This summer, the Woods Hole
Film Festival will celebrate its tenth anniversary
in style. The Festival takes place from Saturday,
July 28th through Saturday August 4th, and offers
a wide array of choices for filmmakers and audiences
alike. Set in the beautiful seaside community of Woods
Hole, the Festival attracts people from all over the
world. The mixture of the salt air and enthusiastic
audiences is an intoxicating combination that makes
Woods Hole one of the region's best Film Festivals.
This summer, over the eight
days, the Festival will screen the work of some of
today's top independent filmmakers. The Festival offers
nightly screenings held at the Old Woods Hole Fire
Station, Redfield Auditorium, Hoyts Nickelodeon Cinema
or the Theater at Air Station Cape Cod. The Festival
also offers workshops for filmmakers and non-filmmakers
alike. Offered in conjunction with Falmouth Community
TV-13 and the Boston Film/Video Foundation, the workshops
this summer include: Project Development and Distribution
by Laura Bernieri (co-producer NEXT STOP WONDERLAND,
distributor PASSAGE TO PARADISE), Directing a Scene
by Mark Gasper, Acting by Dorothy Brodesser (The Actor's
Center), Post-Production by Pat Heaphy (Liberty Post),
Off the Nose - A Workshop on Writing Great Dialogue
with Alice Stone and a one-day special workshop in
Animation by renowned animator Bill Plympton.
The Woods Hole Film Festival
is committed to providing a venue for first-time and
New England Filmmakers when possible, and is constantly
enhancing and expanding affiliated relationships.
Last year, the Woods Hole Film Festival and the 'GBH-44
program Viewpoint developed a co-branding relationship
to broadcast selections from past Woods Hole Film
Festival's throughout the month of July. That relationship
will continue and expand this summer. Once again,
the Mass Media Alliance will co-sponsor the Festival's
opening night party. The Boston Improv Comedy Troupe,
Musical! The Musical will entertain festival goers
with their version of the audience's favorite independent
film. The Troupe, based on audience suggestion, will
perform a musical version of the film with a comedic
twist.
New this summer, the Festival
and the New England Blues Society will join together
to present The Reel Blues Fest -where independent
film meets independent music- on Saturday July 21st
at the Theater at Air Station Cape Cod. The Reel Blues
Fest will feature great blues by James Montgomery,
James Cotton, Jim Belushi, Danny Kortchmar, and Johnny
Hoy and The Bluefish. In addition, the Fest will include
a screening of the award-winning documentary GENGHIS
BLUES. GENGHIS BLUES follows the journey of former
Cape Cod musician Paul Pena as he travels to the village
of Tuva to learn a rare and wonderful way to sing.
He came one of the few outsiders to master the art
of Tuvan Throat singing. His own personal journey
is quite compelling as well.
This concert is a very special
event and the proceeds will benefit the New England
Blues Society Medical Fund, providing access to health
care for blues musicians, and the Woods Hole Film
Festival, which is dedicated to advancing and showcasing
the work of first-time and New England Filmmakers.
The Festival is pleased to
announce a special screening of Kate Davis' award-winning
documentary SOUTHERN COMFORT and the premieres of
Mark Wilkinson's narrative feature DISCHORD, shot
on Cape Cod, GAVIN'S WAY by D.R. Farquharson (featuring
music of the Martha's Vineyard based band Entrain)
as well as a sneak preview of the comedy BARSTOW 2008
produced by Boston's Mary Feuer.
David Mamet's LAKEBOAT, with
a directorial debut from actor Joe Mantegna, will
be a featured presentation. LAKEBOAT, stars Charles
Durning, Peter Falk, Robert Forster, Andy Garcia,
JJ Johnston, Denis Leaery, Tony Mamet, Jack Wallace
and George Wendt, and is a coming-of-age tale set
aboard a shipping freighter traveling America's Great
Lakes. Dale, an Ivy League college student, briefly
joins a world-weary crew who expose him to a lifestyle
that fall short of his literary vision, but provides
him with an unexpected richness of experience. Comic
and poinant, Lakeboat beautifully charts a course
through storytelling, memory and myth making.
Bestor Cram's award-winning
documentary UNFINISHED SYMPHONY and the Boston-based
feature, THE BLUE DINER by Natatcha Estebanez and
Jan Egleson, and the short film comedy EXPIRED by
Alice Stone will also screen at the festival as well
as a short-film animation compilation (including some
brand new works) by renowned animator Bill Plympton.
Mr. Plympton will also teach a one day animation workshop.
The Festival will also present
staged screenplay readings. Marianne Leone returns
the Festival to do a reading of her screenplay Elvis
Heals. The reading will feature a performance by Chris
Cooper (AMERICAN BEAUTY, LONESTAR). Kevin Fennessy
Casting will help round out the cast. Mary Feuer's
award-winning screenplay Water, (a story of the four
towns that were flooded to make the Quabbin reservoir)
will also be featured at a staged-reading. The closing
night party will feature music by Johnny Hoy and the
Bluefish.
These are some of the highlights
of the Woods Hole Festival announced so far. The Festival
is made possible through the hard working team of
many people, especially, Fay Dearborn, David Kleiler,
Garth Campbell, J.P. Ouellette, Erika Hahn, Christy
Scott Cashman, Laura Bernieri, Mike Timm, Ed Slattery,
Fran Berger, Kathy Melley, Catherine Cecil, Chip Moore,
Barbara McGovern and Stephanie Murphy. For complete
Festival Information, check the website at www.woodsholefilmfestival.com.
Tickets for The Reel Blues
Fest will be on sale at the beginning of June at Spinnaker
Records (Falmouth, Hyannis) and Harry's Bar and Grill
(Hyannis) and Grumpy's Pub (Falmouth). Tickets for
the 10th Woods Hole Film Festival will be available
at the beginning of July at the Booksmith Bookstore
(Falmouth). Festival Passes are available.
Judy
Laster is the founder and executive director of the
Woods Hole Film Festival, which she started 10 years
ago.
