Cast: Tsai Ing-wen, Chen Chu, Bi-Khim Hsiao, Wu Pei-yi, Freddy Lim

Cinematographer: Laura Hudock

Editors: Dave Henry, Justice Yong, Siuloku O, Ku Aming

Composer: Wei-San Hsu

Sound Design: Yu-Ting Su

w/ Q&A

Bearsville

Orpheum

JOAN BAEZ I AM A NOISE

Directed by

Karen O'Connor, Miri Navasky, Maeve O'Boyle USA / 2023 / 110 minutes

Opening with her farewell tour, Joan Baez takes stock in an unsparing fashion, confronting painful memories and revealing her history with mental illness, family issues, drugs, aging, and questions of guilt and forgiveness about how she used her fame. The film interweaves diary entries, interviews, and performances.

Producers: Miri Navasky, Karen O’Connor

Executive Producers: Greg Sarris, Patti Smith, Josh Braun, Ben Braun, Terry Press

Cast: Joan Baez

Cinematographer: Wolfgang Held, Ben McCoy, Tim Grucza

Editor: Maeve O’Boyle

Animator: Eat the Danger

COURTESY OF: MAGNOLIA PICTURES

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING [SEPT 28]

Joan Baez in live interview on zoom see page 36 for more info

Bearsville Theater WOODSTOCK 

MÙSICA!

Directed by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman

USA, Cuba / 2023 / 73 minutes

English and Spanish with subtitles

Over the course of five years, this documentary follows four student musicians from Cuba as they search for success and fulfillment through music. The film starts with a string bass crafted within the Horns to Havana’s workshop.

Producers: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman

Executive Producer: Susan Sillins

Cinematographers: Roberto Chile, Buddy Squires ASC

Editor: Susan Fanshel

Composer: Isaiah Gage

Sound Design: Tom Disher

EAST COAST PREMIERE

US PREMIERE

EAST COAST PREMIERE

EAST COAST PREMIERE

[THE ] NEW AMERICANS: Gaming a Revolution

Directed by Ondi Timoner

USA / 2022 / 104 minutes

Celebrated filmmaker Ondi Timoner’s compelling new meme- and animation-driven documentary weaves a gripping and horrifying web as it explores our current manic, addictive, screen-obsessed, and data-exploiting culture—taking us from gaming to retail trading, Reddit, Wall Street, political unrest, racism, and the meteoric rise and fall of Bitcoin.

Screenwriter: Ondi Timoner

NO ACCIDENT

Directed by Kristi Jacobson

USA / 2023 / 97 minutes

In August 2017, white supremacists rallied in Charlottesville, North Carolina, viciously attacking counter-protestors. Two lawyers, convinced that the Trump DOJ would do nothing, decided to sue a group of violent rightwing protestors on behalf of the victims.

Producers: Michelle R. Carney, Alexandra Moss

—Sabina Barach

Producer: David C Turner, Ondi Timoner

Executive Producers: Bahman Naraghi, Kasia Neiman

Cast: Jordan Belfort, Pro the Doge, Taylor Price, Blayne Macauley, Raoul Pal, Alexis Ohanian, Shepard Fairey, Anthony Scaramucci, Jaime Rogozinski, Andrew Left, Lee Cooperman, Cindy Axne, Thomas Peterffy, Sean Casten

Cinematographers: Zackery Kearns, Brian Henderson, Sean Bodden, Lance Murphey, Michael Pescasio

Editor: Jesse Gordon, Ondi Timoner

w/ Q&A

Bearsville Theater WOODSTOCK Sat Sept 3011:15am Orpheum S1 SAUGERTIES Sun Oct 13:30pm

RAZING LIBERTY SQUARE

Directed by Katja Esson

USA / 2023 / 86 minutes

Razing Liberty Square is the urgent, clear-eyed portrait of a Miami community poised at the epicenter of America’s ongoing climate and housing crises. With its focus on the conflicting efforts of local educators, developers, and activists, this documentary is an arresting, nuanced reckoning with the impacts of climate gentrification.

—Ben Rendich

Producers: Katja Esson, Ann Bennett, Corinna Sager

Executive Producers: Sally Joe Fifer, Lois Vossen, Leslie Fields-Cruz, Denise Greene, Anja Murman, Sabine Schenk, Cast: Samantha Quarterman, Sam Kenley, Aaron McKiney, Valencia Gunder

Cinematographer: Hector David Rosales

Editos: Flavia de Souza, Suse Schiebler, Leigh Johnson

Composer: Gary Gunn

Sound Design: Mariusz Glabinski, Marlena Grzaslewicz w/ Q&A

Executive Producers: Dyllan McGee, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen, Jihan Robinson

Cast: Roberta Kaplan, Karen Dunn, Michael Bloch, Jessica Philips, Marissa Blair, Natalie Romero

Cinematographer: Nausheen Dadabhoy

Editor: Chris Herde

Animator: Milkhaus

Composer: Angélica Negrón

OMOIYARI: A Song Film By Kishi Bashi

Directed by Justin "Chip" Taylor Smith, Kaoru Ishibashi USA / 2023 / 74 minutes

In light of the recent Muslim ban and border battles, acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Kishi Bashi’s Omoiyari: A Song Film feels particularly relevant. This personal documentary is his quest to fully understand his identity as a first-generation Japanese American. Through interviews and improvised performances, he achieves a liberation of his own. —Adam Schartoff

Producers: Jim Gerber, JJ Angelo, Max Ritter, Jim Angelo

Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, Jim Angelo, Jenny Mills, Drew Wallin, Ryan Suffern, Zak Kilberg

Co-Producers: Jenny Mills, Ryan Suffern

Cast: Kishi Bashi

Cinematographer: Max Ritter

Editor: Justin Taylor Smith

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

w/ Q&A

Tinker Street Cinema WOODSTOCK Fri Sept 293:30pm

ROSENDALE Theatre Sun Oct 16:45pm

STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING

Directed by Roger Ross Williams

USA / 2023 / 91 minutes

Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams brings Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s bestselling book, Stamped from the Beginning, to life using vivid animations and interviews with leading female Black scholars to explore the history of racist, anti-Black ideas and how they have shaped and been enshrined in American culture.

Screenwriter: David Teague

Producers: Alisa Payne, Roger Ross Williams, David Teague

Executive Producers: Geoff Martz, Mara Brock Akil, Susie Fitzgerald, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

Cinematographer: Wolfgang Held

Editor: John Fisher

w/

O ct 1

9:00pm

Kishi Bashi live acoustic performance see page 37 for more info

w/ Q&A

Bearsville Theater WOODSTOCK Sat Sept 306:15pm

TEXAS MUSIC REVOLUTION

Directed by Troy Paff USA / 2023 / 103 minutes

With performances by Ray Willie Hubbard, Charley Crockett, Joshua Ray Walker, Keifer Sutherland, and The Derailers, this film celebrates Texan music and reveals the great efforts behind music festivals.

