Press Release – October 15, 2018

Media Contact:
Robyn Coe
(818) 287-1237
robynpc@gmail.com

FILMCOLUMBIA 2018, OCTOBER 20-28, GOES INTERACTIVE WITH
PANEL DISCUSSIONS WITH INDUSTRY INSIDERS AND Q&A’S WITH FILMMAKERS

TICKETS TO THE FESTIVAL, WITH MORE THAN 50 WORLD-CLASS FILMS OVER NINE DAYS,
ARE ON SALE NOW FOR CRANDELL THEATRE MEMBERS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC

(Chatham, NY–October 15, 2018)—FilmColumbia 2018, Columbia County’s premier annual cultural event now in its 19th year in Chatham, NY, will offer not only more than 50 acclaimed films—many of which are sure to earn Academy Award nominations next year—but a lively array of panel discussions, Q&As and even a live, mid-festival trivia game for film fans to relish. FilmColumbia 2018 runs from October 20-28 and includes a special benefit tribute to acclaimed actor and Columbia County resident Brian Cox, October 19-20. For the complete lineup and ticket information, go to http://www.filmcolumbia.org/.

Several artists will participate in Q&As with audiences following the screenings of their films, at the Crandell Theater and the Morris Memorial, both in Chatham, including:

Kent Jones, director of Diane (and Director and Selection Committee Chair of the New York Film Festival) — Sunday, Oct. 28 (The film won the Best Narrative Film award at the Tribeca Film Festival this year.)
Bob Eisenhardt, editor of Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood — Sunday, Oct. 28
Brigitte Berman, director of Hugh Hefner’s After Dark: Speaking Out in America — Saturday, Oct. 27
A panel of animators from Animation for Grownups — Saturday, Oct. 27

A hallmark of FilmColumbia throughout its history has been the exceptionally high quality of its offerings, and this year’s schedule extends that streak. A long list of major festival standouts and award-winners highlights the 2018 lineup, including Shoplifters, this year’s Palm d’Or winner at Cannes that also screened at Toronto and New York; Cold War, from Oscar winner and this year’s Best Director at Cannes Pawel Pawlikowski; 306 Hollywood, which was an official selection at Sundance; two that screened at SXSW — Write When You Get Work, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, and Constructing Albert; and Solo, which won Best Comedy feature at the Madrid International Film Festival.

FilmColumbia 2018 is programmed by Peter Biskind, the executive and co-artistic director of the festival, and co-artistic director Laurence Kardish. Biskind is an author, film historian, contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Esquire, and past executive editor of Premiere magazine. His new book, The Sky is Falling: How Vampires, Zombies, Androids, and Superheroes Made America Great for Extremism, has just been published. Kardish is senior curator emeritus for film and media at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Calliope Nicholas is the managing director of the festival.

The Crandell Theatre is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote and develop the appreciation of film to enrich the social, cultural and educational experience of the community, and to renovate and revitalize the Crandell Theatre as a cornerstone of culture in Chatham, NY. The theater is Columbia County’s oldest and largest movie theatre with 534 seats and was built in 1926 by Walter S. Crandell, as a vaudeville house. It features mainstream and independent films daily, seven days a week, and hosts the FilmColumbia festival each year in October. We encourage you to become a member today.