Killer Films Producers Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler to Be Honored at FilmColumbia 2023

Saturday, October 21

posted on September 5, 2023

Save the Date! Killer Films Producers Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler  to be honored at FilmColumbia 2023 Festival Kick-Off Party Benefitting the Crandell Theatre’s Operations + Programs Saturday, October 21, 2023, 6 – 8 pm Home of Jack Shear, Spencertown, NY $250 per person (invitations will be sent week of September 18)   FilmColumbia, the Crandell’s premier annual cultural event, will this year honor groundbreaking producers Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler, the founders of Killer Films. According to James Schamus, award-winning filmmaker and Crandell Theatre board member, “It is no understatement to say that the history of American independent cinema would simply not exist in its currently recognizable form without the work of Killer Films producers Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler. Killer’s range includes their work with Todd Haynes (from his early masterpieces Superstar and Poison through his mature triumphs…

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May 13: Q+A with Wild Life Film Editor Bob Eisenhardt

posted on May 5, 2023

  Wild Life, the latest documentary from the Oscar-winning team who produced Free Solo, will screen at the Crandell Theatre in Chatham May 12, 13, 14 and 18. Following the Saturday, May 13 screening at 7 pm, the film’s editor, Bob Eisenhardt (right), will take to the stage with FilmColumbia Managing Director Calliope Nicholas to answer audience questions and share more about how the documentary was shaped in the edit suite. Wild Life is directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin and follows conservationist Kris Tompkins on an epic, decades-spanning love story as wild as the landscapes she dedicated her life to protecting. After falling in love in mid-life, Kris and the outdoorsman and entrepreneur Doug Tompkins left behind the world of the massively successful outdoor brands they’d helped pioneer—Patagonia, The North Face, and Esprit—and turned their attention to…

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David Lee
David Lee

Sony Pictures Classics Celebrates 30 Years on FilmColumbia’s Opening Day, October 21

posted on October 15, 2022

                Chatham, NY—October 14, 2022)—FilmColumbia, the county’s premier cultural event, is delighted to celebrate the significant contributions to cinema made by Sony Pictures Classics during its past 30 years as a distributor of independent films. “We’re thrilled to be opening the festival this year with a tribute to the influential distributor,” says FilmColumbia co-executive director and co-programmer Peter Biskind. Co-founded in 1992 by co-presidents Tom Bernard and Michael Barker, along with Marcie Bloom, Sony Pictures Classics has released the finest independent films of the past three decades and amassed a library of nearly 500 titles, earning the distributor 158 Academy Award nominations and 37 wins, in addition to guild appreciation and many other awards. FilmColumbia’s past festivals have screened many of those films, and this year is no exception. “We’ll be showing three…

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Headline Events and Oscar-Worthy International Films on Tap for FilmColumbia 2022

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(Chatham, NY—October 13, 2022)—FilmColumbia, the county’s premier cultural event held annually at the Crandell Theatre, will kick off its opening weekend on Friday, October 21, with several very special events. The festival continues through Sunday, October 30, with a highly curated lineup of Hollywood, independent and international films. Tickets and full festival passes will go on sale to the general public on Saturday, October 15. FilmColumbia 2022’s opening day, Friday, October 21, will feature a special screening at 4:30 pm of Ang Lee’s award-winning classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. After the show, the festival will celebrate Sony Pictures Classics’ 30th anniversary with a free Q+A featuring co-founder and co-president Tom Bernard. He’ll be joined on stage by triple-threat writer, producer and director James Schamus, a long-time Lee collaborator and the film’s Oscar-nominated screenwriter. In its three decades as a distributor…

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Kevin Canfield

FilmColumbia 2022 Protocol

posted on October 4, 2022

The Crandell Theatre remains “Mask-Friendly” and we encourage patrons who wish to wear them to continue to do so. All staff are vaccinated but patrons are no longer required to show proof of vaccination. Seats will be first come, first serve; there is no assigned seating and no buffering as was done during FilmColumbia 2021. The Crandell’s four emergency doors will be opened between screenings for fresh air exchange. The theater also employs high MERV filters in the HVAC system. If you have any questions, please email Dawn at DSteward@crandelltheatre.org.

