2005 WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL WRAPPED UP
The sixth annual Woodstock Film Festival wrapped October 2 after five packed days of events in four mid-Hudson valley towns including Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Rosendale, and Hunter.
The festival's growth was apparent as audience, industry, and celebrity attendance burgeoned.
Sold out films, panels, and concerts received outstanding reviews as quality played a key role in the success of the festival, whose moniker 'fiercely independent' did not let down.
While celebrities-including Kevin Bacon, Steve Buscemi, Ethan
Hawke, and Aidan Quinn basked in the artistic quality of the
event, they all noted the important social issues that were
addressed in many of the narrative films and documentaries
at the festival. Former NPR journalist David D'arcy
exclaimed at the closing night ceremonies that with the sad
state of journalism, independent filmmakers and film
festivals like Woodstock are becoming the only places where
real world issues are being discussed.
By carefully balancing entertainment, cultural diversity,
and important social issues in a setting that has a
longstanding tradition for social consciousness, the
Woodstock Film Festival creates a natural progression by
which programming can focus on matters that affect our lives
and our world while seeking to heighten awareness and to
stimulate dialogue and positive resolution.
To support or sponsor our continued efforts, please visit
<http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/fundraising/contributor
s.php> or contact (845) 679-4265
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CLOSING NIGHT AWARDS
The Honorary Maverick Award was presented on closing night
to independent film acting icon and director Steve Buscemi
by longtime friend and fellow actor Aidan Quinn.
The Honorary Trailblazer Award was presented to indie film
business visionary John Sloss by actor Ethan Hawke, with
whom he worked with on BEFORE SUNSET, CHELSEA WALLS, THE NEWTON BOYS, TAPE, BEFORE SUNRISE, and WAKING LIFE. For more information on 2005 award winners, visit Maverick Awards.
<http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/press/releases/05.10_aw
ards.htm#awards>
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FESTIVAL SOUVENIRS
This year’s captivating poster and t-shirt were the result
of the generosity of Tiziano Magni, photographer for Sports
Illustrated Swimsuit edition and innumerable fashion icons,
and supermodel Angie Schmidt. For a look at our other
souvenirs, including mugs, caps, and other shirts, visit
<http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/store/souvenirs2004.php>
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WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL (WFF) GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
American Cinematheque and Woodstock FIlm Festival partner
for LA premiere of THE AMERICAN RULING CLASS. For the first time ever, the WFF is partnering with the prestigious
American Cinematheque to showcase a selection from the 2005
festival in the Cinematheque’s historic Egyptian Theatre in
Hollywood.
On Thursday, November 10, the American Cinematheque will
present THE AMERICAN RULING CLASS as part of its Alternative Screen Independent Film Showcase series. The filmmakers, as well as Woodstock Film Festival Executive Director MeiraBlaustein, will be present for a Q&A and a gathering of old friends and new from both coasts after the screening. The screening will take place at 7:30 PM at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. Tickets are $9 a person. Visit www.americancinematheque.com.
Frustrated with the traditional documentary form, writer
Lewis Lapham, director John Kirby, and producer Libby
Handros created THE AMERICAN RULING CLASS, the first ever dramatic-documentary-musical. This hybrid satire seeks to
answer the questions: “Is there an American ruling class? If
so, how does one join?” That's what Yale grads Mike and Jack
want to know.
Lewis Lapham, the jaded socialite-cum-muckraker editor of Harper's, is Mike andJack's guide in this star-studded journey through America's establishment. We get to meet Kurt Vonnegut, Walter Cronkite, Mike Medavoy, Robert Altman, Barbara Ehrenreich, Vartan Gregorian, Martin Garbus, Bill Bradley, Larry
Summers, James Baker, Pete Peterson, Hodding Carter, and the
insistent opposition voice of Pete Seeger. Mike attempts to
find out whether a good banking job is all that his future
holds and Jack wonders if his offer from Goldman Sachs is
the right first step to take. Whatever the answers, you'll
love to hear from these mentors in the ruling class—which
might or might not exist. Judge for yourself.