—Ben Rendich

Screenwriters: Joseph Vele, Brandon Faris, Troy Paff

Producers: Joshua Jones, Troy Paff

Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Charley Crockett, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Joshua Ray Walker, Tony Villanueva, Joshua Jones

Cinematographer: Troy Paff

Editor: Brandon Faris

Sound Design: Brando Triantafillou

COURTESY OF: THE FILM FESTIVAL DOCTOR

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

Kiefer Sutherland (24) live acoustic performances see page 36 for more info

w/ Q&A Levon

WORLD PREMIERE

COURTESY OF: HBO

NEW YORK PREMIERE

EAST COAST PREMIERE

COURTESY OF: MTV

[THE ] TUBA THIEVES

Directed by Alison O'Daniel

USA / 2023 / 91 minutes

UNSEEN

Directed by Set Hernandez USA / 2023 / 88 minutes

WITH PETER BRADLEY

Directed by Alex Rappoport

USA / 2023 / 86 minutes

—Kate Sanford

In The Tuba Thieves, writer and director Alison O’Daniel uses silence, inventive soundscapes, and her unique perspective as a hearing-impaired artist to deconstruct and reimagine the aural world. This experimental film combines fictional narratives, real-world events, and documentary to create a new syntax. while prioritizing deaf and hard-of-hearing experiences of comprehension.

Screenwriter: Alison O'Daniel

Producers: Su Kim, Maya E. Rudolph, Alison O’Daniel, Rachel Nederveld

Executive Producers: Wendy Ettinger, Maida Lynn, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen

Cast: Nyeisha “Nyke” Prince, Russell Harvard, Geovanny Marroquin, Warren “Wawa” Snipe

Cinematographer: Derek Howard

Editors: Alison O’Daniel, Zack Khalil

w/ Q&A

COURTESY OF: THE FILM COLLABORATIVE

Orpheum S1 SAUGERTIES Thur Sept 286:00pm Tinker Street Cinema WOODSTOCK Fri Sept 2910:00am

SPECIAL 40TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING

WHEN THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE

Directed by Pamela Yates, Newton Thomas Sigel

Guatemala, USA / 1983 / 82 minutes

English, Spanish, Maya-Ixil with subtitles

One woman’s story, a nation’s destiny. When the Mountains Tremble, commemorating its 40th anniversary, has become a classic on war and social revolution. The documentary is woven together with the extraordinary story of Rigoberta Menchú, a young Mayan woman from Guatemala. The film put Rigoberta on the world stage, and 10 years later she won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Screenwriter: Rigoberta Menchú

Producer: Peter Kinoy

Executive Producer: Paco de Onís

Cast: Rigoberta Menchú

Cinematographer: Newton Thomas Sigel

Editor: Peter Kinoy

Composer: Rubén Blades

Music: Rubén Blades w/ Q&A Orpheum

Pedro, an undocumented immigrant and aspiring social worker, is gradually going blind. Exploring the intersections of immigration, disability, and mental health, the poetic and unconventional journey covered by Unseen reveals the things we often don’t show others and the things we eventually reveal. This film is about being vulnerable, and presents the life-affirming experience of a courageous human being. —Michael Taylor

Screenwriters: Set Hernandez, Daniel Chávez-Ontiveros, Pedro

Producers: Set Hernandez, Félix Endara, Day Al-Mohamed Executive Producer: Diane Quon

Co-Producer: Dorian Gomez Pestaña

Cast: Pedro

Cinematographers: Set Hernandez, Richard Hama

Editosr: Daniel Chávez-Ontiveros, Set Hernandez

Animator: Jesse Kerman

Composers: DeAndre James Allen-Toole, Julie Yeeun Kim, Brandon Jung

Sound Design: IMRSV Sound

w/ Q&A

Orpheum S1 SAUGERTIES Fri Sept 292:45pm Tinker Street Cinema WOODSTOCK Sun Oct 110:00am

Peter Bradley is an 80-year-old Black painter living under a cloud of racism while trying to find recognition. As his stories frame his daily painting practice, a spectacular jazz score merges with the art, drawing viewers into his work and rallying us to cheer Bradley on toward the comeback he deserves. —Sabina Barach

Producer: Alex Rappoport

Executive Producers: Adger Cowans, Robina Riccitiello

Cast: Peter Bradley, Rudolph the Cat

Cinematographer: Alex Rappoport

Editor: Alex Rappoport

Composer: Javon Jackson

Music: Javon Jackson Quintet

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

Special musical by Javon Jackson

Award winning Jazz artist and this film’s composer see page 37 for more info

w/ Q&A

Orpheum S1 SAUGERTIES Fri Sept 296:30pm

DIRECT QR CODES TO:

ALL EVENTS

FEATURE NARRATIVES

FEATURE DOCUMENTARIES

SHORTS

PANELS

ONLINE / VIRTUAL

photo by Jean-Marie Simon

VIRTUAL FESTIVAL

WELCOME TO THE 24TH ANNUAL WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL VIRTUAL FESTIVAL! EXPLORE OUR ON-DEMAND CATALOG

All SHORTS have Q&A and unless otherwise stated are at WOODSTOCK Community Center

MATURE - ANIMATED SHORTS [84 MINUTES] NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN

GRANNY X

Directed by DD Sheahan

USA / 2022 / 6 minutes

A nursing home resident, literally dreaming her life away, achieves liberation in the only way she can.

WHAT EVEN IS A TERF?

Directed by Dez Stavracos

USA / 2022 / 3 minutes

This animated history of “Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists” and TERF ideology.

MY VAGINA

Directed by Shannon Burkett, Neil Burns

USA / 2023 / 4 minutes

PTA Prez Keli Pam Convoy does everything perfectly except this one little thing…

AIKĀNE

Directed by Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson

USA / 2023 / 14 minutes

A vaient warrior falls in love with an octopus who turns into a mysterious young man.

A COW IN THE SKY

Directed by C. Fraser Press, Darren Press

USA / 2023 / 12 minutes

An immigrant pilot wrestles with his identity, based on the true story of Mulugeta Seraw.

DAVEY’S LULLABY

Directed by Adam Deyoe

USA / 2022 / 9 minutes

English, American Sign Language

A man with Down syndrome faces uncertainty when his mother can no longer care for him.

PUSSY LOVE

Directed by Linda Krauss

Germany / 2023 / 4 minutes

Join the world of Pussy Love for a show of lust and laziness!

THE MISPRINT

Directed by Jasper Lin

USA / 2023 / 3 minutes

A technician’s attempt to clone himself using cutting-edge technology goes horribly wrong.

NINETY-FIVE SENSES

Directed by Jerusha & Jared Hess

USA / 2022 / 13 minutes

A condemned man spends his final moments paying heartbreaking tribute to his five senses.

ATM

Directed by oolluo Tseng

Taiwan, USA / 2022 / 3 minutes

A story about a money machine, a poor man, and cat food.

DOG, BALL, PARK

Directed by Renana Palmor

Israel / 2022 / 3.5 minutes

A condemned man spends his final moments paying heartbreaking tribute to his five senses.

FAMILY FRIENDLY - ANIMATED SHORTS [80 MINUTES]

FLOAT_HOME

Directed by Mike Enright

USA / 2023 / 1 minutes

It’s morning in Brooklyn, New York, where the sounds of doves and subway trains mingle.

