IndependentFilm.com

(Woodstock, NY) September 18th, 2007: The Woodstock Film Festival today proudly announces its full line-up of 150 ‘fiercely independent’ films, panels, concerts, parties and special events, as it prepares to celebrate its eighth year, Wednesday, October 10th through Sunday, October 14th. The arts colony festival has grown at a staggering pace, receiving more than 2000 submissions this year, setting a new record. Screenings include 8 world premieres,
7 U.S. premieres, 15 New York premieres, 9 East Coast premieres and 2 North American premieres.

Festival co-founder and executive director Meira Blaustein says she is awed by the quality of filmmaking presented by the festival this year, and credits her co-programmers Ryan Werner (senior programmer), Michael Lerman and Tom Quinn for the incredible line-up. She emphasizes that the quality of films continues to grow in substance and stature.

“We are humbled to be able to present a full spectrum of accomplished filmmaking, from first timers to the top pros in the industry, and that is a privilege we don’t take lightly”, said Blaustein, who co-founded the festival with her partner Laurent Rejto. “We look forward to this gathering of the most unique, creative and passionate visionaries in indie film and know they will be inspired by the magical mountains of Woodstock.”

Speaking for the programming team, senior programmer Ryan Werner of IFC Films said:
"It just so happens that we have more premieres than ever before which we're really excited about. However, we have used the same consistent criteria of putting together a program of quality films that makes us one of the most exciting regional fall film festivals."

Opening Night Film: Thursday evening, the festival is proud to screen THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON), directed by Julian Schnabel (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, BASQUIAT), based on the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor-in-chief of French Elle, who after suffering a stroke found himself the victim of “locked-in” syndrome. The film will screen at Tinker Street Cinema, Woodstock and Upstate Films at Rhinebeck.

Closing Night Film: Sunday night the festival will close with a screening of Todd Hayne’s highly anticipated Bob Dylan biopic I’M NOT THERE, an experimental narrative featuring several different actors as the cultural icon. Representing his many incarnations and phases, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw, Christian Bale, and Marcus Carl Franklin all star as Dylan. (screening Sunday night at Tinker Street Cinema, Woodstock).

Centerpiece Films: On Saturday, the festival will screen two Centerpiece films: Patricia Riggen’s UNDER THE SAME MOON (LA MISMA LUNA), the heartbreaking story of a young Mexican boy’s journey to find his mother in the United States (screening Saturday night at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck), and Ira Sachs’ MARRIED LIFE, a gripping look into the tangled love lives of four friends in the 1940’s, featuring Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams, Chris Cooper and Patricia Clarkson (screening Saturday night at Tinker Street Cinema, Woodstock).

Special Screenings: Among the many special screenings, spotlights are bright for RESERVATION ROAD starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Mira Sorvino and and Hudson Valley native Jennifer Connelly. Other special screenings include GRACE IS GONE starring John Cusack, Michèle Ohayon’s STEAL A PENCIL FOR ME, Barbet Schroeder’s TERROR'S ADVOCATE, Julien Temple’s JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN, and Michael Blieden’s SUPER HIGH ME.

The Honorary Maverick Award, given each year to an individual whose life and work is based on creativity, independent vision and social activism, will be presented to pioneering producer CHRISTINE VACHON of Killer Films, known for courageous films which challenge, provoke and hold true to the independent spirit.
The Honorary Trailblazer Award will be given to TED SARANDOS, Chief Content Officer at Netflix Inc., for his unwavering dedication and innovative approach to industry that opened a window of opportunity for filmmakers and niche production companies, enabling smaller and more alternative projects to be widely distributed.

MAVERICK AWARDS CEREMONY: The WFF Awards Ceremony will be presented Saturday, October 13. Other annual WFF awards include Best Narrative Feature, Best Feature Documentary Best Short Narrative, Best Short Documentary, Best Animated Short, Best Student Short, the Maverick Award for Excellence in Film Editing, and the Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography. The Maverick Awards are hand-crafted by internationally acclaimed artist and long-time Woodstock resident Steve Heller.