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FilmColumbia named one of MovieMaker Magazine’s 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World

posted on August 10, 2020

Chatham, NY Aug. 10, 2020 In a very strange year for film festivals, and everyone, FilmColumbia was named Monday to MovieMaker Magazine‘s annual list of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World. To compile the list, MovieMaker‘s panelists scanned the globe looking for events with forward-thinking programming, unique locations, and well-executed events. “Obviously a lot of New Yorkers are now discovering the beautiful small communities just a short drive from New York City, and we think they’ll be delighted to learn more about FilmColumbia, a fest that blends a gorgeous location, local color (both people and leaves) and Oscar-calibre films, lovingly programmed by a revered team with exquisite taste,” said Tim Molloy, editor-in-chief of MovieMaker. “These festivals made many sacrifices for the greater good this year because of COVID-19, from postponements to pivots online. But the stellar reputations they’ve built for being…

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James Schamus and Jack Shear

2019 FilmColumbia Festival Kick-Off Party Photos

posted on October 22, 2019

James Schamus, long-time key player in the independent film world, was honored at the benefit opening the 20th anniversary of FilmColumbia at the home of Jack Shear on Saturday, October 19. The event, which raises funds to support year-round Crandell programs, was co-chaired by Tina Lang and Nicholas Haylett, both of Kinderhook.

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Links to News Stories about FilmColumbia

posted on October 18, 2019

To give an insider’s look at this year’s festival, we’ve collected some of the most interesting press from around the region. Check back frequently to read new stories and listen to the latest interviews. FilmColumbia: Exquisite ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ a complicated yet simple story of doomed lovers Berkshire Eagle, October 26, 2019 Excerpt:This is an exquisite film shown at this year’s FilmColumbia, perhaps one of the most beautiful films I have seen in a very long time. It is a complicated yet simple story of doomed lovers. Their slow motion seduction of each other develops into a short-lived rapturous romance. Read the entire article. FilmColumbia: Gorgeous, inspiring ‘Varda by Agnes’ highlights Varda’s joie de vivre Berkshire Eagle, October 24, 2019 Excerpt:Tucked into the FilmColumbia film festival is a gorgeous, inspiring film that I hope will be seen…

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Berkshire Eagle logo

Cannes in Chatham

posted on October 15, 2019

Excerpted from the October 11, 2019 edition of the Berkshire Eagle. FilmColumbia is a festival for early adopters. While Sundance and Cannes are destinations for top-notch movie premieres, FilmColumbia has often been one of the next landing spots for those films. “We are basically, in some ways — and I love this — a very modest, regional, local festival bringing to our neck of the woods films that might not otherwise play, and it doesn’t matter to us if they’ve been shown at many other film festivals,” said Laurence Kardish, co-artistic director of the Chatham, N.Y., festival. “In fact, that’s where we make our discoveries.” Read the entire article.

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FilmColumbia logo
FilmColumbia logo

FilmColumbia Marks Its 20th Anniversary, October 18-27

posted on September 26, 2019

FilmColumbia marks its 20th anniversary, October 18-27, with nearly 60 films, including new releases from acclaimed directors Noah Baumbach, Alex Gibney, Ken Loach, Terrence Malick and the late Agnes Varda, and lauded performances from Benedict Cumberbatch, Laura Dern, Adam Driver, Isabelle Huppert, Scarlett Johansson, Clive Owen, Michael Shannon, Marisa Tomei and Alfre Woodard, among many others. Schedule includes winners of five major awards at Cannes, inluding the Palme d’Or, and major movies screened at the Toronto, New York, Venice, Berlin, Telluride and Sundance Film Festivals. FilmColumbia 2019 will honor filmmaker James Schamus on October 18-19 with film screenings, a Q&A and a special benefit reception. Benefit tickets on sale now; festival tickets on sale October 5 for Crandell Theatre members and October 12 for the general public. FilmColumbia, Columbia County’s premier annual cultural event, will mark its 20th anniversary, October…

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