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IN THEATERS
THE BOYS OF BARAKA
This year’s audience award winner for best documentary, THE
BOYS OF BARAKA, opens at the Film Forum in NYC November 23.
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s film follows a group of
extraordinary 12-year-old boys from the most violent ghettos
of Baltimore who leave everything they know to attend an
experimental boarding school in the most rural corner of
Kenya, East Africa. For more info, visit
http://lokifilms.com/site.
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USHPIZIN
The award-winning Israeli film USHPIZIN is at a theater in
your area.Winner of the 2004 Best Actor award at the Israeli
Film Academy for writer-star Shuli Rand, director Gidi Dar's
film, USHPIZIN, is a revelatory--and humorous--look at the
daily lives of ultra-Orthodox Jews learning, living, and
loving in modern-day Israel. USHPIZIN opened in theaters in
New York and Los Angeles on October 19, and will open in
other cities on October 26 and November 2. Visit
www.ushpizin.com for a list of these cities, to view the
trailer, and to learn more about this wonderful film.
Also from picturehouse in theaters is THE THING ABOUT MY
FOLKS, co-starring Paul Resier and Peter Falk. The film was
shot in Woodstock and surrounding towns.
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WHERE THE TRUTH LIES
The closing film of the 2005 Woodstock Film Festival, WHERE
THE TRUTH LIES, has been beset by controversy and a NC-17
rating. The Atom Egoyan pix, distributed by THINKfilm,
opened in limited release in NYC and LA follows a young
journalist known for her celebrity profiles, who is consumed
with discovering the truth behind a long-buried incident
that affected the lives and careers of showbiz team Vince
Collins and Lanny Morris (Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon).
Peter Howell, of the Toronto Star, says "It's the stuff of
grand intrigue, and Egoyan relishes it." Visit
http://www.thinkfilmcompany.com for complete details.
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NINE LIVES
One of the big hits of the 2005 Woodstock Film Festival,
NINE LIVES, from Magnolia Pictures opens theatrically.
Directed by Rodriguo Marquez (son of Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
and featuring Robin Wright Penn, Glenn Close, Holly Hunter,
Sissy Spacek, Dakota Fanning, among others, the pix is a
moving exploration of the individual experiences of nine
women as told through nine single unbroken takes. See NINE
LIVES.
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NEW YORK DOLL
Also opening is Greg Whiteley’s NEW YORK DOLL, which relates the meteoric rise, resounding fall, and recent all-too-brief
resurrection of the seminal New York glam-rock-punk band,
The New ork Dolls, but it is foremost a story about the
band's amazing bassist and leader, Arthur "Killer" Kane. NEW
YORK DOLL IS a First Independent Pictures release. See the
release schedule online at NEW YORK DOLL
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THE ROOST
It's Showtime for THE ROOST! Opens Friday, October 21st!
It's midnight and Frightmare Theatre is about to begin! Your
Host sets the scene: After a violent car accident a group of
friends become stranded in the middle of nowhere. Quickly
deciding to search for help, they come upon a deserted farm.
Once the secrets of the barn are unleashed, the night of
terror begins! "A movie with bats in its belfry, THE ROOST
celebrates and restores the 1970’s B-horror pic with zero
gloss and terrific, rough-hewn craft. Imagining what happens
when a group of young people en route to a friend's wedding
get sidetracked at a farm taken over by vampire bats,
debuting helmer Ti West taps into the realist-horror spirit
of mentor and executive producer [upstater] Larry
Fessenden." (Robert Koehler, Variety)
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NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
For fans of the horror genre, the 2005 Woodstock Film
Festival presented a surprise midnight screening of
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH by local film producer Michael J. Brody at his new venue, The Church. The film will open the New
York City Horror Fest and will be featured at the
International Horror Festival in Phoenix. The film directed
by Graeme Whifler (maker of the cult classic DR. GIGGLES),
has been called “simultaneously hilarious and utterly
disturbing” by Erik Krisopher Myers of The Bloody News.
Brody’s last film, MILWAUKEE, MINNESOTA, (2003 WFF) is in
great demand at netFlix and other DVD outlets. To order your
copy, visit MILWAUKEE, MINNESOTA.
