It’s impossible to participate in every single aspect of the marathon of screenings, presentations, and discussions that is the annual Woodstock Film Festival. To help you be judiscious with your time, we’re sharing our top picks for films and other events to catch during this year’s fest.
We Can Be Heroes
The Hudson Valley’s own Wayfinder Experience is the subject of the latest documentary by Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons. Wayfinder is a live-action role-playing company based in Kingston that runs programs for teens in which they create and inhabit fantasy worlds of swords and demons. We Can Be Heroes is an inspirational film about the power of imagination and companionship. A Q&A with Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons follows both screenings.
October 19, 5:30pm at the Orpheum Theater, Saugerties; October 20, 1:15pm at the Bearsville Theater, Bearsville
The State of the Industry and How to Break into It
Chronogram editor Brian K. Mahoney hosts a panel discussion with film industry vets William Horberg, Blair Breard, and Gill Holland about the state of the film industry today, and the projects they are currently working on. The conversation will also focus on the humble beginnings of the panelists’ careers, with an eye toward advising aspiring filmmakers how to get into the film and media industry in today’s ecosystem.
October 16, 6pm, Fuller Building in Kingston
Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell’s Swimsuit Issue
Filled with never-before-seen footage, Beyond the Gaze not only tells the story of the world-famous Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, but also the woman behind the revolutionary idea. Creator Jule Campbell pioneered a groundbreaking feminist fashion feature that continues to pioneer new territory, like featuring 81-year-old Martha Stewart on the cover in 2023.The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Jill Campbell and supermodels Tyra Banks, Carol Alt, and Stacey Williams.
October 18, 7:30pm at the Woodstock Playhouse
Hudsy Shorts
The Kingston-based nonprofit filmmaking cooperative programs a morning of Hudson Valley-focused content. Films to be screened include Rob Harris’s cultural history of alcohol, Shaken and Stirred; We Are Athletes, Angel Fonseca’s profile of the Adaptive Sports Foundation, which trains differently abled and neurodivergent individuals; and Munay Wasi, Fonseca’s documentary about the creation of an Indigenous cultural center in Warwarsing. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Rob Harris and Angel Fonseca.
October 20, 10:15am at the Bearsville Theater, Bearsville
Nightbitch
Based on Rachel Yoder’s magical realist novel, Nightbitch sees Amy Adams in a meaty role as a stay-at-home mom who’s quite literally gone to the dogs. Directed by Marie Heller, the film explores boredom, tenderness, and carnality of motherhood in humans and canines, and our capacity for transformation and wonder.
October 19, 9:30pm at Tinker Street Cinema, Woodstock; October 20, 8pm at the Rosendale Theater, Rosendale
Hard Truths
British icon Mike Leigh is still cranking out empathetic, nuanced family dramas at 81. His latest, Hard Truths, reunites Leigh with Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Oscar nominated for Secrets and Lies), who plays a tormented woman slowly alienating everyone around her as her Black working-class family disintegrates.
October 17, 8:15pm at the Orpheum Theater, Saugerties; October 18 at 4:15pm at the Rosendale Theater, Rosendale.
The End
Michael Shannon does a doomsday reprise of sorts (remember 2011’s psychological thriller Take Shelter?) in Joshua Oppenheimer’s first feature film. An idiosyncratic blend of drama, musical, and end-of-the-world storytelling, The End portrays a family holed-up in a bunker 20 years after the apocalypse.
October 19, 10:30am at the Rosendale Theater, Rosendale
Actors’ Dialogue: A Conversation with Amanda Seyfried and Jennifer Carpenter
A frank and in-depth conversation with actors Amanda Seyfried and Jennifer Carpenter, focusing on their storied careers and their acting craftsmanship. As successful actors who work separately, but also together (A Mouthful Of Air), the two will discuss teamwork (actors with actors, actors with directors), and share anecdotes from some of their more well-known films. A not-to-be-missed glimpse behind the scenes of the careers of two award-winning actors.
October 20, 10:30am at the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts in Woodstock
64 Days
Through never-before-seen footage, exclusive access to the Proud Boys, eyewitness reports, unreported emails, videos, social media posts, interviews with politicians on both sides of the aisle, and unprecedented access to the investigators supporting the January 6 Committee, 64 Days chronicles the most important period of our modern republic—the 64 days between the election and the devastating January 6th insurrection. The screening will be followed by a conversation with director Nick Quested and political journalists.
October 15, 3:30pm, Bearsville Theater, Bearsville
Oh, Canada
Written and directed by Paul Schrader, Oh, Canada follows ailing documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), who sits for an extended interview with a former student. Finally revealing the truth and lies in his life and career, Leonard charges ahead with candid stories about his younger self in the fractious 1960s, and beyond. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Paul Schrader.
October 19, 12:30pm, Woodstock Playhouse, Woodstock
This article appears in October 2024.
