The Woodstock Film Festival has received assistance from many Hollywood players; actor Vincent D'Onofrio, center, who lives part-time in Kingston, is a member of the festival's advisory board. He and actor Ellen Barkin, left, pose recently with festival Executive Director Meira Blaustein.Anthony Puopolo
Woodstock has been many things: an artistic commune; a musical inspiration; a temple for chamber music; a visual feast. The name has been defined, dissected and debated. It's been through various eras, from Byrdcliffe to Maverick to the Cafe Espresso.
Welcome to the newest era in Woodstock: The Era of Cinema Paradiso.
The 13th Woodstock Film Festival opens Wednesday. With it comes about 130 films, 13 world premieres, panels, concerts and parties. The annual event has blossomed from a homespun, intimate gathering to a global phenomenon. You can count on the festival every fall. And now, in its 13th year, it has secured its role as linchpin for a new cultural movement in Woodstock.
IF YOU GO
What: Woodstock Film Festival
When: Oct. 10-14
Where: Woodstock, Kingston, Rhinebeck, Rosendale, Saugerties, Newburgh
Price: Varies; most screenings $10
Call: 679-4265
Visit: woodstockfilmfestival.com
Consider the progression. A filmmaker enters his production into the Woodstock Film Festival. It's accepted. The filmmaker visits Woodstock for the festival, lodging in a mountainside house, traversing the winding streets of the breezy Hudson Valley autumn. He falls in love. A few months later, and the filmmaker is calling the Hudson Valley Film Commission because he wants to shoot his next film here. The relationship furthers.
"Part of the growth of the film production industry in the Hudson Valley," says festival Executive Director Meira Blaustein, "is that the festival brings in people who come for the first time. It's a very important process."This is the pass-it-on philosophy that has bubbled underneath the creative Woodstock world; it's the mantra carried by local legends like Pete Seeger and the late Levon Helm.
It might be why the festival this year is honoring Jonathan Demme. It's easy to see why Demme is receiving this year's Honorary Maverick Award.
He directed "Philadelphia," "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Stop Making Sense," the iconic Talking Heads concert documentary that had film lovers shaking in a dance party at the first Woodstock Film Festival.
But this is Woodstock. Accolades are nothing if they're not backed by spirit.
"He's just a really nice guy," says Blaustein. "He's very giving to filmmakers. Young filmmakers will get a lot out of meeting him because he's a very generous filmmaker."
That's the bottom line. If you're at Woodstock, you're giving back, you're contributing and you're progressing the conversation. In your own way, you're continuing the Era of Cinema Paradiso.
"Going forward there's a lot to look forward to," says Blaustein.
"Not just us, for the film festival, but for the community at large."
The process seems to reap greater rewards each year. Now there's the Kerhonskon-based BCDF Pictures, which has produced "Why Stop Now," "Bachelorette" and "Liberal Arts" just in the last year. BCDF will contribute its newest film, "Rhymes With Banana," to the film festival.
"We arrived at the right moment right in the Valley," says Claude Dal Farra, principal of BCDF Pictures. "We transformed a big farm into a little studio, and we're connecting people in the region."
That begins early, too. The film festival started working years ago with Onteora High School, creating a career day during the festival that brings filmmakers and industry professionals to the school to chat with students.
This year the festival has carved out a Friday morning screening of "Once in a Lullaby," a film about New York City's talented P.S. 22 Chorus, for school-group viewing.
And the Teen Shorts series returns with films by students from, among other places, Florida, California and Woodstock.
Young filmmakers attending the festival will get to network with filmmakers and other professionals.
This is the pass-it-on philosophy that has bubbled underneath the creative Woodstock world; it's the mantra carried by local legends like Pete Seeger and the late Levon Helm.
It might be why the festival this year is honoring Jonathan Demme. It's easy to see why Demme is receiving this year's Honorary Maverick Award.
He directed "Philadelphia," "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Stop Making Sense," the iconic Talking Heads concert documentary that had film lovers shaking in a dance party at the first Woodstock Film Festival.
But this is Woodstock. Accolades are nothing if they're not backed by spirit.
"He's just a really nice guy," says Blaustein. "He's very giving to filmmakers. Young filmmakers will get a lot out of meeting him because he's a very generous filmmaker."
That's the bottom line. If you're at Woodstock, you're giving back, you're contributing and you're progressing the conversation. In your own way, you're continuing the Era of Cinema Paradiso.
"Going forward there's a lot to look forward to," says Blaustein.
"Not just us, for the film festival, but for the community at large."