A TALE OF TWO WEDDINGS

Directed by Candy Kugel

USA / 2022 / 7 minutes

A woman attends a New Jersey Irish Catholic wedding and an Israeli wedding in 48 hours.

PACEMAKER

Directed by Christopher Lennertz / Brian Vincent Rhodes

UK / 2023 / 9 minutes

This animated musical is about following “the rhythm of the heart” and accepting others who are different.

IT WAS UP THERE

Directed by Jesse Willmon

USA / 2022 / 6 minutes

The true story of a couple driving through New Mexico see something unexplainable in the sky.

SUNFLOWER FIELD

Directed by Polina Buchak |

USA, Ukraine / 2022 / 5 minutes Ukrainian w subtitles Under the threat of war, a young Ukrainian girl daydreams while awaiting a call from her father.

MY DEAR MR. WHITMAN

Directed by Jeremiah Dickey

USA / 2023 / 2 minutes

An animated illumination of Bram Stoker’s mysterious 1872 “fan letter” to Walt Whitman.

LIFELINE

Directed by Marlene Ghuneim

USA / 2023 / 3 minutes

Suicidal Alex discovers that no matter what, someone out there cares about you.

TOMATO KITCHEN

Directed by Junyi Xiao | China / 2022 / 9 minutes

An accident interrupts Li Yang’s dinner with his colleagues.

MORNING JOY

Directed by John Henry Hinkel

USA, Serbia / 2022 / 8 minutes

A recently widowed pianist has an unexpected encounter.

FLUTTER

Directed by Adam Levy | USA / 2023 / 6 minutes Jerry, an awkwardly plump hummingbird, sets out to save his siblings and win redemption.

THE WOLF OF CUSTER

Directed by Tanya Scott | UK / 2023 / 8 minutes By living out a legendary story, a stranger will find the power within it.

STARLING

Directed by Mitra Shahidi | USA / 2023 / 9 minutes Love shines on, beyond heaven and earth.

LITTLE T

Directed by Masha Ellsworth

USA / 2023 / 5 minutes

Follow Alexis, a recent college graduate, on the most stressful day of her life: her dream-job interview.

All SHORTS have Q&A and unless otherwise stated are at WOODSTOCK Community Center 9 CHEF’S CHOICE [132 MINUTES]

A thematically-diverse collection of narrative and documentary films.

THE FUSE

Directed by Kevin Haefelin

Switzerland / 2023 / 18 minutes

A struggling senior garbage man decides to hang up on life after losing his job, but ends up embarking on a journey to find a fuse.

I AM WHAT YOU IMAGINE

Directed by Matthew Modine

USA / 2023 / 6 minutes

Matthew Modine’s I Am What You Imagine is a sensual exploration of the unexplainable.

DAMMI

Directed by Yann Mounir Demange

France / 2023 / 16 minutes

French with English subtitles

In Paris, a man trying to connect with his estranged father meets a French Algerian woman.

DANCING ON THE SILK RAZOR

Directed by D.W. Young

USA / 2023 / 21 minutes

Spanish with English subtitles

Someone has been stealing Harold Solomon’s ideas–or have they? Narrated by Wallace Shawn.

THE SPERM DONOR

Directed by Alana McNair

USA / 2022 / 13 minutes

DNA match! Sperm donor searches for his biological child–but not everyone in his life is happy about this.

A DESERT IS AN OCEAN

Directed by Katherine Clary, Emily Sternlicht

USA / 2023 / 25 minutes

Director Katherine Clary searches for answers on her mother’s untimely death from drowning.

BLACK GIRLS PLAY: The Story of Hand Games

Directed by Joe Brewster

USA / 2023 / 18 minutes

An illuminating look at the influence Black girls’ hand games have had on American creatives.

DILATED PUPILS [104 MINUTES]

SCAM

Directed by Julie Sharbutt

USA / 2023 / 8 minutes

COMING OF AGE [95 MINUTES]

Genuine and heart-wrenching narrative shorts for when we learn all the important aspects of being human.

BLUE BOY

Directed by Tyler Riggs

USA / 2023 / 19 minute

Insecure New Jersey bodybuilder Joey Rossi, aka Joey Muscles, starts doing steroids in a last-ditch effort to go pro.

SCOTTY’S VAG

Directed by Chaconne Martin-Berkowicz

USA / 2022 / 16 minutes

At a sorority hazing event, a freshman must impress an older girl, but power dynamics aren’t always what they seem.

RIPS

Directed by Major Dorfman

USA / 2022 / 13 minutes

A nine-year-old girl discovers that her favorite sweatshirt is a hand-me-down.

CRUEL LIKE YOU

Directed by Kendra Baude

USA / 2023 / 15 minutes

Upon receiving a call from her ex, Daisy relives her on-again, off-again relationship.

RICKY

Directed by Rashad Frett

USA / 2023 / 20 minutes

An ex-offender struggles with freedom and pursues redemption when he gets a job from his neighbor.

NIAN

Directed by Michelle Krusiec

USA / 2022 / 6 minutes

Standing up to a bully, a Chinese American girl brings on Nian, a mythological creature that eats rotten children.

KICKS

Directed by Yemisi Brookes

USA / 2023 / 6.21 minutes

A chance collision has a big impact on two New Yorkers.

pulse-increasing thrillers

A phone scammer exploiting the elderly makes one fateful late-night call that might be her last.

MANICURE

Directed by Carlos Enrique Tejera

USA / 2023 / 9 minutes

Facing her 30th birthday party, Elanor finds that perfection has its consequences.

#FOLLOWME

Directed by Lionel Hirlé

France / 2022 /23 minutes

French with English subtitles Stuck at home in a wheelchair, Daya searches for her missing boyfriend on social media.

THE PINK

Directed by Ingrid Haas

USA / 2023 / 7 minutes

Welcome to the Pink, a safe space for co-working women—or is it?

CUT ME IF YOU CAN

Directed by Nicolas Polixene, Sylvain Loubet dit Gajol USA / 2023 / 21 minutes

Stuck in the loop of a horror B-movie, a Black female character and her boyfriend decide to rebel against the script–but the film has other plans.

BAIT

Directed by Alexander Pappas

USA / 2023 / 14 minutes

A young woman begins to suspect the nearby lake is affecting the psyche of the people in her neighborhood, including her husband.

LEAVING YELLOWSTONE

Directed by Kayla Arend

USA / 2023 / 22 minutes

What begins as an idyllic winter weekend slowly becomes a nightmare as Tessa realizes she’s alone in the woods with a man she doesn’t know at all.

FILM SCHOOL SHORTS [101 MINUTES]

Finely-crafted narrative and documentary student shorts that exemplify brave and distinctive storytelling.

ON TRACKS

Directed by Roni Vainer, Itai Kerem

Israel / 2023 / 21 minutes

Hebrew, Arabic, Bedawiye, Tigrinya with English subtitles

A night journey through downtown Tel Aviv breaks the toxic privilege of Israeli manhood and sheds light on the lives of asylum seekers.

FINE LINES

Directed by Amit Lerner

USA, Israel / 2022 / 23 minutes

Tensions rise between an elderly married couple as the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalates.

