Film buffs that have flocked across the Hudson Valley to attend the Woodstock Film Festival and events at Bearsville Theater will now have the opportunity to attend a new type of theater. As of this July, the two entities have teamed up to launch a film projection hub, with a top-of-the-line projection and sound system at the Bearsville Theater. This transformation will help the Woodstock Film Festival and other film-related initiatives show flicks at Bearsville for years to come.
The Woodstock Film Festival has been showing works at the Bearsville complex since its inception in 2000. Since Bearsville is primarily a music hall, the films were shown in a provisional manner. But the heads of each organization felt it was time to change that and create a cutting-edge, long-term solution. Meira Blaustein, co-founder and executive director of the Woodstock Film Festival, felt that her business should have a home for its 25th anniversary. “We needed a state-of-the-art location with the equipment for filmmakers and the public,” she says. “We decided to go with Bearsville because of the beauty of the space and the investment that Lizzie is making in the culture and in the area.”
Lizzie Vann, who purchased the Bearsville Theater back in 2019, has spent the last four years bringing the complex back from the “brink of collapse.” She’s excited for the possibility of expansion for both businesses, and to increase opportunities for people to see the work done on the theater. “It’s a great recognition of the renovation work that we’ve done,” says Vann. “Now we have huge abilities—[our purview] can be widened beyond music and step into film.”
The technology overhaul is an audio/visual one-two punch, featuring a state-of-the-art DCP film projector system and Dolby Atmos sound system. In the past, films at Bearsville have been shown on Blu-ray, while the new system uses laser display, creating high-quality, crisp images. The new Dolby Atmos system will revolutionize the viewing experience at Bearsville, with the new Atmos technology adding a vertical component to classic surround-sound technology for a three-dimensional auditory experience. With 360 degrees of sound, including speakers on the ceiling, Vann says you’ll “feel like you’re in the movie.”
Both Blaustein and Vann are excited for the permanent changes this partnership will bring to their historic entities. “We will now have more access because of the partnership, and we can have a venue where we can show films and series throughout the year without maneuvering the schedule of other venues,” Blaustein says. Vann even drops connections to the Academy Awards. “If you’re a movie maker, and you’re going to get an Academy Award, you can use this beautiful location in the Catskills to show the film and get votes, instead of showing it in LA.”
This partnership does not put the two businesses in an exclusive relationship. The Bearsville Theater will have the ability to rent out their new projector to other organizations across the Hudson Valley, creating a great new opportunity for local cinema. The Woodstock Film Festival will continue to host its summer festivals at various locations beyond Bearsville, providing numerous areas with publicly accessible films.
This partnership is creating steady and hopeful futures for both the Bearsville Theater and the Woodstock Film Festival, with Vann predicting a revival of sorts for the Woodstock area. “It’s a huge expense, but a special thing to have in a rural community like Woodstock,” she says. “The point is to build up Woodstock as a cultural hub, a revival of sorts.”