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LOCAL FILM PRODUCTION
visit www.woodstockfilmcommission.com for more commission info
Bill Stitt of Catskill Mountain Pictures, returned to his home in Woodstock October 23rd, after working 22 days as Logistics Manager for Historical Entertainment on location near East Nassau in upstate New York.
"H.E. is a company out of Cascade, Maryland, that
specializes in period wardrobe – both military and civilian
-- props, arms (from knives to cannons) and people with
enormous knowledge about the history of battles in the
United States. They were called in by Partisan Pictures,
who is producing a 13-part series on the American Revolution
having already completed THE FRENCH REVOLUTION and THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION also for the History Channel" says Bill.
In addition to solving logistical problems for the
production, Bill was at various times recruited by the
wrangler to help wrangle horses, the effects team to help
lay smoke for battle scenes, and the casting department, who
outfitted him first as a musket–carrying Hessian Soldier
engaged in skirmishes, in the woods and then as an angry
farmer resisting the Continental army’s attempts to relieve
him and his family of their cow and other foodstuffs. For
more info, contact Bill at CatsMoPix@aol.com
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BOMB
Ian Olds, winner of this year’s Diane Seligman Award for
best student short with TWO MEN, will wrap production on his
latest short, BOMB, featuring Melissa Leo, in the following
weeks. The film is produced by Suzi Yoonessi, whose recent
short NO SHOULDER, shot in Woodstock last spring. Ian and
2004 best student award winner Cary Fukunaga (VICTORIA PARA CHINO) will both be honored in November with Princess Grace awards, presented by Prince Albert of Monaco.
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OLIVER STONE PIX
Rumor has it that Nicholas Cage has been spotted locally in
conjunction with the upcoming Oliver Stone film about
911/WTC, which will not be filming in NYC because of the
explicitly of his screenplay and related controversy.
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AVAILABLE ON DVD
Following the first US theatrical screening in 33 years, THE
CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH will be released on DVD by Warner Strategic Marketing, October 25th, 2005, as a 2-disc
package. Contents will include the original 99-minute film
restored and remixed in 5.1, as well as 72-minutes of
extras. All artists' royalties from the sales of the DVD and
the CD will continue to go to UNICEF.
THE CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH was the first benefit concert of its kind in that it brought together an extraordinary
assemblage of major artists collaborating for a common
humanitarian cause - setting the precedent that music could
be used to serve a higher cause. Besides George Harrison
himself, the concert film features some of his friends,
including: Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo
Starr, Leon Russell and Billy Preston.
To purchase the DVD, visit THE CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH
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AVOID EYE CONTACT
Now available on DVD is the second edition of AVOID EYE
CONTACT, featuring independent New York animators Bill
Plympton, Patrick Smith, John Dilworth, Signe Baumane, PES,
and others. NYC is a place of constant change, invention,
and chaos: AVOID EYE CONTACT sums up these urban qualities in animated terms. All films are international winners, each with a distinct look united only by genre and the gritty
oul of NYC. Visit Square Footage Films .
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SPONSORS
The Woodstock Film Festival is extremely grateful to all the
sponsors that helped make the 2006 events a reality. Please
visit them all online at
http://woodstockfilmfestival.com/sponsor.htm
MARKERTEK - OUR PRESENTING SPONSOR SINCE 2001
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customers because they are the easiest, simplest, and most
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studio or project. For all your audio and video needs, visit
www.Markertek.com
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The Woodstock Film Festival (WFF) is a not-for-profit, 501
(C) 3 organization with a mission to present an annual
program and year-round schedule of film, music, and
art-related activities that promote artists, culture,
inspired learning, and diversity. An offshoot of WFF, the
Woodstock Film Commission (WFC) promotes sustainable
economic development by attracting and supporting local
film, video and media production. Recent WFC's projects
include The Night Listener (starring Robin Williams), The
White Countess (by James Ivory), The War of the Worlds (by
Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Cruise), Before It Had a Name
(starring Willem Dafoe), The Thing About My Folks (starring
Paul Reiser and Peter Falk), and many more.
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