(Chatham, NY—September 23, 2024)—FilmColumbia, celebrating its 24th year, returns to the Crandell Theatre in Chatham, NY, this October 18 – 27 with 50+ of the very best domestic and international features, documentaries and shorts, including many fresh from the festival circuit that have not yet opened commercially. Columbia County’s longest running film festival, FilmColumbia has screened more than 650 films; 106 have gone on to receive Academy Award nominations.
This year the festival will feature a number of on-stage, in-person interviews with filmmakers and stars, including the festival’s 2024 Honoree, Emmy-nominated actor and area resident Walton Goggins. Known for his ability to create complex characters and blend comedy and drama, fan-favorite Goggins stars in The Uninvited, a new comedy/drama about a mysterious party crasher written and directed by his wife, Nadia Conners. A hit at South by Southwest, the film also stars Elizabeth Reaser, Pedro Pascal and Rufus Sewell. It will screen at FilmColumbia on Saturday, October 19, at 7:30 pm, followed by an on-stage conversation with Director/Writer Nadia Conners.
Walton Goggins will be recognized at the annual FilmColumbia Kick-Off Party, this year held on Sunday, October 20 from 6 – 8 pm. Hosted at the home of Jack Shear, Crandell Theatre benefactor, the party features a full bar, and appetizers and buffet catered by Bimi’s Canteen, a popular restaurant on Chatham’s Main Street.
More rare FilmColumbia screenings include Pedro Almodóvar’s very first film in English, The Room Next Door (Friday, October 18 @ 7:30pm), which received a 20-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The drama stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore and went on to win Venice’s Golden Lion for best film. Director Steve McQueen’s WWII drama Blitz (Wednesday, October 23 @ 7:30 pm), starring Saoirse Ronan, avoids the stereotypical British characters found in most other wartime films and instead focuses on a working-class London family based on real people. The festival will also include the American premiere of Endurance (Thursday, October 24 @ 7:30 pm), the latest film from Oscar-winning couple Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Meru, Free Solo, Nyad). The documentary traces the shipwreck and miraculous survival of the 28-man Shackleton expedition to Antarctica in 1915 and was co-produced by area resident and longtime Vasarhelyi/Chin collaborator Bob Eisenhardt.
The Children’s International Shorts Program, the annual free Saturday screening of animated and live-action shorts, will be shown on Saturday, October 19, at 10:30 am. Curator Patti Greaney of GIRALDI Media has programmed another set of mesmerizing, kid-appropriate short films from around the world. The best deal of the entire festival, this morning program is the festival’s free gift to the community.
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, visit the 2024 Festival Kick-Off Party event page.
- The full schedule of films and events is available online at crandelltheatre.org/filmcolumbia. The week of the festival the Crandell Theatre website’s landing page will transition to FilmColumbia.
- All other FilmColumbia tickets, including All-Film Passes, go on sale to Crandell Theatre members on October 5 at 9 am and to the general public on October 12 at 9 am. For more information visit FilmColumbia Ticket Info.
Media Contact: Beth Marchant, bmarchant@crandelltheatre.org