Special Events – Crandell Theatre

15th Farm Film Festival Call for Entries

Farm Film Festival, the annual event presented by the Crandell Theatre in collaboration with the Chatham Agricultural Partnership and the Columbia Land Conservancy, is currently seeking entries to its 15th season. The entry deadline is March 15, 2023. Farm Film Festival focuses on farms, farming, and farming issues with special interest in films that have a Hudson Valley connection. Submitted films can be either feature length or in short film format. The program will include those made by professional and amateur filmmakers. Students of all ages are encouraged to submit their work. Click below for the downloadable PDF entry form. Farm Film Festival 15 Entry Form NOTE: All submissions will need to include a Vimeo or YouTube link for jury viewing. Additional information about previous festivals is available at farmfilmfest.org.

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CRANDELL KID FLICKS: A New Saturday Matinee Film + Activity Series for Families

Crandell Community Programs In The News Press Releases Special Events

The Crandell Theatre is very pleased to announce the launch later this month of Crandell Kid Flicks, a new family-friendly Saturday matinee series of contemporary classic children’s films (animated and live action) offered January through April on the fourth Saturday of each month at 1 pm. The series aims to provide the youngest moviegoers with fun, safe, exciting and positive opportunities to become engaged in the arts. Chatham’s beautiful, historic, single-screen movie house is the backdrop for an afternoon of educational fun that puts each film into special focus for these budding film lovers. This new series was created for Chatham-area families with children ages 3-12 in mind. Each film is paired with guest presenters and fun, theme-centered activities. Special Admission: $5 per ticket Crandell Kid Flicks is curated by the Crandell’s brand new Parent Advisory Task Force and co-chaired…

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SPECIAL EVENT: Q+A with AVATAR’s Stephen Lang

December 29 at 10:15 pm

Crandell Community Programs In The News Press Releases Special Events

Join actor Stephen Lang, who originated the iconic role of Colonel Quaritch, for a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the making of Avatar: The Way of Water following a screening of the film. (Chatham, NY—December 22, 2022) —The Crandell Theatre is delighted to welcome actor Stephen Lang, best known for playing Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron’s Avatar, on stage for a special Q+A following the December 29, 7 pm screening of the newly released sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water. In this rare, behind-the-scenes look at the 3D blockbuster, Lang and film historian Peter Biskind will discuss his recurring role in the Avatar universe and how he and his fellow actors prepared for and shot Cameron’s latest installment. Lang will also be signing a limited number of Avatar: The Way of Water theatrical posters for sale. Avatar: The Way of…

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The Chatham Public Library and the Crandell Theatre Present Film Career Panel for Teens and Young Adults on Saturday, November 5

Crandell Community Programs In The News Press Releases Special Events

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Chatham, NY—November 2, 2022)—Have you ever dreamed of writing and directing your own film? What most may not realize is just how many other critical roles beyond writing, directing and acting are necessary to bring a commercial, television series or film to life. This Saturday, November 5, at 10:30 am, area teens and young adults can hear directly from film and TV professionals who have chosen very different routes to success during “Career GPS: Pathways in Film,” a free program held at the Crandell Theatre. The event is the first of the Chatham Public Library’s monthly Career GPS Series designed to introduce teens to the wide variety of potential jobs that exist within every field and profession. Career GPS is organized and facilitated by Wally Rubin, in collaboration with the Chatham Public Library and the Chatham High…

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

FilmColumbia In The News Press Releases Special Events

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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FilmColumbia 2022 Protocol

FilmColumbia Special Events

The Crandell Theatre remains “Mask-Friendly” and we encourage patrons who wish to wear them to continue to do so. All staff are vaccinated but patrons are no longer required to show proof of vaccination. Seats will be first come, first serve; there is no assigned seating and no buffering as was done during FilmColumbia 2021. The Crandell’s four emergency doors will be opened between screenings for fresh air exchange. The theater also employs high MERV filters in the HVAC system. If you have any questions, please email Dawn at DSteward@crandelltheatre.org.

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

Crandell In The News Press Releases Special Events

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 Area Premiere of GardenFit

March 27, 2022

Crandell Community Programs In The News Special Events

VIEW TRAILER HERE: GardenFit 60 GardenFit is presented for public television by The WNET Group and distributed by American Public Television. With the gardening season just around the corner, Crandell Theatre presents the area premiere of GardenFit, a new 13-episode public television series highlighting garden styles and techniques, while providing advice and solutions for gardeners’ aches and pains. Columbia County residents, creators, and co-hosts of GardenFit, Expert Gardener Madeline Hooper and Fitness Trainer Jeff Hughes will introduce two 30-minutes episodes and conduct a question and answer session. The event will be held on SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2022, 1 PM. Refreshments follow the program. Admission is $10/person, Crandell Theatre Members admitted at no charge. Memberships may be purchased at the theater prior to the program. Online reservations are required along with proof of vaccination and masks. Memberships may be purchased online or…

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

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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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Winners of Bridging Divides, Healing Communities Youth Film Challenge Honored at Crandell Theatre

Crandell Community Programs Special Events

The Crandell Theatre honored the winners of the Bridging Divides, Healing Communities Youth Film Challenge with a screening of selected films and a discussion of topics raised by local young people in their submissions. Over 60 attendees enjoyed eight films focused on themes such as learning disabilities, self-image, pronouns and food insecurity. Yonah Sadeh, a student at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, earned first place and $2,000 for “In Our Backyard,” a film about affordable housing in his hometown of Falls Village, Conn. An honorable mention went to Samantha Hoffman, a student at Chatham High School from East Chatham, N.Y., for “He/She/They.” All of the filmmakers demonstrated resilience and determination by making and submitting meaningful films in the midst of a pandemic. The Youth Film Challenge was led by Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative and the Civic Life Project as part of…

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

Press Releases Special Events

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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