Chatham, N.Y. – FilmColumbia, the very excellent 5-day film festival, opens this Wednesday (October 22) with a diverse mix of film events including Q&As, filmmaker events, celebrations and industry insider panel discussions that will take place in both Chatham and Hudson, N.Y.
For a complete schedule of events, go to www.filmcolumbia.org.
Among the highlights:
“Alice,” starring Julianne Moore, in the 4 p.m. time slot on Wednesday, October 22 at the Crandell Theatre in Chatham.
Saturday, October 25, 10 a.m. at the Tracy Memorial, festival Executive Director and Vanity Fair contributing editor Peter Biskind (author of seven books, most recently “My Lunches with Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles”) moderates an industry panel discussion on film criticism. Panelists include Owen Gleiberman, formerly head film critic of Entertainment Weekly for 24 years and currently the film critic for bbc.com; Eric Kohn, chief film critic and senior editor for Indiewire, as well as manager of its Criticwire Network and film criticism teacher at New York University’s Department of Cinema Studies; Wesley Morris, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for criticism and staff critic at Grantland; and Alison Willmore, film critic for BuzzFeed and co-host of the podcast Filmspotting: SVU. Bagels and coffee are included in the $15 ticket.
Two screenwriting panels, hosted by actor Scott Cohen (“Kissing Jessica Stein,” “The Other Woman,” “Necessary Roughness” and NBC’s upcoming “Allegiance”), joined by NYC and local actors, invite audience members to submit six copies of a scene (5 to10 pages) from an original script. The actor panel will read through scenes live and discuss on Saturday, October 25, 12 p.m., at Hudson Lodge, 601 Union St, Hudson. Screenwriter Anastasia Traina (“Natural History,” “From Riverdale to Riverhead”) will join the second workshop Sunday, October 26, at 10 a.m. at the Tracy Memorial, 77 Main Street in Chatham, for in-depth critiques.
On Sunday, October 26, 11 a.m. at Hudson Lodge, the FilmColumbia Local Filmmakers Program precedes a panel discussion about the unique joys and challenges of film production in Albany, Columbia County and the surrounding region. Led by Hudson filmmaker David McDonald (“Crazy Assed White Boy,” playing in the Local Filmmakers Program), panelists include area filmmakers Bhawin Suchak (“The Throwaways”, playing immediately after the panel discussion), Academy Award nominee Robert Stone (“Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst,” “Pandora’s Promise”), writer/director Hanna Sawka (“Beyond Iconic: Photographer Dennis Stock,” which played in last year’s festival) and former HBO executive Hayes Clement.
For the whole family, the FilmColumbia Children’s International Short Program, sponsored by Hudson River Bank & Trust Company Foundation, screens Saturday 10:30 a.m. at the Crandell Theatre. Free admission.
Tickets to most films and events are available at www.filmcolumbia.org
