New York’s 25th Annual Woodstock Film Festival is shaping-up to be one of the biggest ever for one of the state’s largest and most popular fall attractions for entertainment. The lineup is filled with awards season contenders, including Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Anora” (NEON) from director Sean Baker, Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” starring Saoirse Ronan (AppleTV+) and the much talked about “Emilia Perez” (Netflix) with Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana.
The Woodstock fest, which runs from October 15th through the 20th, is also showcasing “The End” with Tilda Swinton, animated feature “Flow” and Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Amazon’s “Nickel Boys” and Searchlight’s Amy Adams dramedy “Nightbitch” are also on the schedule, along with Paul Schrader’s latest “Oh, Canada”, with Richard Gere. There’s also drama “Out of My Mind” (debuting on Disney+ in November) and Netflix’s “The Piano Lesson”, starring John David Washington, Samuel L. Jackson and Best Supporting Actress frontrunner Danielle Deadwyler.
You can also check out Bleecker Street’s “Rumours” (featuring Cate Blanchett) and Best Picture heavyweight “September 5” from Paramount (which will be in theaters near the end of the year). Jennifer Lopez has a supporting role in Amazon sports drama “Unstoppable”, and Walton Goggins headlines “The Uninvited”. The closing night feature is Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” (Searchlight), with current Best Supporting Actor favorite Kieran Culkin. Eisenberg provided a special video acknowledging his appreciation for his latest directorial feature playing at Woodstock.
I also highly recommend the powerful documentary “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin”, from “The Painter and the Thief” director Benjamin Ree. A doc on Paul Anka called “His Way”, will include a Q&A with director John Maggio. The Woodstock Film Festival has even more Q&As, special guests for panel presentations and honorees than ever before. For tickets to the 25th WFF, a complete schedule and more information, visit woodstockfilmfestival.org.