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2006 WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES EXCEPTIONAL LINE-UP OF MORE THAN 150 FILMS, PANELS, CONCERTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Independent Film’s Hot Spot!
* Trailblazer Award Recipient JONATHAN SEHRING
* Maverick Award Recipient BARBARA KOPPLE

Festival Highlights MUSIC AND FILM
* Festival to open with
“INFAMOUS” (Warner Independent Pictures) and "DAYS OF GLORY (Indigenes)" (Weinstein Co.)
* “AFTER THE WEDDING" (IFC Films) Centerpiece Film
* "SHUT UP AND SING" (Weinstein Company) Closing Fest

Seven World Premieres, Two North American Premieres, Seven U.S. Premieres, Nine East Coast Premieres and Fifteen NY Premieres

September 18th, 2006 -- The Woodstock Film Festival announces its 2006 program as it readies to celebrate 'fiercely independent' film for the seventh year, Wednesday, October 11th through Sunday, October 15th. This years’ program will include an outstanding collection of over 150 films, panels, concerts and special events in Woodstock, NY and the neighboring towns of Rhinebeck, Hunter, and Rosendale.

The roster of international films includes seven world premieres, two North American premieres, seven U.S. premieres, nine East Coast premieres and fifteen New York premieres. Submissions this year were up nearly one-third over last year, to some 2,000, reflecting the continued growth of the festival's role in the independent film world. The overall increase in submissions included a substantial rise in world cinema and documentary entries. Attendance has grown steadily over the past few years, with over 15,000 visitors expected over the five-day span of this year’s festival.

The Woodstock Film Festival was created by filmmakers in 2000, born of the kind of passion for cinema that can come only from working filmmakers and those who support their creative pursuits. And what better setting for a celebration of 'fiercely independent' film than Woodstock, long known the world over as a center of creative and independent thought? At once a beautiful small town with bucolic surroundings and within the cultural orbit of New York City, Woodstock is the ideal setting for the fall festival. Here, filmmakers are embraced and welcomed in a friendly, creative and nurturing environment. And that’s a big part of the festival’s success, according Meira Blaustein, co-founder and executive director of the Woodstock Film Festival.

Blaustein says, “We focus not just on high quality films, but also on the unique talent and passion of the filmmakers behind them. When you gather together a critical mass of creative people in Woodstock, a place so uniquely welcoming, comfortable yet sophisticated – it’s magical. As we celebrate our seventh year, we are grateful for the support of our friends and neighbors in the Hudson Valley and for the recognition we have gained within the indie film community. The films we are presenting at the Woodstock Film Festival includes a diverse mix of narrative features, documentaries, shorts and animation, and the collection represents some of the finest talent in independent film today.”

A pre-festival program is available at http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/pdf/2006-wff-prefest-program.pdf. The complete schedule for the Woodstock Film Festival will be available after Thursday, September 21 at www.woodstockfilmfestival.com.

Opening Night Film: On Thursday, the festival is proud to screen the East Coast premiere of “Infamous,” written and directed by Douglas McGrath (Nicholas Nickleby, Emma), starring Toby Jones, Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, Peter Bogdanovich, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, Juliet Stevenson, John Benjamin Hickey, Lee Pace, and Sigourney Weaver. The film is the highly anticipated biopic of legendary writer Truman Capote (Jones). In the film, what starts out as the humorous journey of the openly gay Capote as he moves through the elegant circles of Manhattan's sophisticated café society, turns darker as he becomes increasingly consumed by a murder case. There will be a second screening of the film at 9 PM on Thursday at Tinker Street Cinema. Following the East Coast premiere at Woodstock Film Festival, "Infamous" will open in theaters nationwide the next day.

Also on opening night, the festival will screen Rachid Bouchard's "Days of Glory" (Indigenes) at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck. The film, with French and English subtitles, tells the story of some of the 130,000 young North Africans who, though having never stepped foot on French soil, enlisted in the French Army during World War II to liberate the "fatherland" from the Nazi enemy. These heroes that history forgot won battles in Italy, Provence and the Vosges before finding themselves alone to defend an Alsatian village against a German battalion.

