FilmColumbia Returns October 21 – 30 with Stellar Lineup and Free Children’s International Festival of Short Films

posted on October 15, 2022

(Chatham, NY—September 29, 2022)—FilmColumbia, Columbia County’s premier annual cultural event, is gearing up to screen the very best–and the latest–national and international films from October 21 – 30. FilmColumbia’s packed program of 2022 films includes the recently added Sr., director Chris Smith and Robert Downey Jr. ‘s documentary about his indie director father and namesake. Premiering at Telluride and in New York, it is a moving memorial about the bond between parent and child, addiction, Hollywood, and mortality. “There are so many marvelous aspects to this year’s festival,” says Laurence Kardish, the festival’s co-artistic and co-executive director with Peter Biskind. “The number of extraordinary films by women, the number of award winners, and the broad range of programs from the most intimate of dramas to the most spectacular of blockbusters make this a festival of festivals.” FilmColumbia is programmed by…

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The Stars Align for FilmColumbia 2022

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(Chatham, NY—October 6, 2022)—FilmColumbia, Columbia County’s premier annual cultural event that runs from October 21 – 30, will once again screen an extraordinary variety of new films with some of the most buzz-worthy performances lauded at International film festivals here and abroad. Sarah Polley’s Women Talking features a density of talent rarely found in most films. Played by Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, Frances McDormand, Judith Ivey and several newcomers, the women in a patriarchal Mennonite community are abused by their husbands and relatives and gaslit to believe they are the victims of ghosts. Forbidden from learning to read and write, they come together in solidarity as they discuss their lives and fates. The film created a sensation when it premiered at Telluride in early September. When Whale premiered at The Venice International Film Festival around the same time,…

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David Lee
David Lee

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

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                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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Crandell Theatre Announces Three New Board Members

posted on August 4, 2022

Crandell Theatre, Columbia County’s historic, single-screen movie house on Main Street in Chatham, NY, announces that its Board of Directors formally welcomed new board members Ian Hooper, Julie Raskin, and Andrew Goetz this spring. Board President Lydia Kukoff shares that “over the past several years, our board has worked to strengthen the Crandell as an organization while, at the same time, expanding our program offerings. At this exciting time, as we look toward the renovation of our beloved theatre, we are thrilled to welcome Ian, Julie, and Andrew. Each of them brings unique knowledge, experience, and energy to our efforts, and we will be enriched immeasurably by their presence on our board.” Ian Hooper has lived in Canaan, New York, since 1980, and has been enjoying movies at the Crandell for more than 40 years. Hooper’s entire career was spent…

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Crandell Theatre Presents The Wobblies and Discussion with Filmmaker Deborah Shaffer and Peter Biskind

posted on July 5, 2022

Chatham, NY (July 5, 2022). Crandell Theatre, Columbia County’s historic, single-screen movie house on Main Street in Chatham, NY, presents the 1979 documentary The Wobblies on Sunday, July 10, at 1 pm. The Wobblies, directed by Deborah Shaffer and Stewart Bird,  chronicles the rise and fall of a unique labor union, Industrial Workers of the World. After the screening, filmmaker Deborah Shaffer will join Peter Biskind, Crandell Theatre board member and Executive Director of FilmColumbia, for a discussion and Q&A. Founded in Chicago in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) took to organizing unskilled workers into one big union and changed the course of American history. This compelling documentary of the IWW (or “The Wobblies” as they were known) tells the story of workers in factories, sawmills, wheat fields, forests, mines and on the docks as they organize…

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Crandell Theatre Presents Hello, Bookstore and Discussion with the Film’s Subject and Director

posted on June 10, 2022

Crandell Theatre, Columbia County’s oldest and largest movie house, in Chatham, New York, presents the new critically acclaimed documentary Hello, Bookstore on Friday, June 24, at 7 pm. After the screening, film subject and owner of The Bookstore Matt Tannenbaum will be in conversation with filmmaker A.B. Zax. Sharon Weinberg, owner of Chatham Bookstore, will moderate the discussion and Q&A. In Hello, Bookstore, a small town rallies to protect a beloved local bookstore in its hour of need. A landmark in Lenox, Massachusetts, The Bookstore is a magical, beatnik gem thanks to its owner, Matt Tannenbaum, whose passion for stories runs deep. Presiding at The Bookstore for over forty years, Tannenbaum is a true bard of the Berkshires and his shop is the kind of place to get lost in. This intimate portrait of The Bookstore and the family at…

