*For Immediate Release*
The Woodstock Film Festival Announces a Special Photo Exhibit Opening Showcasing the Work of Iconic Civil Rights Movement Photographer Ernest C. Withers in Conjunction with the Fall World Premiere of THE PICTURE TAKER
Woodstock, NY (July 29, 2022) - The Woodstock Film Festival today announced a special pre-festival event featuring the work of Ernest C. Withers, a renowned chronicler of the African American experience in the segregated South and subject of the documentary film THE PICTURE TAKER, which will have its world premiere screening at the upcoming festival, September 28th - October 2nd.
The opening of the photo exhibit, in collaboration with the Center of Photography at Woodstock, takes place on Saturday, September 3rd at 5 p.m. at the Rezny Gallery, 76 Prince Street in Kingston, N.Y. The film’s director Phil Bertelsen will be in attendance to discuss Withers’ extraordinary work and complex life. The exhibit runs from now through October 23, 2022.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER, ERNEST WITHERS
For more than sixty years, Ernest C. Withers (1922–2007) recorded the everyday lives of the Black citizens of Memphis, Tennessee. He was on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement, covering key flashpoints from the Emmett Till trial through the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. But he was also, secretly, an FBI informant.
“THE PICTURE TAKER keenly explores this disturbing contradiction that straddles the borderline between art and the emotion-laden politics of race.” - Peter Wortman
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER, PHIL BERTELSEN
Phil Bertelsen is a Woodstock Film Festival alumni and an Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer and director who uses film and television to entertain, inspire, and provoke audiences. His documentary films chronicle pivotal events, prominent figures, and critical subjects like identity, adoption, homelessness, and education. His work has screened at prestigious global competitions, including the Sundance Film Festival. In addition, he has won awards from Director's Guild and Tribeca Film Festival and a Student Academy Award. Bertelsen holds an MFA in Film and TV from New York University where he was a Spike Lee Fellow.
ABOUT THE WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL
The Woodstock Film Festival (WFF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that nurtures and supports emerging and established filmmakers, sharing their creative voices through an annual festival and year-round programming to promote culture, diversity, community, educational opportunities and economic growth.
WFF provides innovative mentoring and inspired educational programs benefitting filmmakers, students and diverse audiences, while serving as a powerful cultural and economic engine for New York’s Hudson Valley and beyond. Such efforts have consistently resulted in the festival being hailed as one of the top regional film festivals worldwide.
The 23rd Annual Woodstock Film Festival kicks-off on Wednesday, September 28 through October 2, 2022 in Woodstock, Kingston, Saugerties and Rosendale. The announcement of the festival's full lineup of films and events will be released towards the end of August/beginning of September. For more information about the organization’s robust year-round event calendar, visit woodstockfilmfestival.org.