JURORS: An outstanding group of industry leaders make up the jury for each category of competition. The jury for Feature Narratives includes Jason Kliot, Karen Durbin and Giancarlo Esposito; Feature Documentaries: Leon Gast, David D’Arcy and Julie Goldman; Shorts: Gill Holland, Thomas O’Donnell and Alexie Gillmore; Short Documentaries: Danielle DiGiacomo, Robert Stone and Ryan Harrington; Student Shorts: Amy Gossels and Jeff Lipsky; Animation: Bill Plympton and Patrick Smith; Editing: Sabine Hoffman, Alex Halpern, Sabine Krayenbuhl and Kyle Henry and Cinematography: Haskell Wexler.

PANELS & PANELISTS: Panels include Entertainment Law, Where Journalism Ends and Filmmaking Begins, BMI Music for Film, Amazing Women in Film, Film Distribution in the 21st Century, Indie Filmmakers Talk, and the Actors Dialogue, with a virtual who’s who of indie film: Jackie Borock, Ira Schrek, Steven Beer, Robert Seigel, Jonathan Gray, Molly Thompson, Robert Stone, Thelma Adams, Mary Stuart Masterson, Katie Roumel, David D’Arcy, Michele Ohayon, Bill Siegel, Dade Hayes, Bingham Ray, Wendy Lidell, Ben Stambler, Ted Sarandos, Tom Quinn, Doreen Ringer-Ross, Bill Plympton, Moby, Brett Morgen, William Ross, Martha Frankel, Patricia Clarkson, Peter Bowen, Ira Sachs, Ron Mann, Joana Vicente. Presented at Utopia Studio in Bearsville.

CLICK HERE FOR ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ALL FILMS

NARRATIVE FEATURES: 3 Americas directed by Cristina Kotz Cornejos; American Fork directed by Chris Bowman; August Evening directed by Chris Eska (Competition Finalist); The Cake Eaters directed by Mary Stuart Masterson; Chicago 10 directed by Brett Morgen; Choose Connor directed by Luke Eberl (Competition Finalist); Dark Matter directed by Chen Shi-Zheng; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly directed by Julian Schnabel ; Grace is Gone directed by James Strouse; The House is Burning directed by Holger Ernst; I’m Not There directed by Todd Haynes (Closing Night Film); In Search of a Midnight Kiss directed by Alex Holdridge (Competition Finalist); Iska’s Journey directed by Csaba Bollyk; Let Them Chirp Awhile directed by Jonathan Blitstein; Liberty Kid directed by Ilya Chaiken (Competition Finalist); The Living Wake directed by Sol Tryon (Competition Finalist); Married Life directed by Ira Sachs (Centerpiece Film); Neal Cassady directed by Noah Buschel (Competition Finalist); Reservation Road directed by Terry George; Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America directed by Tony Stone; Superheroes directed by Alan Brown; Trigger Man directed by Ti West; Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna) directed by Patricia Riggen (Centerpiece Film).

NARRATIVES IN COMPETITION: AUGUST EVENING, CHOOSE CONNOR,
IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS, LIBERTY KID, THE LIVING WAKE,
NEAL CASSADY.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES: Begging Naked directed by Karen Gehres; Billy the Kid directed by Jennifer Venditti (Competition Finalist); Black, White and Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe directed by James Crump; Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost directed by Todd Kwait; Constantine’s Sword directed by Oren Jacoby (Competition Finalist); The Cool School directed by Morgan Neville (Competition Finalist); For Love of Julian directed by Meira Blaustein; Freeheld directed by Cynthia Wade; Good Ol’ Charles Schulz directed by David Van Taylor; Hippie Masala directed by Ulrich Grossenbacher and Damaris Luthi; How to Cook Your Life (Wie Mann Sein Leben Kocht) directed by Doris Durrie; Iron Ladies of Liberia directed by Daniel Junge and Siatta Scott Johnson (Competition Finalist); The Future is Unwritten directed by Julien Temple; Living the Blues directed by Timothy Duffy and Larry Banks; Making Trouble directed by Rachel Talbot (Competition Finalist); Moving Midway directed by Godfrey Cheshire (Competition Finalist); Neither Memory Nor Magic (Work in Progress) directed by Hugo Perez; Nomadak.Tx directed by Raul de la Fuente; Operation Filmmaker directed by Nina Davenport; Oswald’s Ghost directed by Robert Stone; Run Granny Run directed by Marlo Poras (Competition Finalist); Steal A Pencil For Me directed by Michele Ohayon; SUPER HIGH ME directed by Michael Blieden; Surfwise directed by Doug Pray; Terror’s Advocate directed by Barbet Schroeder; The Unforeseen directed by Laura Dunn; War/Dance directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine.

