The Woodstock Film Festival will showcase several music documentary premieres,
a music panel curated by BMI, a special dance party and several concerts.

In addition, the schedule will offer over 60 Independent feature films,
documentaries, shorts and student films from around the world. Screenings
will be held at the Tinker Street Cinema, the Bearsville Theater, and the Joyous Lake.

NEW YORK WOMEN IN FILM & TELEVISION

New York Women in Film & Television will host a feature film and a screening of "3 shorts by women". A cocktail party will follow.

SHORTS

The WFF will feature great shorts for every walk of life including FOREIGN SHORTS, AMERICAN SHORTS, MIDNIGHT SHORTS and STUDENT SHORTS.

ASBURY SHORTS

A special shorts program is being co-presented with Doug LeClaire, founder of the Asbury Short Film Show of New York. Since 1987, Asbury has screened the world's best independent shorts with either live musical performance or occasional unannounced comedy surprises - on screen as well as on stage. An industry celebrity will host the event. Click here for the schedule.

DANCE PARTY SCREENING Jonathan Demme's 1984 classic music documentary, STOP MAKING SENSE, will be screened as a dance party Saturday the 23rd at the Bearsville Theater.

THE MAVERICK AWARDS

The Maverick Awards are given in four categories: Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short, and Best Student Film. A special Maverick Award will also be presented to a filmmaker whose body of work demonstrates a commitment to artistry, education, and social responsibility. We are proud to announce that this year's winner is Les Blank (Burden of Dreams), whose films on 'Real Food, Roots Music and people full of passion for what they do' exemplify the Maverick spirit. D. A Pennebaker (Startup.com, Don't Look Back) will present the award.

LES BLANK (bio from lesblank.com)

Les Blank is a prize-winning independent filmmaker, best known for a series of poetic films that led Time Magazine critic Jay Cocks to write, "I can't believe that anyone interested in movies or America...could watch Blank's work without feeling they'd been granted a casual, soft-spoken revelation." John Rockwell, writing in The New York Times, adds, "Blank is a documentarian of folk cultures who transforms anthropology into art." And Vincent Canby, also in The Times, declared that Blank "is a master of movies about the American idiom... one of our most original filmmakers."

Blank's first independent films began a series of intimate glimpses into the lives and music of passionate people who live at the periphery of American society-- a series that grew to include rural Louisiana French musicians and cooks (Yum,Yum, Yum!; J'aiEte Au Bal-- I Went to the Dance ; Dry Wood; Hot Pepper ; Spend It All; and Marc and Ann); Mexican-Americans (Chulas Fronteras; Del Mero Corazon); New Orleans music and Mardi Gras (Always For Pleasure); chef Alice Waters and other San Francisco Bay Area garlic fanatics (Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers); German filmmaker Werner Herzog (Burden Of Dreams; Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe) and the very unique and inspiring multi-faceted Artiste, Gerald Gaxiola (The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists); Appalachian fiddlers (Sprout Wings and Fly); Polish-American polka dancers (In Heaven There Is No Beer?); rock musicians (Huey Lewis and the News: Be-FORE!; RyCooder and the Moula Banda Rhythm Aces; and A Poem Is a Naked Person, on Leon Russell); Serbian-American music and religion (Ziveli!: Medicine for the Heart); Hawaiian music and family traditions (Puamana); Afro-Cuban drumming and religious tradition (Sworn to the Drum); more East Texas bluesmen (A Well Spent Life), featuring Mance Lipscomb, and Cigarette Blues with Sonny Rhodes; American tourists in Europe (Innocents Abroad) and even gap-toothed women (Gap-Toothed Women.)

The retrospective will feature

JAI ETE AU BAL, BURDEN OF DREAMS, GARLIC IS AS GOOD AS TEN MOTHERS
WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE, ALWAYS FOR PLEASURE, CHULAS FRONTERAS, HOT PEPPER, SPEND IT ALL, WELL SPENT LIFE, BLUES ACCORDING TO LIGHTING HOPKINS, SPROUT WINGS AND FLY

SEMINARS (Webcast on Radio Woodstock)

"Breakfast Dialogues"    

Independent Actors Panel – with Aidan Quinn and David Strathairn.  

From the Novel to the Screen – Author Warren Adler (War of the Roses, Random Hearts), Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) and Zachary Sklar (JFK) will discuss what it takes to adapt a book to film.

"Afternoon Seminars"   Can films of substance by produed in a marketplace driven by stars and big profits? With Eamonn Bowles (Shooting Gallery) Gill Holland (cineBLAST!), Peter Saraf (Clinica Estetico), Paul Mones (Second Road) and Lisa Krueger (Committed).  

Music/Film Panel – Curated and moderated by BMI’s Doreen Ringer Ross. Special guests include music supervisor Maureen Crowe (The Perfect Storm, Dead Man Walking, True Romance) and Paul Broucek (Senior VP of Music at New Line Cinema).