EL BASTÓN

Directed by Nemo Allen

USA, Colombia / 2022 / 15 minutes

Spanish with English subtitles

Colombia’s Guardia Indígena defend their community amidst the world’s longest civil war.

MOTHERLAND

Directed by Christina Yoon

USA, South Korea / 2022 / 18 minutes

Korean, English, with English Subtitles

When Leah travels to Korea to find her birth mother, she confronts secrecy from the adoption agency and her family to find out the truth of her origins.

WAITING FOR BUFFALO

Directed by Grace Beutter, Aidan O'Malley

USA / 2023 / 10 minutes

Lakota, English, with English Subtitles

The Oglala Sioux await a shipment of American bison to their reservation.

SWIM CAPTAIN

Directed by Christa Haley

USA / 2023 / 8 minutes

A high school swimmer struggles with her tampon before practice.

SOUND TO SEA

Directed by Ryan Craver

USA / 2022 / 26 minutes

A student and teacher confront their queer niche in the ecosystem known as eighth grade.

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY [93 MINUTES]

Original and hilarious bite-sized films.

LAS VISITANTES (WOMEN VISITING A CITY)

Directed by Enrique Buleo

Spain / 2022 / 15 minutes

Spanish with English subtitles

In this Spanish comedy, three retired widows try to discover Europe by bus.

THE BOOK OF LIGHT

Directed by Ash McNair, Enzo Cellucci

USA / 2023 / 27 minutes

When a group of white people try to end racism by joining a cult, things don’t go as expected.

SUNFLOWER OIL

Directed by Alex Prescot

UK / 2023 / 11 minutes

American expat Billie tries to hide the fact that she has ordered takeout for her dinner party.

BABYGIRL

Directed by Leah Claire Borrie

USA / 2022 /10 minutes

Based on a true story, a young, Italian-American mob-wife and mother from Long Island goes from childcare to running a “job” in place of her sick husband.

WORKING CLASS HERO

Directed by Yoni Lamm, Mookie Thompson

USA / 2023 / 13 minutes

This dark comedy about exploitation is based on a true story.

DOLLAR PIZZA DOCUMENTARY

Directed by Travis Wood, Alex Mallis

USA / 2023 / 7 minutes

In New York City, the dollar slice lives to fight another day.

THE VACATION

Directed by Jarreau Carrillo

USA / 2022 / 10 minutes

A Black man discovers that sometimes you have to take your vacation right wherever you are.

HUDSY celebrates the incredibly diverse voices, culture and spirit of the Hudson Valley through the power of film and storytelling on the first streaming video app for the region, HUDSY TV.

www.hudsy.tv

45 DEGREES

Directed by Julia Barrett-Mitchell

USA / 2023 / 14.5 minutes

Prolific artist Brian Nice’s creativity cannot be stopped, not even by a death-defying brain injury.

HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT: Zakiyah Maynard

Directed by Angel Gates

USA / 2023 / 15:5 minutes

Having grown up in 36 foster homes, Zakiyah is determined to find a true home for herself and her daughter.

MUCKVILLE

Directed by Jeff Mertz

USA / 2023 / 19 minutes

Muckville examines the impact of the mental health epidemic on American farming through the struggles of one onion farmer.

HITCHER

Directed by Christopher Greffrath

USA / 2023 / 13 minutes

When a young man picks up a hitchhiker, his worst nightmare becomes a reality.

OLYMPIC DREAMS

Directed by Angel Gates

USA / 2023 / 18 minutes

Jacob Sanchez, a young, determined Latino figure skating star, sets his sights on the 2026 Olympics.

HUDSY [77 MINUTES]

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST [108 MINUTES]

MARIA SCHNEIDER, 1983

Directed by Elisabeth Subrin

France / 2022 / 25 minutes

English & French with English subtitles

This hybrid documentary bends time, history, and form to interpret actress Maria Schneider’s traumatization on the set of Last Tango in Paris.

AFRICANS WITH MAINFRAMES

Directed by Kima Hibbert USA / 2023 / 15 minutes

In this mockumentary, a Black Brooklynite makes it her mission to tell the world that Black Southerners invented electronic music in the 1920s.

WHO TELLS THE STORY?

Directed by Joan Churchill, Alan Barker USA / 2022 / 24 minutes

Who tells the story? What's truth? Haskell Wexler debates with Hubert Sauper and Susan Meiselas

MINUTES]

The personal is political in these short documentaries that address historical and local challenges to how it goes.

THE BARBER OF LITTLE ROCK

Directed by Christine Turner, John Hoffman USA / 2023 / 35 minutes

An Arkansas barber-turned-banker gets capital flowing where it’s needed the most.

IF DREAMS WERE LIGHTNING: RURAL HEALTHCARE CRISIS

Directed by Ramin Bahrani USA / 2023 / 25 minutes

An exploration of the lives and dreams of people living in Appalachia with limited or no access to healthcare.

AMERICAN SANTA

Directed by Avi Weider USA / 2023 / 24 minutes

Black Santas rise as superheroes, and an indictment of American bigotry gets written on the back of a Christmas card.

DECIDING VOTE

Directed by Jeremy Workman, Robert Lyons USA / 2023 / 20 minutes

“What's the use in getting elected if you don't stand for something?” Here’s the story of New York State Assemblyman George Michaels’s courageous, history-making, and career-destroying abortion vote.

HOW WE GET FREE

Directed by Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles USA / 2022 / 32 minutes

How We Get Free follows Colorado Freedom Fund founder Elisabeth Epps as she works to abolish cash bail in Colorado.

A SIMPLE STONE

Directed by Virginia Scaro

Argentina, USA / 2023 / 13 minutes

An ensemble of actors worships a stone that they believe has special powers.

GONE BEFORE YOUR EYES

Directed by Cara Yeates

USA, Canada / 2023 / 13 minutes

Trapped in a surreal loop, an artist with Alzheimer’s disease struggles to paint.

QUARTER TO THREE

Directed by Isa Totah

USA / 2023 / 18 minutes

In the summer of 2020, performer Ben Vereen reenacts his life’s tragedies alone onstage in the dead of night.

WE OUT HERE [97 MINUTES]

Fri Sept 29  2:00pm

A collection of bold, transformative narrative and documentary shorts from across the LGBTQIA+ community.

PECCADILLO

45 DEGREES

Directed by Sofia Garza-Barba

Directed by Julia Barrett-Mitchell

MEXIC USA / 2023 /25 minutes

USA / 2023 / 14.05 minutes

Spanish with English Subtitles

Prolific artist Brian Nice’s creativity cannot be stopped, not even by a death-defying brain injury.

Secrets belong to the Devil, but truly being you should never be a secret.

BREAKUP TEXT

Directed by Elizabeth Baudouin

HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT: Zakiyah Maynard

USA / 2023 / 14 minutes

Directed by Angel Gates

USA / 2023 / 15:00 minutes

This portrait of queer grief asks: Why would you want to be with someone who doesn't want you?

CAMPFIRE

Having grown up in 36 foster homes, Zakiyah is determined to find a true home for herself and her daughter.

