Dear Friends,

We'd like to wish you a very happy & healthy New Year. As 2009 comes to a close, we also want to remind you that there's still time to make a tax-deductible donation to the Woodstock Film Festival, or please consider buying a raffle ticket to support our goals and to have a chance at winning a wonderful Ski and Stay Getaway.

We recognize that without you, the Woodstock Film Festival can not continue presenting its annual fall program and year-round schedule of film, music and art-related activities. Like many other fiscally responsible not-for-profit organizations, we have felt the sizeable impact of government cutbacks, the evaporation of grants and corporate downsizing. As a result we are doubling our fundraising efforts to fill the gaps in our budget.

The 10th Annual Woodstock Film Festival has come and gone. By many accounts it was our biggest success yet! We presented over 150 events and saw tremendous participation from filmmakers, industry members and filmgoers. Films included Up in the Air, The Messenger, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Me and Orson Welles, Garbage Dreams, Junior, October Country, to name a few. Festival guests included emerging filmmakers and A-list talent including Steve Buscemi, Jonathan Demme, Vera Farmiga, Giancarlo Esposito, Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Ethan Hawke, Ted Hope, Barbara Kopple, Richard Linklater, Lucy Liu, Uma Thurman and many others. Your support is needed so we can continue to present world-class films, music and art-related activities that promote artists, culture, inspired learning and diversity.

Our global and community-minded programs need your help too!

• EXPOSURE: By hosting EXPOSURE in a setting that has a longstanding tradition for social consciousness, the Woodstock Film Festival creates a natural progression by which programming can focus on matters that affect our lives and our world while seeking to heighten awareness and to stimulate dialogue and positive resolution.
• FOCUS ON MUSIC: With musical heritage as its ancestry, WFF has made music an integral part of its programming, showcasing films about music and musicians while actively exploring its role in film.
• YOUTH INIATIVE: With youth-at-risk workshops, Career Day and Youth Screenings, WFF aims to give youth the confidence to learn about film, speak with industry leaders and follow their dreams.

Academy-Award nominated actor David Strathairn once said of the Woodstock Film Festival that
"The idea here is to get together with the community.It's like being in a friend's kitchen. If it's not, Woodstock should be on the National Register for real Americana towns."

Here are a few 2009 anecdotes that illustrate how participants and the community interact in a friendly, casual environment that is conducive to creativity, networking and a good time.

• The cast of the The Messenger including Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and Steve Buscemi dined at The Garden Cafe. After hours of chatting with locals, they moved on to the Opening Night Party at New World Home Cooking where they mingled with partygoers long into the night.
• Lucy Liu who attended with her film RED LIGHT went shopping around town and stopped in at Family of Woodstock when a local teenager suggested she could find clothing there.
• World-renowned documentary filmmaker Ron Mann U.S. Premiered his film Flak and took advantage of his stay to attend Sound Energy Therapy at Sage Center for the Healing Arts before inviting local friends for breakfast at Cucina.
• A private party for the film Without a Home provided a scrumptious ‘Midnight Breakfast Under the Moon’ complete with valet parking on a rural country lane
• The California based crew of Dear Lemon Lima screened their 'audience award winning' film at Onteora High School before joining other filmmakers including Oscar winners Barbara Kopple and Leon Gast for the Youth Initiative Career Day.
• Toronto based filmmaker Tony Coleman world premiered Mighty Uke, and invited featured musicians to perform at a Mighty Uke Concert to benefit the Killian Mansfield Foundation. Killian, a local sixteen year old ukelele prodigy saw Tony's film two days before passing away on August 20, 2009 from an advanced and rare form of cancer.
• Veteran members of the two titans of the blues; Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, performed at the Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll Concert. Featured musicians included Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Sugar Blue and Bob Stroger.

Another key focus in 2010 will be to expand YEAR ROUND PROGRAMMING. With your help, WFF year-round events and the Hudson Valley Programmer’s Group (HVPG) events will continue in many NY counties including Ulster, Dutchess, Greene, Albany and New York. 2009 special presentations included The Cake Eaters with Mary Stuart Masterson, The Bill Plympton College Tour, the Oscar® winning Man on Wire with Philippe Petit and Taking Woodstock with Michael Lang, Ang Lee and James Schamus. Your support will allow the film festival and HVPG to continue presenting world-class events throughout the year.

Throughout 2009, the Hudson Valley Film Commission (HVFC) continued to attract and support film, video and media production in the Hudson Valley and Catskills. Five feature films were in production in September and October throughout the region. The result was jobs and economic development. Film production brings billions of dollars to the NYS economy and HVFC works diligently to bring those dollars to the Hudson Valley. Recent productions include The Cake Eaters with Kristen Stewart, Splinterheads, Taking Woodstock, Rocksteady, Stake Land, Whisper Me a Lullaby. Your support will help the film commission continue providing free resources for local filmmakers and support to independent & studio features, short films, student projects, TV ads and regional filmmakers.

Please consider supporting our continued efforts with a tax-deductible contribution. Every dollar you contribute can be allotted to support any of the above mentioned goals. Just let us know which program you wish to support or simply contribute to general operating costs. We have, and will continue to be frugal and responsible.

Contribute to the Woodstock Film Festival online

or send a check made payable to
Woodstock Film Festival, Inc
PO Box 1406, Woodstock, NY 12498

Thank you for your generosity and support;

Meira Blaustein, Laurent Rejto
and the rest of us at the Woodstock Film Festival and Hudson Valley Film Commission