Woodstock: The Film Festival

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 16 September 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The Woodstock Film Festival (WFF) runs September 21 - 25, 2011 at the Woodstock Playhouse, Rosendale Theater and Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, and Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, plus other locations surrounding Woodstock, New York.

The Opening Night film is Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Catherine Keener and Jane Fonda. A conservative lawyer takes her two teenage children to meet their estranged, hippie grandmother (who happens to live in Woodstock).

The Spotlight film is Another Happy Day, directed by Sam Levinson, starring Ellen Barkin, Ellen Burstyn, George Kennedy, Kate Bosworth and Ezra Miller. An uptight mother threatens to come unglued at a family wedding.

Ellen Barkin will be the recipient of the WFF Excellence in Acting Award during the Maverick Awards Gala.

A special screening is Giving Back, directed by Meera Gandhi. Gandhi is an international humanitarian, author and filmmaker who "explores the deeply personal and unique ways in which her friends from around the world "give back" to humanity.

In tribute to this movement, WFF has established the Meera Gandhi Giving Back Award which will be given for the first time at the Festival. Its first recipient is Mark Ruffalo, who is receiving the award from Ms. Gandhi in recognition of his efforts as an active supporter of the anti-fracking movement, traveling to Albany and Washington to protect safe water for the region.

Other Select Screenings are:

Musical Chairs
dir. Susan Seidelman
starring Leah Pipes, EJ Bonilla
Two young dancers have dreams of successful careers until a tragic accident sidelines one of them into a wheelchair.

Coming Up Roses
dir. Lisa Albright
starring Bernadette Peters, Rachel Brosnahan
A mother and daughter in 1980s New Hampshire have only each other and their dreams of a better life to get them through the day in a dangerous neighborhood with mental illness and little money.

Perfect Sense
dir. David Mackenzie
starring Ewan McGregor, Eva Green
A scientist loses herself in her work on the study of epidemics until she meets someone "as all around the world something strange is affecting everyone's emotions."

Friday Night Frightfest features:

The Innkeepers
dir. Ti West
A New England inn is about to close after over a century in business. Two employees are determined not to leave before solving the mystery that gave the establishment its reputation as "one of New England's most haunted hotels".

Another Kind
dir. Jonathan Blitstein
"A group of 20-something New Yorkers drive to the Catskills for a long weekend of winter camping. It soon becomes apparent they were better off staying home."

WFF‛s Exposure showcase is dedicated to films of social responsibility. This year‛s selections include:

Semper Fi: Always Faithful
dir. Rachel Libert, Tony Hardmon
A master sergeant has been loyal to the Marine Corps for a quarter of a century. But when his 9-year-old daughter dies of leukemia and he learns why, he goes on a crusade against the entity responsible for one of the largest water contamination incidents in U.S. history: the U.S. military. Directors will be at the Q&A.

The Welcome
dir. Kim Shelton
An in-depth view of lives caught in post-traumatic stress as veterans cope with life after war.

Taking a Chance on God
dir. Brendan Fay
A former POW, co-founder of the GLBT Catholic group Dignity NY, author of The Church and the Homosexual, and loving partner of 45 years to another man -- quite a resume for a Jesuit priest. But Father John McNeill refuses to let oppression and rejection stop him from championing what is truly right.

I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad and the Beautiful
dir. Jonathan Demme
Demme‛s latest work is a personal journey of former civil rights activist Carolyn Parker, as she returns to her community's flood devastation after Hurricane Katrina and struggles to rebuild her New Orleans home.

Nothing says "Woodstock" like music, and music-centric films are prominently presented at the Festival. Among them are:

Downtown Express
dir. David Grubin
starring Philippe Quint, Nellie McKay
A classical music student is preparing for his final recital when he meets a girl with a rock band, and soon finds himself torn between two worlds.

9 Pianos
dir. Gillian Farrell
After Hurricane Katrina, "an Upstate New York piano dealer and tuner felt he had to do something to help New Orleans. So he loaded his truck with all the pianos that would fit and drove to New Orleans to give them away for free to clubs, schools, churches, and the musicians who keep New Orleans and its music alive."  

Freaks in Love
dir. Skizz Cyzyk, David Koslowski
Made by two music veterans of the Baltimore indie scene, the film relates the life and times of the band Alice Donut, with vintage performance footage and interviews with, among others, producer Martin Bisi, Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets and Jello Biafra, who describes the band as "the missing link between R.E.M. and the Butthole Surfers".

Also screening are several outstanding music videos, among them

Everything Becomes Whole - Sarah Fimm
from the new album "Near Infinite Possibility"
dir. Erik Montovano
Sarah Fimm performs following the screening.

No Lights - Yassou Benedict
dir. Steve Durand
Benedict performs following the screening

WFF 2011 Live Music Concerts Series includes:

• Phillipe Quint and Nellie McKay with Special Guest Lori Singer
• Tracy Bonham
• Jerry Marotta
• Gorgeous Creatures
• Explorers
• Bazaar
• Gene Ween Acoustic Band
• Simi Stone and Jeremy Bernstein
• Betty
• Spanish Ensemble Featuring Javier Limîn & Cristina Pat

The Festival also presents several panels, some of which are:

• Amazing Women in Film
• Blue Sky Studio Animation
• Funding Your Project the 21st Century Way
• The Issue Documentary
• Why Do Some Films Make It and Other Don't?

Plainly there is life after the summer Music Festival, and in the lush autumn of the Hudson Valley.

For more information, visit http://woodstockfilmfestival.com

Woodstock Film Festival
September 21 - 25, 2011

Woodstock Playhouse
103 Mill Hill Rd
Woodstock, NY 12498
845-339-4340

Rosendale Theater
408 Main Street
Rosendale, NY 12472
845-658-8989

Bearsville Theater
291 Tinker St.
Woodstock, NY, 12498
845-679-4406

Upstate Films
6415 Montgomery Street
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
845-876-2515

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