Crandell Theatre Brings 1922 Horror Classic Nosferatu to Life with Live Musical Accompaniment on October 4

posted on September 28, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Chatham, NY—September 26, 2024)—The Crandell Theatre in Chatham, NY, will go back to its roots on Friday, October 4 at 7 pm and screen the silent horror classic Nosferatu, directed by film pioneer F.W. Murnau (Sunrise, Faust). Musician and silent film historian Ben Model will accompany the film on theater organ, brought in for one very special night, allowing the audience to experience the film just as it sounded upon its original release in 1922. Nosferatu is an Expressionist fever dream full of looming shadows and emerging film techniques Murnau used to great effect. Unlike other silent film directors of the era, Murnau shot this unauthorized and freely adapted version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula on location, in the Carpathian mountains. He also used negative exposure, stop-motion and low-angle camera positions, to give his sinister, taloned vampire Graf…

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FilmColumbia 2024 to Honor Actor Walton Goggins and Screen Pedro Almodóvar’s First Film in English

posted on September 24, 2024

(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…

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Actor and Filmmaker Griffin Dunne in Person at the Crandell on August 10

posted on July 23, 2024

(Chatham, NY, July 23, 2024) — The Crandell Theatre’s popular event series, Crandell LIVE!, will welcome actor and filmmaker Griffin Dunne for a screening and post-show Q&A on August 10 at 7 pm. Known for his starring roles in iconic films like An American Werewolf in London and After Hours, he will discuss the evening’s featured documentary, Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, the Emmy-nominated film he directed about his aunt, the literary legend. In addition to the film, he will be discussing his bestselling family memoir The Friday Afternoon Club, published by Penguin Random House in June. Crandell Executive Director Brian Edward Leach will interview Dunne and moderate questions from the audience. Griffin Dunne has been an actor, producer, and director since the late 1970s, when he landed his first role in The Other Side of the Mountain.…

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CatVideoFest 2024: Making You Laugh for Kitties in Need

posted on July 18, 2024

(Chatham, NY, July 18, 2024) — They’re baaaaack! The historic single-screen Crandell Theatre on Main Street in Chatham is delighted to partner with the Columbia-Greene Humane Society to present the world’s #1 cat video festival, CatVideoFest 2024, on August 3 at 1 pm.* Come watch the silliest, most adorable cat videos of the year and learn more about adoptable area kittens and cats currently sheltering at CGHS. Presented by Oscilloscope Laboratories, CatVideoFest 2024 is a compilation of the latest and best cat videos culled from countless hours of unique submissions and sourced animations, music videos, and classic internet powerhouses. Each year, across the country, local theaters partner with nearby cat-focused charities, animal welfare associations and shelters alike. A portion of ticket proceeds from the Crandell screening will be donated to Columbia-Greene Humane Society. Critics agree: watching silly cat videos is…

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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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National Cinema Day

This Sunday: 8/27/23

posted on August 22, 2023

If you haven’t seen Oppenheimer yet and crave a bargain, come to the Crandell on Sunday at a ticket price not seen since the late 1980s. That’s right, a mere $4 gets you in to see a mighty big film on our historic single screen. National Cinema Day was a huge success when it debuted last year and the Crandell is thrilled to participate again this summer!  12:30 PM and 4 PM SHOWS ONLY $4

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Summer at the Crandell

posted on June 12, 2023

Blockbusters, discounted matinees, live performances and more! (Chatham, NY, June 12, 2023) — School is almost out and that means a slate of soon-to-be-released blockbusters is coming to the Crandell Theatre seven days a week. The theater’s special summer schedule, launching on June 15, includes hotly anticipated films The Flash, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, plus a live Chatham SummerFest children’s musical performance featuring the Columbia County Youth Theatre. The Flash, Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible will screen during new Wednesday matinees at 3 pm with discounted ticket prices. The Flash will also have additional matinees on Fridays at 3 pm at the regular ticket price. For all summer showtimes and to reserve tickets visit crandelltheatre.org. The Crandell’s new summer schedule coincides with the special preview opening night of The…

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Crandell Theatre and Ellsworth Kelly Studio to Present Free Ellsworth Kelly Documentary and Post-Show Filmmaker Q+A

posted on May 12, 2023

On Sunday, May 21, at 1 pm, the Crandell Theatre and the Ellsworth Kelly Studio will present a free screening of the 2007 documentary, Ellsworth Kelly: Fragments. The afternoon is part of a year-long centennial celebration of one of the most influential American artists of his time and a long-time resident of Spencertown. A conversation and Q&A with the filmmaker, Edgar Howard, President of Checkerboard Film Foundation, and Jack Shear, President of the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, will directly follow the film. “Ellsworth was a film lover and the Crandell Theatre was an important resource for him beginning when he first moved to Columbia County in the 1970s,” said Shear, the late artist’s husband and now President of the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation. “He really appreciated having a theater so close to home.” The Ellsworth Kelly Foundation and Jack Shear have long…

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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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Crandell Membership Day

The Crandell to Launch May Membership Drive

May 6

posted on April 27, 2023

  KICK-OFF MEMBER DAY: May 6, 10 am – 4 pm The Crandell Theatre invites area residents and families to participate in a day of free film-themed activities on Saturday, May 6, from 10 am to 4 pm at the historic theater in Chatham, New York. The program includes family short films, tours of the theater, photo opportunities with film celebrity cutouts, and marquee cookies created for the occasion by Pooky Amsterdam of PookyStudio. Admission to the regularly scheduled 1 pm screening of The Eagle Huntress, an award-winning documentary about the first female eagle hunter in twelve generations of a nomadic Mongolian family, is free for new and current members. Those who join the Crandell or renew their memberships on May 6 or anytime during May receive free admission to all films during the month. According to Annie Brody, Crandell…

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Celebrate Earth Day Weekend at the Crandell

April 22 + 23

posted on April 14, 2023

On April 22 and 23 the Crandell Theatre will join the community in celebrating Earth Day with two special screenings that explore our critical relationship with the environment and the steps we can all take to ensure our planet’s future. Crandell Kid Flicks: The Lorax The inaugural season of Crandell Kid Flicks, the theater’s family-friendly film and activity series, concludes on Saturday, April 22, at 1 pm with a screening of the Dr. Seuss classic The Lorax. An eye-popping, 3D computer-animated update of the beloved original book and 1972 cel-animated TV movie, the film features the voices of Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift and Betty White. With an environmental message still as urgent as ever, the film follows Ted, a 12-year-old boy living in a world devoid of nature who searches for the one thing that will…

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