DOCUMENTARIES IN COMPETITION: BILLY THE KID, CONSTANTINE'S SWORD, THE COOL SCHOOL, MAKING TROUBLE, MOVING MIDWAY,
IRON LADIES OF LIBERIA, RUN GRANNY RUN.

WORLD CLASS SHORTS: Over 70 world-class shorts will be screened in eight different program sets including Animation, Short Docs and Youth Screening. Highlights include Andrew Zuckerman’s High Falls starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, playing the Rosendale Theater near the town of High Falls. Benjamin Gray’s HUNTER starring Larry Fessenden, will screen in the town of Hunter. RED ANGEL starring Fisher Stevens is one of many shorts shot in and around the Hudson Valley. Animation highlights include THE PEARCE SISTERS from Aardman Animations (Wallace & Gromit) and Shuteye Hotel from WFF Animation co-programmer Bill Plympton. Shows include Animation, Short Docs, Youth Screenings, Shorts Program 1, Shorts Program 2, Shorts Program 3, Shorts Program 4, Shorts Program 5 and Shorts Program 6.

CONCERTS: Woodstock is synonymous with music. So each year it is no surprise the Woodstock Film Festival rounds out the festival experience with concerts by fresh, independent musicians. MECHANICAL BULL kicks things off Friday, October 12, at 9:30 PM at the Colony Café in Woodstock. Former wanderer-cum-Woodstock local Chase Pierson’s country heartbreak band grew out of the ashes of his first marriage. The band released its first album in 2006, Songs to Get Divorced To. Their new album, A Million Yesterday drops this October. REVISION follows on Friday, October 12, at 9:30 PM at the Colony Café in Woodstock. Emerging from the thriving college town of Ithaca, NY, Revision has hit the road hard and has shared the stage with bands such as Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, George Clinton, Derek Trucks, and Soulive. THE FELICE BROTHERS perform Saturday, October 13, at 9:30 PM at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock. Since the release of their debut album Through These Reins and Gone in 2006, the brothers Felice have toured the U.K and the States and released two new albums Tonight at the Arizona and The Adventures of the Felice Brothers, Volume 1.

The Woodstock Film Festival was founded by filmmakers for filmmakers - the fiercely independent spirits that are the lifeblood of independent film. For more than a century, Woodstock has been a place of progressive thought and home to some of the world’s most influential artists. A place of inspiring beauty and idyllic mountain charm, steeped in culture, diversity and a distinctly unique social consciousness, the film community is embraced and welcomed in a friendly, creative and nurturing environment.

Last year nearly 15,000 people attended with more expected this year, to enjoy the festival and the Hudson Valley Catskill Mountains and surrounding towns which are ready to receive filmmakers, filmgoers and enthusiasts of every kind from around the world.

TICKETS & LOGISTICS: Advance single admission tickets can be purchased online at the festival's secure website, www.woodstockfilmfestival.com, and in person at the Festival Box Office* on 34 Tinker Street. Single purchase tickets will also be available at each screening venue. Reserve early. Shows tend to sell out quickly. Screenings and events take place in Woodstock and the neighboring towns of Rhinebeck, Hunter, and Rosendale. (New Box Office Location) Ticket prices for WFF events range from $8-$20 per screening. Panels range in price from $15-$20. Concert prices vary.

TICKETS AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 19 AT MIDNIGHT: Advance single-admission tickets can be purchased through the festival's secure website, www.woodstockfilmfestival.com beginning September 19 through October 6.

Advance orders will be sent by USPS mail through Oct. 7.

Tickets for all venues will be available at the Festival Box Office* on 34 Tinker Street from September 21 through October 14. Tickets can be purchased by phone (845) 810-0131 until October 7. Beginning October 12, tickets for Rhinebeck, Hunter, and Rosendale will be available at their respective venues as well. On the day of the event, tickets are available at the Festival Box Office* until four hours prior to the event.

*New Festival Box Office Location – 34 Tinker Street, Woodstock NY, (845) 810-0131.
The Tinker Street Festival Box Office hours:
September 21-October 7: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Noon – 6pm
October 8–13: Tuesday through Saturday, 9 am– 7 pm
October 14: Sunday, 9am – Noon