Centerpiece Film: On Saturday, the festival will screen Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier's "After the Wedding" In the film, Jacob, (Mads Mikkelsen) a Danish aid worker in India, thinks a wealthy businessman has come to the rescue of his orphanage only to discover that the offer of financial salvation comes with some very long strings attached, leading him back to Denmark for a wedding and forcing him to confront the most intense dilemma of his life.

Closing Night Film: On Sunday, the festival will close with the screening of “Shut Up and Sing,” the eagerly anticipated story of the Dixie Chicks from acclaimed documentary filmmaker and winner of this year’s Woodstock Film Festival’s Maverick Award, Barbara Kopple. "Shut Up and Sing," from Kopple and director Cecilia Peck, travels with the Dixie Chicks from the peak of their popularity as the national-anthem-singing darlings of country music and top-selling female recording artists of all time through the now infamous anti-Bush comment made by the group’s lead singer Natalie Maines in 2003. The film follows the lives and careers of the band over three years during which they were under political attack and received death threats, while continuing to live their lives, have children and, of course, make music. The film ultimately presents a full portrait of the Dixie Chicks as women, public figures, and musicians. At this time, the Woodstock Film Festival audience will be the first U.S. audience to screen "Shut Up and Sing."

Among other highlights of the 2006 festival:
The Honorary Trailblazer Award will be given to Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC Entertainment and one of the most respected executives working in independent film. Sehring launched THE INDEPENDENT FILM CHANNEL, IFC PRODUCTIONS, and IFC FILMS, and in the past year opened the IFC CENTER (a three-screen, state-of-the-art theater complex in lower Manhattan) and announced a second distribution label, IFC FIRST TAKE. IFC also launched the trail blazing digital production company InDigEnt with partners Gary Winick and John Sloss, himself the winner of the 2005 inaugural Trailblazer Award.

This year’s Honorary Maverick Award will be presented to two-time Academy Award winning filmmaker, Barbara Kopple. In addition to her "Shut Up and Sing," Ms. Kopple recently directed the narrative feature "Havoc," written by Stephen Gaghan, about a group of wealthy teenagers coming of age and searching for an identity in Los Angeles. Among her best known works are “Harlan County USA” and “American Dream” which she produced and directed, and for which she won her Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature. Her deep and varied work includes “I Married...,” a series she created for VH1 about the spouses and families of rock stars and "Bearing Witness," a documentary feature she produced for A&E which tells the story of women war correspondents in Iraq and around the world.

Ms. Kopple also directs episodic television and commercial spots. Her television work includes episodes of "OZ" on HBO and "Homicide," for which she won a DGA Award for Outstanding Direction. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Human Rights Watch Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and National Society of Film Critics Award. Ms. Kopple currently serves as a board member for the American Film Institute and the American University Center for Social Media, and actively participates in organizations that address social issues and support independent film making.

Other annual WFF awards include the Maverick Award for Excellence in Film Editing, the Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography, and awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Narrative, Best Short Documentary, Best Animated Short and Best Student Short, to be announced at the WFF Awards Ceremony, Saturday evening October 14th at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock.

The Woodstock Film Festival has an outstanding group of industry leaders who make up the jury for each category of competition. The jury for Feature Narratives includes Bingham Ray, John Anderson and Arianna Bocco; Feature Documentaries: Rachel Grady, Marie Theres Guirgis and Eugene Hernandez; Shorts: Norman Reedus, Larry Fessenden, Rachel Sheedy; Short Documentaries: Liz Oglivie, Cynthia Kane and Leon Gast; Student Shorts: Jeffrey Abramson, Amy Devra Gossels, and Melissa Leo; Animation: Bill Plympton and Signe Baumane; Editing: Sabine Hoffman, Alex Halpern and Sabine Krayenbuhl; and Cinematography: Haskell Wexler.

