Premieres, panels, and special events mark the Woodstock Film Festivals 24th year

The 24th Annual Woodstock Film Festival returns September 27 - October 1, 2023, to venues in Woodstock, Rosendale and Saugerties, and online, showcasing 28 feature narrative films and 26 feature documentaries including nine world premieres, seven U.S. premieres, nine East Coast premieres, and 16 New York premieres, as well as 107 outstanding short live-action films, documentaries, animation, and music videos.

“As the Hudson Valley establishes itself as an epicenter of artistry and industry for the creative film community in the United States, we are proud to be at the forefront of generating experiences, audiences and conversations that give directors, actors, writers and people practicing all forms of filmmaking a place to flourish,” says Meira Blaustein, Woodstock Film Festival Co-Founder & Executive Director.

HVNY’s WFF Picks:

• Kiefer Sutherland will perform live following the screening of “Texas Music Revolution” at Levon Helm Studios to kick-off the festival on Tuesday, September 26, 2023.

• Down by the Riverside, a feature documentary about folk singer Pete Seeger’s environmental legacy, will have its world premiere on September 27, 2023.

• The second music video block showcases a short film, more auditory art, and indie influences, followed by a live performance by Michael Imperioli's band ZOPA on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at Tinker Street.

• The Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild is hosting Homing Instinct, written & directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher on view September 27 - October 1, 2023, 10am - 6pm in conjunction with the Woodstock Film Festival at the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts, 36 Tinker Street, Woodstock. Homing Instinct is 26 minutes playing on a continuous loop every half hour.

• Sunday’s panel, Actors Who Direct will be moderated by Mary Stuart Masterson in conversation with Steve Buscemi, Brittany Snow, Matthew Modine. (Standby only)

• There will be a Surprise Screening with actor, producer and director Griffin Dunne on Sunday, October 1 at the Woodstock Playhouse.

• Filmmaker Sofia Coppola will join a Q+A with Fairyland director Andrew Durham on Friday, September 29, 2023 at the Orpheum in Saugerties.

• Uma Thurman stars opposite her real-life daughter, Maya Hawke, in the world premiere of The Kill Room alongside Pulp Fiction co-star Samuel L. Jackson.

• Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies will perform a live acoustic set following the screening of Hung Up on A Dream: The Zombies Documentary on Friday, September 29, 2023.

• Joan Baez will be interviewed live via Zoom following the screening of the documentary, “Joan Baez I Am A Noise.” 

• This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded to renowned filmmaker James Ivory. Ivory was the directing partner with the legendary producer IsmailMerchant in their independent company Merchant Ivory Productions. In the forty-eight years, they worked together as a team, usually accompanied by the writer and novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala; they created 28 feature films, including the classics A Room With a View, Maurice, Howards End, and The Remains of the Day. Ivory also wrote the screenplay for Call Me By Your Name, for which he received an Academy Award in 2018. A tribute screening of Ivory’s film, The City of Your Final Destination, will take place on Saturday, September 30, followed by a conversation with Ivory and novelist Peter Cameron. 

• On the heels of a potential agreement with the Writer’s Guild and Hollywood studios, author Neil Gaiman will be part of the panel, “The Picket Line: A Road to Pay Equity and Sustainability,” a conversation with union members from Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), and Screen Actors Guild/ Aftra, on what has been done to update contracts that no longer serve current working conditions.

• Made in the Hudson Valley films include: Blackout (US Premiere), Stockade (World Premiere), With Peter Bradley, Summer Solstice (NY Premiere), Which Brings Me To You, Down By the Riverside, and Crumb Catcher (East Coast Premiere) + Youth Lab Film Shorts from teenagers part of the WFF summer filmmaking intensive.

Please note: These events are subject to change.

To see the full line-up of WFF events, visit https://woodstockfilmfestival.org. The WFF box office, located at 13 Rock City Road in Woodstock, is open September 27 - September 30 from 9am to 7pm, and October 1 from 9am to 5pm. Online tickets are on sale now.