Directed by Austin Bunn

MUCKVILLE

USA / 2023 / 17 minutes

Directed by Jeff Mertz

USA / 2023 / 19:00 minutes

A married man searches for his long-lost love at a gay campground.

FUNNY FACE

Directed by Jude Hope Harris

Muckville examines the impact of the mental health epidemic on American farming through the struggles of one onion farmer.

HITCHER

USA / 2023 / 15 minutes

Directed by Christopher Greffrath

USA / 2023 / 13:00 minutes

When country singer Randy travels to care for his sister Sophie as she recovers from facial feminization surgery, he meets Sophie’s girlfriend, Morgan, for the first time.

When a young man picks up a hitchhiker, his worst nightmare becomes a reality.

OLYMPIC DREAMS

OUR MALES AND FEMALES

Directed by Angel Gates

Directed by Ahmad Alyaseer

USA / 2023 / 16:00 minutes

Jordan / 2023 / 11 minutes

Jacob Sanchez, a young, determined Latino figure skating star, sets his sights on the 2026 Olympics.

Arabic with English Subtitles

A father and mother face the painful task of washing and shrouding their deceased transgender daughter.

HOW TO CARRY WATER

Directed by Sasha Wortzel

USA / 2023 / 15 minutes

The boundless beauty of bodies in water. Seen through the lens of photographer Shoog McDaniel.

Artful narrative and documentary shorts that show us a diverse group of artists admitting their truths.

ONE’S OWN POWER [118 MINUTES]

SOCIAL DIALOGUES [136

TEEN [75 MINUTES]

YOUTH FILM LAB Sun Oct 1 6:30pm

Screened as part of Teen Shorts

View documentaries and narrative films by tomorrow’s filmmakers. A year-round filmmaking program culminating with a three-week summer filmmaking intensive where teenagers produce three short narrative and documentary films.

MIRROR ME

Directed by CJ Santo

USA / 2023 / 2 minutes

A girl uses a technologically advanced mirror to alter her appearance.

NEITHER ONE OF US

Directed by Raia Morgan

USA / 2022 / 5 minutes

A young victim of abuse runs out of options and is alienated from her community.

ON THE ICE

Directed by Kalighan Pelish, Mia Ferrara, Frances Gorres, Nathan Burger

USA / 2023 / 12.5 minutes

For over 150 years, members of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club have sailed the frozen river.

IT'S YOUR CHOICE

Directed by Audrey Maxon

USA / 2023 / 5 minutes

When a teenage girl at a party publicly professes her love for her girlfriend, things don’t go as planned

ALPHABET SOUP

Directed by Nico Eagan

USA / 2023 / 10 minutes

A depressed girl’s teenage brother journeys from apathy to empathy, with a side order of soup.empathy regarding his sister's depression.

INVISIBLE

Directed by Hendrix Bruno

USA / 2023 / 2 minutes

A short film explaining what it means to be invisible and the different ways that people do it.

DIG DEEPER

Directed by Anthony Fazio, Jordan Elizabeth USA / 2022 / 8 minutes

A New York City teenager discovers that sometimes the crisis you know beats the one you don’t know.

THE INNOCENT

Directed by India Mitchell USA / 2023 / 5 minutes

Mistaken identification is the single greatest cause of the conviction of the innocent…

ROOTED

Directed by Sarina Pardis USA / 2023 / 5 minutes

A story about friendship, personal growth, and the power of New Year’s resolutions.

THERE GO I

Directed by Elizabeth Kiluba

USA / 2023 / 6 minutes

Katrina Houser-Clark crusades against rampant homelessness and displacement in Kingston, New York.

SPLIT ENDS

Directed by Jackson Cutrone

USA / 2023 / 6 minutes

In Split Ends, teenager Julia must prove to her agingbarber grandfather that she is a cut above the rest.

COMMUNITY ON THE MENU

Directed by Noelle Marino

USA / 2023 / 7 minutes

In Kingston, New York, two local restaurants give back to the community.

MUSIC VIDEOS PART I [36 MINUTES]

SCI-FI SILENCE BY FLORIST

Directed by Véra Haddad

USA / 2022 / 7 minutes

Alien encounters with ourselves among the stars and planets we call home.

EMPTY HEAD BY FRANKIE COSMOS

Directed by Sophia Bennett Holmes

USA / 2020 / 5 minutes

A music video for the band Frankie Cosmos.

BARLEY BY WATER FROM YOUR EYES

Directed by Rachel Brown USA / 2023 / 4 minutes

A rhythmic sound collage experiment drawing from modern classical, classic rock, and dance music.

ANYTHING YOU WANT BY KAI TSAO

Directed by Ben See-Tho

USA / 2023 / 7 minutes

Set to KAI and Mei Semones’s song “Red,” this video examines two sister’s fraying relationship.

SOFT LANDING BY BILLY WOODS AND KENNY SEGAL

Directed by Henry Nelson

USA / 2023 / 3 minutes

Billy Woods’s song lyrics include “Head in the loud clouds both feet on the fucking pavement.”

MUSIC VIDEOS PART II [51 MINUTES]

CASANOVA AND THE THREE GRACES

BY JOHAN DE MEIJ

Directed by Jed Parker Italy, USA / 2023 / 33 minutes

In this steamy retelling of the tale of Casanova, his his three lovers try to free him from prison.

BEYOND FAREWELL BY SYDNEY HU

(JINZY)

Directed by Jackie Shijie Xing USA / 2023 / 5 minutes

English, Chinese

A grieving AI engineer reunites with her late girlfriend through homemade AR goggles.

LOOPS BY PILE

Directed by Joshua Echevarria USA / 2023 / 4 minutes

A thread between one’s different selves appears against a textured and polychromatic canvas.

THE GIRL IS CRYING IN HER LATTE BY SPARKS (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Starring Cate Blanchett

Directed by Ron Mael USA / 2023 / 3 minutes

This music video marks the title song of the 25th album by the American band Sparks.

WOODSTOCK

Colony

WOLF BY YEAH YEAH YEAHS

Directed by Allie Avital

USA / 2022 / 4.5 minutes

A housewife is hungry for connection.

CROSSING GUARD BY MODEL/ACTRIZ

Directed by Nathan Castiel

USA / 2023 / 5 minutes

A portrait of a classic American family.

FOLLOWED BY A LIVE PERFORMANCE BY EMILY SPRAGUE OF FLORIST

Getting hit by a bus in Manhattan in 2013 set in motion Catskill-born guitarist and singer/writer Emily Sprague’s career. While recovering, she wrote her band Florist’s first album, The Birds Outside Sang, establishing them in the New York music scene. She will perform songs from her new solo album, Emily Alone, a mix of folk, indie, and ambient music.

BY ZOPA

Written by Michael Imperioli

Directed by Victoria Imperiolil USA / 2023 / 6 minutes

A tragic choral procession narrates the poem “A Still Life,” whose themes are impermanence, death, loss, grief, surrender, and resurrection.

