CONTACT: Alana Davis, Press Director press@woodstockfilmfestival.com or 845-679-4265

Woodstock Film Festival Announces New World Cinema Award Category

alongside partnership with the netherlands consulate in new york

(Woodstock, NY) August, 2015 - The Woodstock Film Festival is proud to announce its New for 2015 World Cinema Competition, including a special Focus on Dutch Cinema in partnership with the Netherlands Consulate General in New York. Sponsored by the Netherlands Consulate and the Department of Dutch Culture USA and in collaboration with Bruce Weiss (Ironworks Productions) and Andre Naus (Eye International in the Netherlands), the Woodstock Film Festival has programmed three exceptional Dutch narratives to showcase the vast range Dutch cinema has to offer: RENDEZ-VOUS, MEET ME IN VENICE, and SUMMER. All Dutch filmmakers will be in attendance.

dutchculture

"DutchCulture USA, the Cultural Department of the Netherlands Embassy, tasked with the promotion of Dutch arts and culture in the United States, is delighted to announce our collaboration with the Woodstock Film Festival. This year’s focus on Dutch film is a new collaboration to promote creative, cultural and educational exchange between Dutch and American filmmakers,” said the Netherland's Consulate General in NY's representative.

Sparked by this joint venture with the Netherlands Consulate and the superb selection of other international films at the festival, the Woodstock Film Festival is excited to launch its inaugural World Cinema Competition Award. Joining the three Dutch films are two additional World Cinema highlights, MOSCOW NEVER SLEEPS (Irish-Russian) and THERE SHOULD BE RULES (Swedish), to forge a strong line-up of international competition. 

"We have had a large amount of exceptional international submissions in 2015," said WFF co-founder and executive director Meira Blaustein. "Our world has become so expansive and we have increasingly become its citizens. It is only fitting that the Woodstock Film Festival embrace that global spirit and bring to its fold outstanding films and filmmakers from many cultures, religions, and nations. As such, we are thrilled to have created a partnership with the Netherlands Consulate to develop this brand new World Cinema Competition category." 

The Netherlands Consulate and Dutch Culture USA will also be generously sponsoring the Friday Night Filmmaker Party.

Tickets will be on sale online, over the phone, and in person beginning early September!
Dates and times will be announced shortly, keep checking back at woodstockfilmfestival.com for tickets!


world cinema COMPETITION FILMS: 

FOCUS ON DUTCH CINEMA- the netherlands

In collaboration with the Netherlands Consulate General of New York, the Woodstock Film Festival has programmed three exceptional Dutch narratives to showcase the vast range Dutch cinema has to offer: 

RENDEZ-VOUS, directed by Antoinette Beumer
US Premiere

Simone needs a change. Together with her husband Eric and their two children, she buys a decrepit mansion in the south of France, to turn it into a home and B&B. While the chaos of the renovation grows, Simone flees into a thrilling affair with one of the French construction workers, the gorgeous twenty-year-old Michel. She slowly loses control of her life and the French dream turns into her worst nightmare.

 

MEET ME IN VENICE, directed by Eddy Terstall
US Premiere

Recounted by Lisa through a video she makes for her son, this Dutch father-daughter story of reconciliation unfolds between a woman and the father she first meets in adulthood. When the absentee Mauro invites Lisa to join him in Venice, she decides to go. But the journey doesn't stop there, and the father-daughter road trip takes them from Italy to Istanbul along the Orient Express route, with breathtaking imagery of the Balkans and heartwarming musical interludes. In getting to know her father, Lisa gets to know herself. 

 

SUMMER (ZOMER), directed by Colette Bothof
New York Premiere

"Zomer" ("Summer") is sweltering in a Dutch village where everyday life is dominated by the continually droning power plant. Anne, a quiet girl who longs to escape the confines of her small town, often feels like an outsider -- until she meets Lena, a new girl in town who rides a motorbike, wears leather and is different from everybody else. With the awkward tenderness of youth and innocence, the two girls quickly form a bond and the audience gets to watch as young love unfolds. Authentic performances and cinematography that captures the languor and heat of summertime create a beautiful story of sexual awakening and a girl daring to be different. For those who have traveled beyond the teenage years, it is a reminder of the possibilities life holds.


Moscow Never Sleeps, DIRECTED BY Johnny O'Reilly
RUSSIA - US PREMIERE

Moscow Never Sleeps is a multi-narrative drama about the hidden bonds that connects us all. The film dives headlong into the volatile intersections of contemporary Moscow and the intimate lives of five people.

O'Reilly's short The Terms screened at the 2001 Woodstock Film Fest, winning for Best Short Film.


There should be rules, directed by Linda-Marie Birbeck
sweden - east coast Premiere 

Mia and Mirjam, two passionate, free-spirited 14-year-olds, along with Karl, who is inventive and wise beyond his years, are a close knit threesome in a small town in Sweden where nothing ever happens. Mia wishes there were no rules and tempts life again and again. Mirjam, seeking love, finds her road to adulthood in a steamy romance with an older man who claims he loves her. Karl, supporting Mia's sense of loss as her best friend is pulled away by new love, helps concoct ways to bring Mirjam back to them. While friendship and family bonds are tested and facades eventually crumble, the teens declare, "we are never becoming ordinary."

About the Woodstock Film Festival:
CELEBRATE OUR SWEET 16 WITH US

Hailed by Indiewire as "A true American Maverick Among Fests" and named among the top 50 film festivals world wide, the Woodstock Film Festival premieres exceptional films, hosts the most talented emerging and established professionals in the movie industry; presents A-list concerts, panels and parties, and creates stimulating, innovative programming year-round.

The Woodstock Film Festival is a non-profit, 501c3 with a mission to present an annual program and year-round schedule of film, music and art-related activities that promote artists, culture, inspired learning and diversity.

The Woodstock Film Festival celebrates its 16th Anniversary, September 30-October 4, 2015, with an extraordinary line-up of fiercely independent films, panels, concerts and special events in Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Kingston, Rosendale and Saugerties.

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