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WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL
Recognized as One of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World
The Hudson Valley’s most revered fall event has made its mark for the second time in a year, on a list curated by MovieMaker magazine.
Woodstock Film Festival is being recognized as one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World.” This comes only three months after it scored a spot as one of “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” which the festival has been recognized with before. The festival continues to grow in popularity, and in 2023 the festival received more than double the submissions than the previous years.
Filmmaker and WFF 2022 Alumni, Sylvia Caminer writes “New York is the quintessential location for a festival, spread across several quaint Hudson Valley locations.”
The Woodstock Film Festival is joined by Sundance, SXSW, and Atlanta Film Festival, among others highlighted in 2023.
The local festival is overseen by co-founder and executive director Meira Blaustein, who Caminer praises along with the Woodstock team. The filmmaker applauds “The team behind the festival for putting together such a stirring group of films, panels and roundtable discussions, which springboarded into fascinating and enlightening conversations on the current state of film. Packed houses were the norm, and we had one of our very best screenings [there].”
Founded in 2000, the Woodstock Film Festival (WFF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that nurtures and sup- ports emerging and established filmmakers, sharing their creative voices through an annual festival and year-round programming to promote culture, diversity, community, educational opportunities, and economic growth.
WFF provides innovative mentoring and inspired educational programs benefitting filmmakers, students, and diverse audiences while serving as a powerful cultural and economic engine for New York’s Hudson Valley and beyond. Such efforts have consistently resulted in the festival being hailed as one of the top regional film festivals worldwide. The festival is an Oscar®qualifying festival in the categories of Live Action Short Film, Animated Short Film, and Documentary Short Film.
The 2023 film festival is slated to take place September 27 through October 1. WFF will feature approximately 50+ fulllength films and 80+ short films, along with filmmaker Q&As at venues throughout the Hudson Valley locales of Woodstock, Rosendale, and Saugerties, as well as online.
Key films this year include The Listener by Steve Buscemi, who will be on hand for the screenings of his film; Slide by Oscarnominated animator Bill Plympton, who too will be on hand at the screenings; The Kill Room starring Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson; The New Boy starring Cate Blanchett; Oliver English’s documentary Feeding Tomorrow followed by a farm to table dinner; Joan Baez I Am Noise about the legendary musician, Joan Baez, and much much more.
WFF has a rich tradition of music programming, honoring and building on the diverse musical legacy of Woodstock and the Hudson Valley. As such, notable artists including The Zombies, Keifer Sutherland, Kishi Bashi, Lori Singer and others will perform live at the festival following the various screenings of their films.
Caminer adds that Woodstock has “some of the most impassioned and thoughtful Q&As overall. The Maverick Awards take the prize for the best presentation of festival awards. A festival not to be missed.”
This year the festival will present its Lifetime Achievement Award to the legendary filmmaker James Ivory (Call Me By Your Name, A Room with a View, The Remains of the Day, Howard’s End) and as part of the tribute will show his film The City of Your Final Destination.
Woodstock’s profile has only increased as the Hudson Valley has grown as a destination for prestige film and TV. “The Woodstock Film Festival has been a key catalyst in establishing the Hudson Valley and Catskills as a hub for the film and entertainment industry”, says Meira Blaustein, co-founder and executive director of the Woodstock Film Festival. “Ever since its inception the festival would annually bring hundreds of creatives and professionals from the film and television industry, most of whom new to the area, with many then returning to shoot their next project, purchasing their next home, raising their families, spending their next vacation, shopping...”
This year the Woodstock Film Festival in partnership with the iconic Bearsville Theater recently established a new, permanent film projection hub in Woodstock, New York, bringing the advanced Dolby Atmos Sound and DCP film projector systems to the Town of Woodstock. The new system allows for high-quality film screenings where sound will be interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horizontal nor vertical limitation, vastly changing the theater-going experience.
Woodstock Film Festival Deluxe and Weekend passes and individual tickets are now on sale at WoodstockFilmFestival.org.