FOLLOWED BY A LIVE PERFORMANCE BY MICHAEL IMPERIOLI’S BAND, ZOPA

Meet New York indie-rock band ZOPA: bassist, keyboard player and vocalist Elijah Amitin; drummer Olmo Tighe; and guitarist and lead vocalist Michael Imperioli, formerly Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, who is happy for old and new fans to get to know him as a musician, meditator and writer. Named for the Tibetan word for patience, Zopa will perform tracks from their debut album La Dolce Vita, including their new single, “Red Sky.”

THE CREATIVE PRODUCER Producers on Producing

Presented by the Producers Guild of America

Independent creative producers wear multiple hats to balance creative, logistical, financial, and managerial responsibilities to bring a project from ideation all the way to fruition. Producers Guild members Shelby Stone (The Chi, Bessie) and William Horberg (The Queen’s Gambit, The Monk and the Gun) join in a conversation led by Jared Goldman (Ingrid Goes West, Russian Doll) to discuss their latest projects, as well as the unique and critical role that producers play in taking projects from script to screen.

THE PICKET LINE: A Road to Pay Equity and Sustainability

The creative industry has been radically transformed in the last several years due to the pandemic, economic turmoil, advances in digital technology, and production efficiencies. Yet creators of content, writers, actors, and many others that are instrumental to media development are struggling to ensure economic sustainability. Over 11,000 writers and 150,000 members of SAG AFTRA have taken up protest to be heard and galvanize change. Come hear those on the frontlines discuss what has been done to update contracts that no longer serve current working conditions, and what the public can do to support their efforts.

New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) advocates for equality in the moving image industry and supports women in every stage of their careers. NYWIFT energizes women by illuminating their achievements, presenting training and professional development programs, awarding scholarships and grants, and providing access to a supportive community of peers. To learn more about NYWIFT, please visit: www.nywift.org.

Conversation with SHEILA NEVINS

Multiple Oscar, Emmy, and Peabody awards-winner and a legend in her field, Sheila Nevins is credited with producing over 1,000 (!) documentary films for HBO and MTV Documentary Films, and with decades as the top leader in the documentary filmmaking space, she is still going strong! Two-time Academy Awards®-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple will lead a conversation with Nevins, with the two talking about their legendary careers, the state of documentary filmmaking, and their present and future film projects.

HOST: Barbara Kopple

– Two-time Academy Award winner (Harlan County U.S.A., American Dream) and maker of 40+ films, including Shut Up & Sing, Gumbo Coalition, and Miss Sharon Jones.

MODERATOR

Thelma Adams Twice NYFCC Chair Thelma Adams has reviewed film for three decades (NY Post, Us Weekly and AARP.org). The best-selling novelist (Bittersweet Brooklyn, The Last Woman Standing) has also written for the NY Times and Variety

PANELISTS

Neil Gaiman is the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including Neverwhere, American Gods, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and The Sandman series of graphic novels. Amazon and Netflix series based on his stories include Anansi Boys, Good Omens, Lucifer, American Gods, and Netflix's upcoming Dead Boy Detectives

Dana Weissman, is the Director of Programs at the Writers Guild of America, East. Dana oversees all member events and programs including elections, educational programs, social events, screenings, staged readings, film festival outreach and the annual awards competition and celebration.

After writing for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Jo Miller was the co-creator, showrunner, and head writer at Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. More recent projects include Old News, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction,The Opposition, and Wilmore. Her writing has earned her four Comedy/ Variety Emmy awards.

William Horberg

Jared Goldman

Presented in collaboration with New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT)

Shelby Stone

TRUTH/FICTION: Masterclass with Screenwriter / Showrunner RON NYSWANER

Creating narrative drama from true stories, history, and personal life experiences.

TRUTH/FICTION: Masterclass with Ron Nyswaner. Creating narrative drama from true stories, history, and personal life experiences. Oscar- and Emmy-nominee Ron Nyswaner will discuss his writing process, citing examples from his work on Philadelphia, Soldier’s Girl, Homeland, Murder on Middle Beach, and the upcoming Fellow Travelers

ACTORS WHO DIRECT

Sun Oct 1  10:00am

More and more actors choose to also work behind the camera as directors and/or producers of narrative films, television series, and experimental shorts, along with other genres and formats. Hear what compels them to work behind the camera, and how different those experiences are.

MODERATOR

Mary Stuart Masterson Fried Green Tomatoes (actor), Some Kind of Wonderful (actor), Benny & June (actor), The Cake Eaters (director)

PANELISTS

Steve Buscemi The Listener (director), Boardwalk Empire (actor), Reservoir Dogs (actor) Fargo (actor)

Brittany Snow Parachute (director), Pitch Perfect (actor), X (actor), Hairspray (actor)

Matthew Modine I Am What You Imagine (director), Full Metal Jacket (actor), Stranger Things (actor), Vision Quest (actor)

CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA

In the 1990s, original storytelling rose on the back of new technology, as VCR and DVD revenue flowed into the recoupment waterfall. Risking $1 million to make and market a new film became a “why not?” Until streaming platforms eclipsed all distribution. Audiences increased while revenues diminished. Today, the monolithic streaming model has proved unsustainable. When Hollywood studios are stumped, what's the hope for the Indies?

Climate Storytelling for Filmmakers

How do you sell a climate pitch in a market that just wants to entertain? How do we avoid falling into the narrative traps set by fossil fuel companies and others who think climate change is a drag on box-office and ratings success? Where can you find experts to help explore the science of climate issues and fine-tune information? Join us for a panel with experts and peer producers to discuss practical strategies to bring climate themes into our future films.

CREATING CLIMATE STORIES TO REWRITE OUR FUTURE MODERATOR

Peter Saraf is an independent film, television, and theater producer whose credits include Little Miss Sunshine, Adaptation, Away We Go, The Farewell, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Loving, Land, Everything Is Illuminated, Sunshine Cleaning, Safety Not Guaranteed and the series Vida and Sorry For Your Loss. Peter has been nominated for Academy, Golden Globe, and Tony Awards and has won multiple awards, including the Spirit, Gotham, and Producers Guild awards.

PANELISTS

Meredith Milton Prior to joining NRDC, Meredith Milton was a producer and longtime studio executive at Searchlight, LionsGate, and Summit, and oversaw production on Academy Award® winners The Eyes of Tammy Faye and The Favorite. Lydia Dean Pilcher has produced over 35 feature films, including Queen of Katwe, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Radium Girls, and Cutie and The Boxer, which was nominated for an Academy Award®. She has just completed a climate change-themed film called Homing Instinct

NOTE: If you want to learn how to walk the green-production walk, stay afterwards to learn how your production can be zero-waste with White Feather Farm’s own biochar machine.

PANELISTS

John Sloss As an entertainment lawyer, film producer, talent manager, sales agent, and founder of Cinetic Media, his credits include The Velvet Underground, Green Book, Boyhood, I’m Not There, Before Sunset, and Far from Heaven, among others.

Bob Berney, CEO of Picturehouse, is a leading figure in the world of global content distribution.

Presented by NRDC’s Rewrite the Future and Green Production Guide co-founders Katie Carpenter & Lydia Dean Pilcher

Eugene Hernandez, Director of the Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming.

This panel considers how we got here and the pathway out.

