the traveler's resource guide to festivals & films
a FestivalTravelNetwork.com site
part of Insider Media llc.
Previews
Chelsea Film Festival 2023: Global Voices in Film
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Friday, 29 September 2023 14:58
- Written by Brad Balfour
With filmmakers from around the world, The Chelsea Film Festival hits downtown NYC October 12th to the 15th, 2023. Running at the Regal Union Square (850 Broadway), the CFF features a wide array of features, shorts and documentaries looking at global issues. The Indie Episodics portion of the festival is an array of comedies, dramas, and documentaries ranging from four to thirty minutes in length, featuring unique voices in filmmaking.
The festival opens with the world premiere of The Dirty South, directed by Matthew Yerby. In podunk Louisiana, Sue Parker (Willa Holland) manages the family bar, providing for her young brother and drunken father. Behind on their mortgage, the local big-wig, Jeb Roy (Dermot Mulroney), gives Sue 3 days to pay $30k or he takes the property. With no options, Sue catches a wanderer, Dion (Shane West), stealing from her regulars. An idea strikes, and a partnership is set. But robbing powerful people in a small town has deadly consequences.
Celebrate the Golden Age of Hip Hop with the World Premiere of Closing Film, Yasmyn. Clarity For a Day or Two. This documentary follows the journey of Yasmyn (Sinencia Jasmine Kass), a visionary artist whose roots span Dominican and Estonian heritage, a fusion that reflects her unique perspective in a world still discovering diversity. Yasmyn’s daring, experimental music carved a niche and won her a devoted following. However, when the pandemic brought live concerts to a grinding halt, Yasmyn faced a daunting challenge. Forced to navigate the uncertainties of her twenties, she found herself balancing a life as a nail technician while fiercely holding onto her musical dreams.
To learn more, go to: https://chelseafilm.org/
Chelsea Film Festival
October 12 - 15, 2023
Regal Union Square
850 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
The 35th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival: An International Look at Queer Cinema
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Wednesday, 27 September 2023 15:12
- Written by Brad Balfour
For thirty five years New York’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival has been presenting daring and bold queer cinema, and this year’s fest is back with more premieres and special screenings. Running October 12 to the 24th in NYC and virtually the 35th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival will have over 130 premiere films representing queer voices from around the world. The Opening Night film is the NYC premiere of George C. Wolfe’s Rustin, a biopic on Bayard Rustin, the extraordinary activist and organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. An opening night party will follow the screening.
One of the special screenings is the NYC Premiere of Nyad, starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, which tells the true story of athlete Diana Nyad. The International Centerpiece is the NYC premiere of Hirokazu Kore-ada’s Monster, winner of the Queer Grand Palme at Cannes. Closing the festival is Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers in which a writer who has just entered into a new relationship journeys to his childhood suburban home to find that his dead parents have returned.
To learn more, go to: https://newfest.org/
The 35th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival
October 12 - 24, 2023
Various Venues in NYC and Online
Sixth Annual New York Baltic Film Festival: In Person & Virtual
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Monday, 25 September 2023 16:01
- Written by Brad Balfour
Now in its sixth New York Baltic Film Festival (NYBFF) presented by Scandinavia House returns on November 8-19, 2023 as a hybrid festival. November 8th to the 12th, 2023 the festival will be in-person at the Scandinavia House (58 Park Ave, NY NY) and virtually November 10 to 19.
The Opening Night Celebration on Wednesday, November 8 will feature the North American Premiere of Remember to Blink (Per Arti, Lithuania, 2023), Austėja Urbaitė's captivating drama exploring cultural conflicts that arise from a French couple's adoption of two Lithuanian children. The screening will be followed by a reception.
The full festival lineup will be announced on September 26, featuring seven premieres (international or North American) and major festival award winners..
To learn more, go to: https://www.balticfilmfestival.com/
New York Baltic Film Festival.
November 8 - 12, 2023 at Scandinavia House
November 10 - 19, 2023 Online
Scandinavia House
58 Park Ave
New York, NY 10016
Woodstock Film Festival 2023: Music & Film From The British Invasion to Texas Country
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Tuesday, 19 September 2023 14:53
- Written by Brad Balfour
Woodstock New York is known for its rich musical history and tradition, but it’s also home to the stellar Woodstock Film Festival. Running September 26th to October 1, 2023, the WFF once again is highlighting music in film, and this year’s Focus on Music lineup is particularly strong, featuring 8 live exceptional performances by The Zombies, Kiefer Sutherland, Michael Imperioli, the Maverick Sextet, Kishi Bashi, Emily Sprague, Javon Jackson, and Linda Richards, along with 6 full-length music films, and 12 music videos.
Narrative features include Larry Fessenden’s Blackout, in which a reclusive painter becomes a bloodthirsty werewolf when night falls. In Aaron Rookus’ Goodbye Stranger a curator for a music streaming service is torn between a stable lawyer girlfriend and his la bohème author and ex-boyfriend. The documentary The New Americans: Gaming a Revolution is a manic look at the overflow of information, consumerism, and memes behind American culture in the 2020s.
The festival will combine cinema and music with a series of film and concert combos. Hung Up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary is a look at the classic British pop act, their ups and downs, and how they’ve persisted over the decades as the face of the British Invasion. Followed by the screening of the documentary on Friday, September 29th, will be a live performance by Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of The Zombies. The documentary Texas Music Revolution follows the music festival of the same name, founded by the station manager of KHYI-FM in Dallas as they persevere to put on their 25th show while contending with the Pandemic, artists in crisis, and the elements. After the screening will be a special acoustic music performance to follow by actor/musician Kiefer Sutherland. A Song Film By Kishi Bashi: Omoiyari is a deeply personal documentary as filmmaker and acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Kishi Bashi embarks on a quest to fully understand his identity as a first-generation Japanese American. A special acoustic performance by Kishi Bashi will follow the film.
There’s also shorts, music videos, panel discussions, and much much more to see at the Woodstock Film Festival.
To learn more, go to: https://woodstockfilmfestival.org/
Woodstock Film Festival
September 26 - October 1, 2023
Various Venues in Woodstock, NY
