KINGSTON, N.Y. — The Woodstock Film Festival returns in full force starting Wednesday after continued COVID-19 restrictions in 2021.
“In 2021, in a lot of the indoor venues we had social distancing and never sold out intentionally and everyone had to keep their mask on and show their vaccination card,” said Meira Blaustein, executive director of the Woodstock Film Festival. “This year it’s a little bit more relaxed, masks are encouraged at most venues and we hope everyone is vaccinated.”
All staff and volunteers are vaccinated, she said.
Kicking off the festival at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Bearsville Theater is “Remember This.” The narrative feature stars Academy Award nominee David Strathairn as a Polish resistance fighter and Holocaust witness Jan Karski who risked his own life to feed information and reports to allies during the atrocities committed against Jewish people during the Holocaust. A question-and-answer with Strathairn and filmmakers will follow the screening.
Also that evening is a screening of the documentary “Of Medicine and Miracles” at 7 p.m. at Bearsville Theater. The 96-minute film tells the story of six-year-old Emily Whitehead’s battle with leukemia, her family’s hope and desperation and the perseverance of Dr. Carl June, who is on the cutting edge of cancer research, a description on the festival’s website said.
This year’s Maverick Awards on Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Ulster Performing Arts Center will honor Ethan Hawke with the Maverick Award; Awkwafina with the Transcendent Talent Award; Arianna Bocco with the Trailblazer Award; and Debra Granik with the Fiercely Independent Award.
Blaustein said she’s excited that the awards will be held at the historic theater on Broadway in Midtown Kingston for the first time.
“It’s the first time we’ve had the awards ceremony in such a large venue,” she said. “We really lowered the ticket prices to make the awards accessible for everyone.”
Other special guests include Amanda Seyfried, Vera Farmiga, Karen Allen, David Strathairn, Mary Stuart Masterson, Scott Avett of the Avett Brothers, Marina Zenovich, Ramin Bahrani, Rodrigo Garcia, Joe Berlinger, Roger Ross Williams, Ondi Timoner, Barbara Kopple and more.
Hawke, a star of film, television and Broadway and best-selling author, will look back on his career and ponder what’s next in a panel alongside John Sloss at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Broken Wing Barn at White Feather Farm in Saugerties.
“This is our second year at White Feather Farm,” Blaustein said. “We love the venue, it’s a beautiful old barn on an organic farm.”
She described it as a bucolic setting but with very high-end quality and caliber of the participants in a very professional setup.
Blaustein admitted she has a hard time picking favorites among the films which include documentaries, narrative features and 98 shorts.
“I’m like a mother who loves all her children, I love everything,” she said.
Still, she highlighted a number of films.
“Mending the Line” starring Bryan Cox, who stars in the HBO series “Succession,” will be shown Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Woodstock Playhouse and Friday, at 1 p.m. at the Rosendale Theatre in Rosendale. “It’s a story of two veterans healing through fly fishing,” Blaustein said.
Blaustein said she’s also looking forward to filmmaker Phil Bertelsen’s documentary “The Picture Taker” which tells the story of Earnest Withers
“He was one of the iconic Civil Rights Era photographers,” Blaustein said. “Later on after he passed, it was revealed he was an FBI informant. “This tells the complexity of who he was and the work he called it.”
Screenings are scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Bearsville Theater and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the Tinker Street Cinema.
The noir film “Man” has showings at the Tinker Street Cinema Friday, at 7 p.m. and the Orpheum in Saugerties, Sunday, at 7 p.m. A delivery driver by day in New York City kills by night in order to feel alive until he meets a lonely teacher named Eva and has feelings for her, a synopsis said.
“Tzvi, is making his directorial debut and he’s only 23,” Blaustein said “This film is attracting attention amongst film aficionados who have been tracking this young man’s career.”
David Geenwal’s “Afghan Dreamers” makes its U.S. debut Saturday, at 1 p.m. at the Bearsville Theater with an additional screening scheduled for Sunday, at 10:30 a.m.at the Orpheum in Saugerties.
“It’s about an all-girl robotic team from Afghanistan,” he said. “One of the team leaders will participate in a Q&A meetup.”
The festival also features a record 98 shorts, which for the first time are eligible for Academy Awards, she said.
Friday features one-panel, “Directors on Directing,” featuring Geralyn Dreyfous, Ondi Timoner, Ramin Bahrani, Rodrigo Garcia and Roger Ross Williams at noon at White Feather Farm.
Panels on Saturday at White Feather Farm include a chat with Fiercely Independent Award winner Debra Granik, moderated by critic Thelma Adams Saturday, at 10 a.m.; “Women in Film: Then and Now,” featuring Julie Goldman, Karen Allen and Thelma Adams Saturday, at noon; and a chat with this year’s Trailblazer Award winner Arianna Bocco at 2 p.m.
The final panel Sunday at 4 p.m., also at White Feather Farm, features four filmmakers, Adewale Olukayode, Erica Nguyen, Natalie Zimmerman and Nirav Bhakta, who spent a month in residency in Woodstock living together at Theoria Foundation. The panel will be moderated by Alex Smith, filmmaker and artistic director of the program.
“The residents are going to show clips from the films they worked on during their residency,” Blaustein said.
For more information about the Woodstock Film Festival and for a full schedule and tickets visit https://woodstockfilmfestival.org/.
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