SPECIAL EVENTS

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING OF TEXAS MUSIC REVOLUTION [ 7:00pm] see page 21

Kiefer Sutherland (24) live acoustic performances

Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actor, producer, and director Kiefer Sutherland’s musical career began in 2016 with his debut album, Down in a Hole, which was followed by the country and Americana-styled Reckless & Me in 2019 and Bloor Street in 2022.

HOMING INSTINCT

MULTI SCREEN FILM INSTALLATION

Opening Reception Fri Sept 29 @ 4:00pm

Directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher

Starring: Barrett Doss and Kineta

Homing Instinct is a 26 minute immersive multiscreen film installation by Lydia Dean Pilcher based on her short film adapted from Dani McClain’s story in the anthology, Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements.

PRECEDING THE SCREENING DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE [ 7:30pm] see page 19

Linda Richards live performance

Linda Richards is a Hudson Valley entertainer whose Power of Song program for youth musicians ran from 2009 to 2015. She performs at Clearwater events, local venues, and Mohonk Mountain House, and

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

JOAN BAEZ I AM A NOISE [ 7:00pm] see page 20

Joan Baez in live interview on zoom

Facing the end of a 60-year musical career, legendary singer and activist Joan Baez takes an honest look back and a deep look inward as she tries to make sense of her large history-making life and reveals personal struggles she’s kept private, until now.

AFTER THE SCREENING OF FEEDING TOMORROW

AT WHITE FEATHER FARM FARM TO TABLE FUNDRAISER

for Small Farm Resiliency

Tickets are $85.00

Presented by White Feather Farm & Feeding Tomorrow

pm

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING OF WITH PETER BRADLEY [ 6:30pm] see page 22 performance by Javon Jackson

In an ever-changing climate, we care about the health of our neighboring small-scale farms who feed our community. Join us Wednesday, September 27 6:30pm-9pm, immediately after the screening of Feeding Tomorrow, on the property of White Feather Farm, a 501c3 nonprofit farm dedicated to connecting community, culture, and land.

The goal for this community gathering, with local food and spirits, is to raise $10,000 for the small-farm micro-grant emergency fund in support of multiple small-scale farmers in the Hudson Valley. Tickets are $85.00, seating is limited, head to White Feather Farm website to reserve your taxdeductible ticket or make a donation to the Small Farm Resiliency Fund.

www.whitefeatherfarm.org

All Events are subject to change, for latests updates visit

WoodstockFilmFestival.org

American jazz tenor saxophonist, bandleader, and educator Javon Anthony Jackson was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers from 1987 until Blakey's death in 1990. He has released 22 recordings as a bandleader and recorded on over 150 CDs with jazz greats like Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden, Betty Carter, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Stanley Turrentine, and Ben E. King.

SPONSORED BY

WOODSTOCK Levon Helm Studio  TUES SEPT 26

WOODSTOCK Bearsville  THUR SEPT 28

SPONSORED BY

SAUGERTIES Orpheum S1  FRI SEPT 29

participated in Vanaver Caravan's Turn Turn Turn project, sharing Pete Seeger’s visions through song and dance.

WOODSTOCK Bearsville  WED SEPT 27

SAUGERTIES White Feather Farm  WED SEPT 27 7:20

WOODSTOCK Kleinert /James Art Center  WED, SEPT 27 - SUN, OCT 1 10am - 6pm every half hour free to attend

Kunutu

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING HUNG UP ON A DREAM: THE ZOMBIES DOCUMENTARY [ 8:00pm] see page 20

Live Acoustic Performance

Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent

The Zombies is a charming group of blokes that includes Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Chris White, Hugh Grundy, and the late Paul Atkinson. Today, rather than fade into obscurity or sign on to a nostalgia tour, these aging rockers manage to remain relevant with a new album and tour.

SPECIAL EVENTS

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING OF OMOIYARI: A Song Film By Kishi Bashi [6:15pm] see page 18

Kishi Bashi live acoustic performance

Kishi Bashi is the pseudonym of American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kaoru Ishibashi. Currently based in Athens, Georgia, he was a member of bands Jupiter One and Montreal. He went solo in 2011, releasing his debut album, 151a, in 2012 to immediate acclaim.

Tribute to James Ivory Special Screening [ 2:00pm]

THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION see page 13 with Q&A with director James Ivory and author Peter Cameron

James Ivory was the directing partner with the legendary producer Ismail Merchant, in their independent company Merchant Ivory Productions. In the 48 years they worked together as a team, usually accompanied by the writer and novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, they created 28 feature films and six theatrical shorts.

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING MUSIC VIDEOS

WITH PERFORMANCES see page 29

WOODSTOCK Colony

Thur Sept 28 9:00pm

MUSIC VIDEO I

Followed by a live performance by EMILY SPRAGUE OF FLORISTS

WOODSTOCK Tinker Street

Sat Sept 30  7:30pm

MUSIC VIDEO II

Followed by a live performance by MICHAEL IMPERIOLI’S BAND: ZOPA

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING OF FIORETTA [ 2:15pm] see page 19 performance by THE MAVERICK SEXTET

Tim Fain, violin; Johannes Fleischmann, violin; Matt Haimovitz, cello; Kathy Kang Litton; viola, Paul Neubauer, viola; Lori Singer, cello

String Sextet (The Maverick Sextet) live classical performance of Arnold Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4, featuring Tim Fain on violin, Johannes Fleischmann on violin, Paul Neubauer on viola, Kathy Kang Litton on viola, Lori Singer on cello, Matt Haimovitz on cello.

40 Years Anniversary Special Screening

WHEN THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE [ 1:00pm] see page 22

The documentary is woven together by the extraordinary story of Rigoberta Menchú, a young Maya K’iche’ woman from Guatemala who confidently describes the resistance of the majority indigenous people against the legacy of state and U.S. aggression. Filmed at the height of the war in Guatemala in 1982, the film later became key forensic evidence in the General Ríos Montt genocide trial in 2013. It won the Sundance Special Jury Award in 1984, and was shown in multiple languages across the world.

SAUGERTIES Orpheum S1  SUN OCT 1

WOODSTOCK Playhouse  SAT SEPT 30

WOODSTOCK Bearsville  SAT SEPT 30

HONORARY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AWARDS

 Best Editing, Narrative

 Best Editing, Documentary

 Leon Gast Award for Best Documentary

 Mark Braunstein Award for Best Short Narrative

 Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography

 Best Short Documentary

 Best Student Short

 Best Short Animation

 Gigantic Pictures Award for Best Feature Narrative

 Gray Schwartz Ultra Indie Award

 World of Ha Change-Maker Award

 NYWIFT Excellence Award in Best Documentary

 NYWIFT Excellence Award in Best Narrative

JAMES IVORY

James Ivory was the directing partner with the legendary producer Ismail Merchant in their independent company Merchant Ivory Productions. In the 48 years they worked together as a team, usually accompanied by the writer and novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, they created 28 feature films and six theatrical shorts. Despite the luster of their most famous films, English period pieces like A Room With a View, Maurice, Howards End, and The Remains of the Day, Ivory is not British and grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon. A "Merchant Ivory Film" has a look and feel unlike any other because of its visual style, the sharply perceptive screenwriting of Jhabvala and occasional "outsiders" like Kazuo Ishiguro, George Swift Trow, Michael O' Donoghue, and Tama Janowitz, and original scores by Richard Robbins. Ivory wrote the screenplay for Call Me By Your Name, for which he received an Academy Award in 2018.