"From the Age of Aquarius to the Digital Age"    

Digital Production: Panelists discuss the production advents of DV. With Gary Winnick (InDigEnt), Dolly Hall (High Art) and Jason Kliot(Chuck & Buck, The Contenders).   Jed Alpert (Signs and Wonders, Sunday) will moderate.

Dotcomers & film – Representatives from Reelshort.com, Eveo.com, Insound.com and Pop.com discuss film marketing via the Internet.      

A CONVERSATION WITH ELMER BERNSTEIN

The Woodstock Film Festival is thrilled to have Mr. Bernstein participate in a special event. Elmer Bernstein, a thirteen time Academy Award nominee, is the preeminent screen composer of our time. His versatility can only be matched by his productivity. Over the past fifty years he has scored over 200 films including Cecil B. DeMille's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, THE MAGNICENT SEVEN, THE GRIFTERS, NATIONAL LAMPOONS ANIMAL HOUSE, MY LEFT FOOT and most recently, KEEPING THE FAITH.

YOUTH WORKSHOP

The 'Under One Roof' Workshop (sponsored by Adler & Moor) will be presented at the Byrdcliffe Theater by Emmy Award winning Hollywood producer, director and actor Bruce Malmuth, (Hard to Kill, Nighthawks). This highly renowned workshop takes its participants, ages 10 - 18, through all stages of the creative filmmaking process. The workshop has traveled around the world, from the Moscow Film Festival to the Beverly Hills High school.

CONCERTS

Friday, September 22, at the Joyous Lake,Graham Parker, a leader of the mid-70’s pub-rock scene, is bringing his current club tour and his exceptional musical craft to the festival with "Carp Fishing on Valium – the Stories, the Songs." The show consists of readings from his recently published book, Carp Fishing on Valium, with original songs composed to complement the readings. Carp Fishing on Valium is a collection of ten short stories published in June by St. Martin’s press. The book has received very positive notices from Esquire, Publishers Weekly and CMJ Music Monthly. This will be a unique musical event and one of the true highlights of the weekend. It is just one of the special events that will go on around film screenings.

Saturday night, the Joyous Lake will host FILMMAKER-ROCKERS with THE MARTINETS and other bands.

OPENING NIGHT GALA

A grand Opening Night Gala on September 21 will be held and is sponsored by New World Home Cooking. Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy good food, drink, music and company.

CLOSING NIGHT GALA

The closing with special guest, DUSTY TRAILS, will follow the Maverick awards ceremony. Catering will be provided by a variety of Woodstock eateries including

The Alternative Baker
The Bear Cafe
Bois D'Arc Restaurant
Gypsy Wolf Cantina
Heaven
Landau Grill
Maria's Bazaar
Terrapin
Wok & Roll
Woodstock Moveable Feast

In addition to Film Festival events, Woodstock's diverse cultural experiences await visiting filmmakers and audience members. Festival participants will enjoy concerts, good food, browsing Woodstock's unique shops, tubing the Esopus River, hiking or biking through spectacular landscapes, enjoying a luxurious spa or visiting the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, one of a handful of major Tibetan centers in the United States.

Mirabai Books invites filmgoers to join local naturalists on a series of early morning hikes to some of Woodstock’s most charming woodlands and inspiring vistas. A different 1 to 2 hour hike will be scheduled for each morning of the Festival. Mirabai will also be providing water and transportation to the hikes’ starting points. Those seeking a bit of serenity amidst the Festival’s hustle and bustle can join renown Rock & Roll chronicler Elliot Landy for meditation in Mirabai’s Sacred Space Gallery. Landy, the 1969 Woodstock Festival's official photographer, will help guide participants on a journey toward inner peace, balance and clarity. These gatherings will be scheduled in the early evening on each day of the Festival. Participation will be limited to ten people, so interested participants are asked to sign-up beforehand with Mirabai Books (845-679-2100).

ART & SOUL will host a photography exhibition with a cinematic theme. ‘‘See You at the Movies...Candids at the Candy Counter" byBernard Gerson. Opening reception is Sept 2, 4-7pm. Show ends Oct. 2, 2000., opens Sept. 2. ART & SOUL gallery of photography, 12 Tannery Brook Rd, Woodstock   679-0027 for info.

Finally, all good film festivals boast their fair share of parties. Ours will be no exception!

A beautiful, celebrated town which has already drawn hundreds of film, literary, and entertainment professionals because of its quiet beauty and stimulating cultural life -- An international slate of films and filmmakers -- Enthusiastic community support -- A luminous Advisory Board -- An experienced, dedicated staff -- With all of this going for it, the Woodstock Film Festival will quickly become one of the brightest jewels on the Film Festival Circuit.

*events subject to change