(Chatham, NY—October 7, 2024)—FilmColumbia, celebrating its 24th year, opens at the Crandell Theatre in Chatham, NY, on October 18 with more than 50 of the year’s best upcoming American, international and animated features, documentaries, and shorts. This year’s lineup includes a treasure trove of new films, breakouts, as well as new and seasoned talent. The festival concludes on Sunday, October 27.
Local Columbia County resident Walton Goggins is the festival’s honoree this year. He will be celebrated at the annual festival Kick-Off Party on Sunday, October 20, 6 – 8 pm at benefactor Jack Shear’s home. He will also be on stage Sunday after screenings of Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight and two of his best roles on television for a Q&A.
Unstoppable is the true story of Anthony Robles, born without a right leg, who overcomes physical and domestic challenges to become a champion college wrestler. For his first feature film, director William Goldenberg has assembled a star-studded cast including Jharrel Jerome as Robles, who actually plays Jerome’s body double in some scenes, and Jennifer Lopez as Robles’ indomitable mother.
Bob Travino Likes It is the rare feel-good film that actually makes you feel good, a tearjerker that actually jerks tears! Directed by Tracie Laymon and starring John Leguizamo and Europhia’s breakout star Barbie Ferreira, the film also features a rarely seen side of Leguizamo that the actor says is much more like himself.
Family comedy Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point is a bittersweet look at the celebration of Christmas by four generations of the Bolsano family gathered in grandma’s home in Miller’s Point, Long Island. Michael Cera, whose deadpan, awkward comedic style has charmed audiences for more than two decades, stars.
The funny and heartfelt new comedy A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg’s latest triple triumph (acting, directing, producing), co-stars Eisenberg and Succession’s Emmy-winning Kieran Culkin as two odd-couple cousins on a tour of Poland in honor of their grandmother.
The documentaries Zurawski v Texas and Union shed new light and searing commentary on key issues that have divided Americans. Zurawski v Texas, about women denied abortions under Texas’ unforgiving laws, is co-produced by Hillary Clinton, her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, and actress Jennifer Lawrence. Union intimately covers the three-year struggle of eight thousand workers at Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island against the giant’s best union-busting efforts.
Popular Chinese director Guan Ha brings us the eye-popping story of Black Dog, about a lone motorcyclist who first tracks, then bonds with, a feral dog in the Gobi Desert. The human and canine actors bonded so well on set that the lead actor, Eddie Peng, actually adopted the dog after filming wrapped.
Chatham’s own Scott Cohen (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed), who runs the popular two-day Screenwriting Workshop with his wife, screenwriter Anastasia Traina, stars in the short The Book Signing, which will be shown prior to Black Dog.
A wonderful trio of films is featured in this year’s Local Films Program, including The Herd, The Art of Metaphor and Arrested Moment. Starring a Catskill herd of shaggy Belted Galloway cattle; Donna Dennis, an artist who builds metaphorical structures to honor lost friends; and James Ivory, who has kept a home in Claverack for many years. In the latter, filmmaker Dev Benegal captures Ivory’s love of Indian culture that is a companion piece to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibit, “Ink and Ivory: Indian Drawings and Photographs Selected with James Ivory,” an exhibition on view until May 4, 2025.
Two animated standouts this year include Flow and Memoir of a Snail. Flow (recommended for all ages) is a gorgeously animated allegory from emerging Latvian animator Gints Zilbalodis. Memoir of a Snail is the latest from Adam Elliot, the Australian master of stop-motion claymation. It took Elliot eight years to tell the story of wacky Grace, an orphaned twin who hoards snails, in an exquisitely handcrafted style that won the film the top prize at Annecy, the world’s leading animation festival. Full of heart and wrenching gallows humor, it is recommended for children over age 14.
FilmColumbia is curated by Co-Executive and Co-Artistic Directors Peter Biskind and Laurence Kardish. Biskind is a nationally recognized film historian, cultural critic and best-selling author. Kardish is senior curator emeritus for film and media at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The festival is run by longtime Festival Director Calliope Nicholas, who is also co-director at Millay Arts in Austerlitz, NY.
- To purchase tickets to the Kick-Off Party honoring Walton Goggins, which includes admission to his film and television screenings and Q&A, visit the FilmColumbia 2024 Festival Kick-Off Party event page.
- For the full schedule of films and events, visit the FilmColumbia Schedule online.
- Pre-sale Crandell Theatre Member tickets and All-Film Passes went on sale October 5. All other FilmColumbia tickets, including All-Film Passes, which admit festival goers to every screening and event, go on sale to the general public on October 12 at 9 am and in person at the box office October 12 from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm. Tickets will be on sale for remaining available films and events throughout the festival. They can be purchased online, or in person at the box office whenever the theater is open.