SAUGERTIES `PERFORMANCE ARTS CENTER (SPAF) 169 Ulster Ave, Saugerties, NY

MC: ZILLA VODNAS

THANK YOU TO OUR 2023 SPONSORS

BRONZE

ACCOMMODATIONS

MEDIA

FOUNDATIONS

BANK OF AMERICA

CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

CODE BLUE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

ETTINGER FOUNDATION INC.

THE LOZEN FOUNDATION

NOVO FOUNDATION

ORNEST FAMILY FOUNDATION

WARBURG PINCUS FOUNDATION

WHITE FEATHER FARM FOUNDATION

TRAILER

LAURI ANDRETTA

SUSAN ALEXANDER

MARK BRAUNSTEIN ESTATE

HAYES CLEMENT

WILLIAM DINEEN

STATE SUPPORT

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT

NIKOLA DURAVCEVIC & DANA BEN ARI

KEVIN GREENE

MIKE HASSAN

RICH HASSAN

SARAH JOHNSON

DYAN MACHAN

STEWART MEYERS

LOWELL MILLER

SHEILA NEVINS

MIKE OATES

EILEEN POWERS

PETER SARAF

RITA TAGGART

MYRA VELASQUEZ & DANA EGAN

BRUCE WEISS

TICKETS GO ON SALE THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2023

 Purchasing tickets in advance is highly advised, since there is limited seating capacity at all venues.

 There are NO REFUNDS or EXCHANGES on tickets, without exception.

 To order tickets, see updated schedules and film descriptions, and find other festival information, visit woodstockfilmfestival.org/tickets.

 Passholders must arrive 15 minutes prior to events to guarantee seating.

Driving from Woodstock to:

ROSENDALE takes ± 35 minutes.

SAUGERTIES takes ± 20 minutes.

WHITE FEATHER FARM takes ± 10 minutes. Leave more time, there will be heavy traffic.

ONLINE ORDERS

 All tickets can be purchased at woodstockfilmfestival.org/tickets.

 Tickets must be printed at home or presented digitally at the door.

 Online ticket orders can be purchased up until the time an event starts.

BOX OFFICE

 The Box Office is open with limited hours, for festival attendees to browse the schedule and order tickets.

 We will offer printed tickets for those unable to print their tickets or present them digitally.

 Student and senior discounts are available, with ID, at the Box Office.

 Tickets are available at the Box Office until two hours prior to the event.

WEEKEND & FULL PASSES

WEEKEND PASS: $450

Unlimited access to and priority seating* to all of the following on Saturday September 30 and Sunday October 1: films, panels, parties, hospitality lounge, and Maverick Awards ceremony. Includes a festival gift bag.

PURCHASING TICKETS

INTERNET ORDERS

woodstockfilmfestival.org/tickets

BOX OFFICE LOCATION

13 Rock City Road, Woodstock, NY 12498 phone: 845.810.0131

BOX OFFICE HOURS

Aug 31-Sept 26 Wed - Sun 11am - 6pm

Sept 27-29 Wed - Fri 11am - 7pm

Sept 30 Sat 10am - 7pm

Oct 1 Sun 9am - 5pm

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL EVENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. CHECK THE WEBSITE TO:

 Confirm venues and times.

 Read updated information about screenings, special events, and panels.

DELUXE FULL FESTIVAL PASS: $750

Unlimited access to and priority seating* to all films, virtual screenings, panels, parties, hospitality lounge, and Maverick Awards ceremony. Includes festival gift bag.

All Events are subject to change, for latests updates visit

WoodstockFilmFestival.org

WOODSTOCK: Levon Helm

7:00

WED

SAT 9/30

WOODSTOCK

SUN 10/1

11:15

THUR 9/28

check

the

Ticket Holders must arrive 15 minutes prior to screenings or panels in order to guarantee seating.

MAVERICK AWARDS

SAT, SEPT 30 @ 9:00pm

For more information, see p. 41

HOMING INSTINCT FILM INSTALLATION

KLEINERT / JAMES ART CENTER

Sept 27 - Oct 1 @ 10am-6pm free

Opening Reception Fri @ 4pm

Starting every half hour.

For more information, see p. 36.

Bearsville Theater

291 Tinker St, Woodstock

Kleinert/James Art Center

34 Tinker St, Woodstock Colony

22 Rock City Rd, Woodstock

Levon Helm Studios

160 Plochmann Ln, Woodstock

Tinker Street Cinema

132 Tinker St, Woodstock

WAAM [FILMMAKERS LOUNGE]

28 Tinker St, Woodstock

Woodstock Community Ctr [SHORTS]

56 Rock City Rd, Woodstock

Woodstock Playhouse

103 Mill Hill Rd, Woodstock

Orpheum Theatre

156 Main St, Saugerties

SPAF [AWARDS]

169 Ulster Ave, Saugerties

White Feather Farm [PANELS]

Broken Wing Barn

1389 NY-212, Saugerties

Rosendale Theatre

408 Main St, Rosendale

Internet Orders: woodstockfilmfestival.org/tickets

2:15

6:15

A Song Film by Kishi Bashi [Q&A]

WOODSTOCK Playhouse

3:45

7:30

WOODSTOCK

1:00 When the Mountains [Q&A] Tremble

3:30 The New Americans: [Q&A] Gaming a Revolution

6:30 Anselm

9:00 Summer Solstice [Q&A]

SAUGERTIES

Orpheum Theatre S2

12:00 Finding the Money [Q&A]

2:45 The New Boy

5:30 I Used to Be Funny

8:00 Rachel Hendrix [Q&A]

ROSENDALE Theatre

10:15am Food and Country

1:00 Parachute [Q&A]

4:00 Stockade [Q&A]

6:45 No Accident [Q&A]

PERFORMANCES Following Films

Tues Sept 26 @ 7:00 pm [Texas Music Revolution]  Kiefer Sutherland

Wed Sept 27@ 7:30pm [Down by the Riverside]  Linda Richards

Wed Sept 27@ 7:20pm [Feeding Tomorrow]  Fundraiser and Community Gathering

Thur Sept 28 @ 9:00pm [Music Videos I]  Emily Sprague (Florist)

Fri Sept 29 @ 6:30pm [With Peter Bradley]  Javon Jackson

Fri Sept 29 @ 8:00pm [Hung Up on a Dream]  The Zombies’ Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent

Sat Sept 30 @ 2:15 pm [Fioretta]  The Maverick Sextet

Sat Sept 30 @ 6:15pm [Omoiyari: A Song Film by Kishi Bashi]

 Kishi Bashi live

Sat Sept 30 @ 7:30pm [Music Videos II]  Michael Imperioli’s “Zopa”

Box Office Location: 13 Rock City Road, Woodstock, NY 12498