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Two Documentaries with Local Subjects Come to the Crandell this June

posted on May 10, 2022

Crandell Theatre, Columbia County’s oldest and largest movie house in Chatham, New York, screens critically acclaimed commercial films, classic movies, and arthouse independents in a variety of genres. This June, the Crandell will screen two distinct documentaries each featuring local subjects: The Automat and Hello, Bookstore. Each screening will be followed by post-film Q&A with community members, film subjects, and in the case of Hello, Bookstore, the filmmaker. The Automat, playing Sunday, June 5, at 1 pm tells the 100-year story of iconic restaurant chain Horn & Hardart, where generations of Americans enjoyed coffee and meals at communal tables. The documentary features interviews with Spencertown resident Steve Stollman, an architectural dealer who bought, sold, and restored antique commercial wood bar fixtures. His work led to the preservation of original Automat equipment and provision to exhibitions at the New York Public…

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Crandell Theatre Presents Attica: Then & Now Free Screening and Discussion of the New Documentary, ATTICA

posted on January 10, 2022

Crandell Theatre presents the riveting 2021 documentary Attica by Emmy® winning director Stanley Nelson and co-director Traci Curry, about the 1971 uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility, on Sunday, January 30 at 1 p.m. followed by a post-film discussion. Panelists include Daniel L. Meyers, the attorney who litigated the “Attica Massacre” for over 25 years, his step-son Jared Reinmuth, an author and co-writer of the graphic memoir, Big Black: Stand at Attica, Jose Pineda III, the executive director of After Incarceration, a Hudson Valley-based restorative justice nonprofit project, and Laurie Scott, director of ReEntry Columbia. Attica was nominated for three Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards including Best Historical or Biographical Documentary, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Director. It was also named Official Selection at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. This free program is produced and created by the Crandell Theatre Board of Directors…

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Bridging Divides, Healing Communities Youth Film Challenge Free Screening Set for Dec 4

posted on November 24, 2021

Over the past four months, young people throughout Berkshire County, Columbia County, northeast Dutchess County, and northwest Litchfield County engaged with polarizing social issues by making a short film showing how they contend with problems and inequities in the world and in their communities. The Bridging Divides, Healing Communities Youth Film Challenge—an initiative run by the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative and the Civic Life Project, and funded by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation—received submissions from young people across the region by the November 14 deadline. The partners behind the challenge announced three winning short films. Yonah Sadeh, a student at Bard College at Simon’s Rock from Falls Village, Conn., received first place and $2,000 for his film on affordable housing, “In Our Backyard”; Tommy Tranfaglia, a student at Endicott College from Lenox, Mass., was awarded the $1,000 second place prize for his film on learning and attention disabilities, “Misunderstood”; and Danny Wilkinson, a student at Mount…

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FILMCOLUMBIA 21, OCTOBER 22-31, SHOWCASES NINE OF THE BEST DOCUMENTARIES OF THE YEAR, INCLUDING THE WINNERS OF THE GRAND PRIZE AT SUNDANCE AND THE AUDIENCE AWARD AT SXSW

posted on October 13, 2021

FILMCOLUMBIA 21, OCTOBER 22-31, SHOWCASES NINE OF THE BEST DOCUMENTARIES OF THE YEAR, INCLUDING THE WINNERS OF THE GRAND PRIZE AT SUNDANCE AND THE AUDIENCE AWARD AT SXSW ALSO ON TAP ARE FOUR POST-SCREENING AUDIENCE Q&A’S WITH THE FILMMAKERS TICKETS ON SALE NOW FOR CRANDELL THEATRE MEMBERS AND THIS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY PROTOCOLS WILL BE ENFORCED FOR ALL ATTENDEES AND FESTIVAL STAFF (Chatham, NY – October 12, 2021)—This year’s FilmColumbia 21, October 22-31, in Chatham, NY, will offer nine of the most acclaimed documentaries of the year, including Flee, the Sundance Grand Prize Winner for Documentary, and Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, which claimed the Documentary Audience Award at SXSW. The festival is presented by The Crandell Theatre, and the complete FilmColumbia 2021 lineup is available at https://crandelltheatre.org/filmcolumbia/. For…

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