WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL INC

The Woodstock Film Festival aims to present an annual program and year-round schedule of film, and art-related activities that promote artists, culture, inspired learning and diversity. We work within our “fiercely independent” framework to program films, panels and events that embrace diversity and self expression. We seek to use film as a means to bridge divides and spark discourse on social issues, artistic trends, cultures, ideologies, gender, sexuality and emerging science and technologies.

Our schedule of workshops, panels and screenings are supported by specific programs: Exposure, Spotlight on Women, LGBTQ Focus, World Cinema, Focus on Music, Films of the Hudson Valley and the Youth Initiative. Our aim is to further our initiatives by attracting diverse filmmakers, artists, industry members, and panelists, and to grow our audience by expanding our outreach.

The Woodstock Film Festival has a proven track record of promoting arts and culture in rural upstate New York through project initiatives, such as the Focus on Music, Films of the Hudson Valley, LGBTQ Focus, Spotlight on Women, and the Youth Initiative. Through these initiatives, we seek out artists and filmmakers from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds whose work demonstrates a unique worldview, so our local audiences have exposure to people and ideas they may otherwise not encounter.

Many of our sponsors have been around since the festival’s inception in 2000. While we are grateful for these sponsors’ eighteen years of dedication to our mission and vision, we need additional funding in order to expand our reach and continue bringing cultural and economic development to the Hudson Valley Region. You can help us continue our legacy of showcasing fiercely independent films in the Hudson Valley by becoming a donor, sponsor, or festival passholder.

The Woodstock Film Festival’s programming initiatives have grow over the past 20 years, incorporating new and diverse ideas, art, and culture. Each year, we screen over 125 feature narratives, documentaries, shorts, student films, and animated films in the towns of Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Kingston, Rosendale, Saugerties, and Ulster. Festival attendance has grown from under 1,000 our first year to over 10,000 in recent years. Our programming initiatives have been a key strategy in targeting artists and filmmakers who come from diverse and often underrepresented backgrounds. Films made by or featuring women, LGBTQ filmmakers, and people of color are often ignored by Hollywood, but for us, diversity and equal representation--both behind the camera and on-screen--are key to having a successful festival and bringing in new audiences. Our work is supported by hundreds of organizations, including distributors, venues, production companies, restaurants, libraries, schools, and other non-profits.

Over 300 filmmakers, actors, producers, screenwriters, musicians, journalists, and industry professionals come to Woodstock each year to take part in our five-day festival.

Over the last 20 years, the Woodstock Film Festival has lived up to it’s “Fiercely Independent” motto. Actor Ethan Hawke describes us as being “among the finest of a dying breed: a festival that isn't trying to sell you anything, but simply and beautifully celebrating the art and craft of filmmaking." We’re proud to have helped launch the careers of many filmmakers, such as Cary Fukunaga, who won Best Student Film in 2004, directed part of his tv series “Maniac” locally, and is now directing the 25th James Bond movie. Our audience continues to grow, and local students and community members, have had opportunities to get their feet wet by volunteering, interning, or working at the festival.

We plan to continue expanding our geographic reach and program initiatives in the coming years, in particular our Youth Initiative, which incorporates career and cultural education, networking and teen filmmaking.