NARRATIVE FEATURES: “After the Wedding (Efter Bryllupet),” directed by Susanne Bier; “Black Brush," directed by Roland Vranik; “Buffalo Dreams,” directed by Ani Pandit (Competition Finalist); “Chalk,” directed by Mike Akel (Competition Finalist); "Cherry Valley"," directed by Patrick Steward; “Come Early Morning,” directed by Joey Lauren Adams; “Dance Party, USA,” directed by Aaron Katz (Competition Finalist); “Day Night Day Night,” directed by Julia Loktev (Competition Finalist); "Days of Glory," directed by Rachid Bouchard; “Dirt Nap,” directed by D.B. Sweeney; “Flannel Pajamas,” directed by Jeff Lipsky; “Forgiveness,” directed by Udi Aloni; “Gretchen,” directed by Steve Collins (Competition Finalist); “Heavens Fall,” directed by Terry Green; “Infamous,” directed by Douglas McGrath; “The Last Winter,” directed by Larry Fessenden; “The Limbo Room,” directed by Debra Eisenstadt; “Off the Black,” directed by James Ponsoldt; “The Orange Thief,” by Boogie Dean, Vinnie Angel and Artie Wilinski (Competition Finalist); “Steel Toes,” directed by David Gow and Mark Adam; “Stephanie Daley,” directed by Hilary Brougher; “Swedish Auto,” directed by Derek Sieg (Competition Finalist); “Ten Canoes,” directed by Rolf De Heer; and “Vertigo,” by Alfred Hitchcock.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES: “Air Guitar Nation,” directed by Alexandra Lipsitz; “a/k/a Tommy Chong,” directed by Josh Gilbert; "Andrew Jenks, Room 335,” directed by Andrew Jenks (Competition Finalist); “Arctic Son,” directed by Andrew Walton; “Autumn’s Eyes,” directed by Paola Mendoza and Gabriel Noble (Competition Finalist); “Beyond Conviction,” directed by Rachel Libert; “Beyond Eyruv,” directed by John Mounier (Competition Finalist); “Blue Blood,” directed by Stevan Riley (Competition Finalist); “The Bridge,” directed by Eric Steel (Competition Finalist); “A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash,” directed by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack; "Cruel & Unusual," directed by Janet Baus, Dan Hunt, Reid Williams; “Darkon,” directed by Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer (Competition Finalist); “Lover Other, The Story of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore,” directed by Barbara Hammer; “Mario’s Story,” directed by Jeff Werner and Susan Koch (Competition Finalist); “Maxed Out,” directed by James D. Scurlock; “...More Than 1,000 Words,” directed by Solo Avital; “Saint Misbehavin': The Life & Time of Wavy Gravy,” directed by Michelle Esrick; “Shut Up and Sing,” directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck; “Si Sos Brujo: A Tango Story (If You Know Magic),” directed by Caroline W. Neal; “Tales of the Rat Fink,” directed by Ron Mann; “Unauthorized And Proud Of It,” directed by Ilko Davidov; “Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club,” directed by Dean Budnick; and “Who Needs Sleep?” directed by Haskell Wexler and Lisa Leeman.

WORLD CLASS SHORTS: Over 70 world class shorts will be screened in different theme shows including an animation show programmed by Bill Plympton and Signe Baumane, and programs entitled: "Animation for Angels and Demons," "Cali Comedy," "Environmental Shorts," "I Love You Badly," "I Love You Rightly," "The Mitch Show," featuring the films of Mitchell Rose; "Mom?... Dad?," "Reel NY," "Short Docs," "Under Pressure," and the "Youth Screenings," which features shorts by teens from around the world.

CONCERTS: The Woodstock Film Festival brings rare live concerts to festival-goers each year. This year the line-up includes several bands with new releases. The opening night concert, an annual festival-goer and community favorite, will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Rosewood Thieves, Friday, October 13 at 9:30 PM at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock: IGN.com says, "The Rosewood Thieves sound like the welcome return of an old friend." You'll hear the influence of The Beatles and Elliott Smith in the music and a fresh dose of smart lyrics in the songs of this New York City-based band.

The Sad Little Stars, Saturday, October 14 at 8 PM at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock: The Washington Post says, “Electronic beats and keyboard swirls allowed the Stars to go from sounding like a Strokes-ish indie rock band to a shadowy cabaret act to brokenhearted bedroom crooners in just minutes.”

The Felice Brothers, Saturday, October 14, at 8 PM at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock: When the Felice Brothers croon, "I was not made for the these times," you'll just be thankful that they're here anyway. Their music is a throwback to the best of old-time blues-folk and Americana.

PANELS - A select list of panelists from the world of indie films and film making address a wide range of topics. All panels will be at the Utopia Studios in Bearsville, and include:

Entertainment Law: The Glamour of Celebrities, the Grind of Financing, and the Craft of Selling with entertainment lawyers Andrew P. Hurwitz, Steven Beer, Jason Janego, Robert Seigel and Ira Schreck on Friday, October 13 at 1 PM.

