Talks & Panels
Since our founding over two decades ago, talks with industry luminaries and filmmakers have been a core part of the Woodstock Film Festival’s programming. Below are some standouts from the past few years, some of which can now be watched online.
2024 Highlights
LISTEN: SPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTS
Academy Award-nominated director and screenwriter Paul Schrader’s acclaimed films include AMERICAN GIGOLO, MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS, AFFLICTION, FIRST REFORMED, THE CARD COUNTER and MASTER GARDENER. He also collaborated with Martin Scorsese, writing TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, and THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.
Academy Award, BAFTA, WGA, and Emmy nominee Ramin Bahrani is the writer, director and producer of such films as MAN PUSH CART, CHOP SHOP, 99 HOMES, and THE WHITE TIGER.
LISTEN: SPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTS
Co-presented by NYWIFT
With Yvonne Russo, Heidi Ewing, Ondi Timoner, Rebecca Miller and Christine La Monte moderated by NYWIFT’s Executive Director Cynthia Lopez
Today’s women filmmakers are calling the shots, whether with a movie camera on their shoulder, a pen in their hand, an idea in their head, or a computer and a desk at their feet. In this conversation co-presented by New York Women in Film & Television, meet some of today’s most inspiring filmmakers, all current participating filmmakers or alumni of the Woodstock Film Festival, as they discuss the trajectory of their careers.
SPEAKERS:
Yvonne Russo, Heidi Ewing, Ondi Timoner, Rebecca Miller, Christine La Monte,
Nancy Abraham
MODERATOR:
Cynthia Lopez
2023 Highlights
THE PICKET LINE: A ROAD TO PAY EQUITY AND SUSTAINABILITY
The Creative Industry has been radically transformed in the last several years due to the pandemic, economic turmoil, advances in digital technology, and production efficiencies. Yet, creators of content, writers, actors, and many others that are instrumental to media development are still struggling to ensure economic sustainability. To date, over 11,000 writers and 150,000 members of SAG AFTRA have taken up protest to be heard and galvanize change. Come hear as the experts and those on the front lines, union members from Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), and Screen Actors Guild/ Aftra, discuss what has been done to update contracts that no longer serve current working conditions, and a critical look at what the public can do to support their efforts.
SPEAKERS:
Neil Gaiman, Dana Weissman, Jo Miller
MODERATOR:
Thelma Adams
ACTORS WHO DIRECT
More and more actors choose to also work behind the camera as directors, and / or producers of narrative films, television series, and experimental shorts, along with other genres and formats. Hear what compels them to work behind the camera, and how different those experiences are.
SPEAKERS:
Steve Buscemi, Matthew Modine
MODERATOR:
Mary Stuart Masterson
2022 Highlights
Chat with 2022 Maverick Award recipient Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke in a talk with John Sloss about his unparalleled career and what’s in store going forward.
SPEAKERS:
Ethan Hawke
MODERATOR:
John Sloss
Filmmakers Residency / Incubator Showcase
Meet several extraordinary filmmakers and preview their diverse slate of work-in-progress feature films– projects that live in that provocative space between dramatic & documentary; between social justice & fine storytelling; between timely and timeless. The Residents spent a month living together at the Theoria Foundation in Woodstock, developing their projects via professional mentorship.
SPEAKERS:
Adewale Olukayode, Nirav Bhakta, Erica Nguyen, Natalie Zimmerman
MODERATOR:
Alex Smith
2021 Highlights
Online Q&A with MY OCTOPUS TEACHER Directors Pippa Ehrlich & James Reed
Ahead of the film’s Best Documentary win at the 2021 Oscars, the Woodstock Film Festival held an intimate Q&A with MY OCTOPUS TEACHER (now streaming on Netflix) directors Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed moderated by Academy Award nominee Rachel Grady. You can watch the whole conversation by clicking the thumbnail above.
SPEAKERS:
Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed
MODERATOR:
Rachel Grady
Online Talk with HOW IT FEELS TO BE FREE Director Yoruba Richen and Producer Lacey Schwartz Delgado
Before its premiere on PBS, the Woodstock Film Festival hosted an online talk with HOW IT FEELS TO BE FREE director Yoruba Richen and executive producer Lacey Schwartz Delgado moderated by comedian and activist Jessieca McNabb. The entire conversation is available to watch by clicking the thumbnail.
SPEAKERS:
Yoruba Richen, Lacey Schwartz Delgado
MODERATOR:
Jessieca McNabb
2020 Highlights
Virtual Films & Conversations series
Held between April and August of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Woodstock Film Festival’s Virtual Films & Conversations program was an online talk series simulcast over Zoom and Facebook live that featured WFF alumni and leaders from all over the film industry, from producers to actors, editors and directors.
Featured guests included: Michael Berry, Peter Saraf, Bill Horberg, David Torn, John Sloss, Kate Sanford, Brian Kates, Carlo Mirabella-Davis, Katelin Arizmendi, Arianna Bocco, Dori Begley, Eugene Hernandez, Tim Blake Nelson, Ted Hope, Maria Schrader, Carol Dysinger, Elissa Federoff, Debra Granik, Jamie Zelermyer, Ellen Chenoweth, Alice Wu, Blair Breard, Fisher Stevens, Ira Sachs, Oren Moverman, Simon Kilmurry and David France.
2019 Highlights
May 11th — Staged Screenplay Reading of FEEDING MRS. MOSKOWITZ
The Woodstock Film Festival in collaboration with the Actors & Writers theatre company presented a raucous, sold-out screenplay reading of FEEDING MRS. MOSKOWITZ at the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts in Woodstock, NY.
Based on the 2010 novella by Barbara Pokras (available for purchase on Amazon) the screenplay of FEEDING MRS. MOSKOWITZ was written by Pokras and Fran Pokras Yariv.
June 1st — Diverse Voices in Film & Media panel
Special event presented in collaboration with Radio Kingston at Aaron Rezny Inc. in Kingston, NY.
The panel featured a diverse group of filmmakers and artists of color who are engaged in telling important stories from marginalized communities, shedding light on narrative perspectives that are not often seen on the silver screen.
PANELISTS:
Lisa Cortés, Yoruba Richen, Roger Ross Williams
MODERATOR:
Lacey Schwartz Delgado
March 16th — Women in Film & Television Panel
Presented in collaboration with Radio Kingston at Aaron Rezny Inc. in Kingston, NY with special thanks to Hillary Harvey from Women’s History Month Kingston.
The panel featured a varied lineup of powerful and talented women working in different areas of the film and television industries, concluding with a meet & greet session.
PANELISTS:
Janet Grillo, Ellen Kuras, Blair Breard, Lacey Schwartz-Delgado, Wendy Ettinger, Wendy Lidell, Lisa Myers