The Art of Producing with indieWIRE Editor-in-Chief Eugene Hernandez, and producers Jason Kliot, Peter Saraf, Ann Walker-McBay, and Scott Macaulay on Friday at 3 PM.

BMI Music, an annual Woodstock Film Festival discussion of music in film with Doreen Ringer Ross, BMI's vice president of film/TV relations, and composers David Mansfield and Anton Sanko, directors Hilary Brougher and Larry Fessenden, and music supervisor Tracy McNight on Saturday at 10 AM.

Amazing Women in Film: In an industry that created the 2006 box office hit The Devil Wears Prada, women are still trying to assert themselves. Will your female peers support you as you climb your way up the film making ladder, or will they stand in your way? With: US Weekly film critic Thelma Adams; writer and director Nicole Quinn; New York Times and Elle film critic Karen Durbin; Arianna Bocco, head of independent feature packaging at the Gersh Agency in New York; and Diane Weyermann, executive vice president for documentary production at Participant Productions. This panel is on Saturday, October 14 at 12 PM.

Whose Film is it, Anyway? How do personal, artistic, seemingly non-commercial films attain success at the box office? And who gets the credit when they do? At a time when the indie/foreign/art film market seems as unstable as ever, some of the best distributors, film critics and filmmakers will explore the formulas for success, and failure. With film critic John Anderson, legendary producer Bingham Ray, entertainment lawyer (and 2005 Trailblazer Award recipient) John Sloss, and producer Lemore Syvan. The panel is on Saturday at 2 PM.

Behind Closed Doors - The Art of Film Editing with Academy Award-nominated film editor Craig McKay, and film editors Susan Littenberg, Brian Kates, James Lyons, Suzy Elmiger, and Sabine Hoffman on Saturday at 4 PM.

Actors Dialogue with entertainment journalist Martha Frankel, Academy Award-winning actor Timothy Hutton, and Academy Award-nominated actor David Strathairn on Sunday, October 15 at 10 AM.

Movies and the World We Live In: From "World Trade Center" to "An Inconvenient Truth;" "Day Night Day Night" to "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash," more and more features and documentaries are drawing their inspiration from world news and events. Is art imitating life, or is it trying to change it? With Peter Bowen, senior editor of Filmmaker Magazine, directors Julia Loktev, Udi Aloni, Danielle DiGiacomo, and Pamela Yates, and producer Joana Vicente, this important panel is on Sunday at 12 PM.

Films of the Hudson Valley: A discussion about the burgeoning "Indiewood on the Hudson" The panel of directors, producers, actors and others will discuss the area's wealth of available locations, talent and the economic impact production has on the region. Recent local projects include include Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," "The Night Listener" with Robin Williams, Nicole Quinn's "Racing Daylight," with David Strathairn and Melissa Leo, Mary Stuart Masterson's "The Cake Eaters," and more. The panel will address resources in the area that can help with production and how to become a part of future productions, and is on Sunday at 2 PM.

TICKETS & LOGISTICS: Ticket prices for WFF events range from $5.00 to $15.00 per screening. Panels range in price from $12.00 to $15.00. Concert prices vary. Advance single admission tickets can be purchased online at the festival's secure website, www.woodstockfilmfestival.com, and in person at the Woodstock Playhouse Box Office. Single purchase tickets will also be available at each screening venue. Reserve early. Shows tend to sell out quickly.

TICKETS AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 22: Advance single-admission tickets can be purchased through the festival's secure website, www.woodstockfilmfestival.com beginning September 21 through October 6. Advance orders will be sent by USPS mail through Oct. 7. Tickets for all venues will be available at the Woodstock Playhouse Box Office from September 21 through October 15. Tickets can be purchased by phone (845) 679-6997 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 Playhouse Box Office until four hours prior to the event.

The Woodstock Playhouse Box Office hours from September 21 to October 1 are: Thursday and Friday, 2 PM - 6 PM; Saturday and Sunday, 12 PM - 4 PM; October 7 - 8 from 12 PM to 6 PM; and October 15 from 9 AM to 2 PM.