Artwork: Kathy Ruttenberg • Program design: Naomi Graphics LATE ADDITIONS Special Screening Special Screening Special Screening A Force of Nature Being Elmo: RIO Directed by Barbara Kopple A Puppeteer’s Directed by Carlos Saldanha USA / 2011 / 46 minutes Journey USA / 2011 / 96 minutes Kleinert James Art Center WOODSTOCK Directed by Constance A. Marks WOODSTOCK Playhouse Sun Sept 25 • 11:00AM USA / 2011 / 76 minutes Sun Sept 25 • 10:00AM Ellen Ratner, the award-winning The film, Rio is set in the wonderful Bearsville Theater WOODSTOCK journalist and philanthropist, defies Sat Sept 24 • 9:30PM city of Rio de Janeiro and the flour- easy description but never shies away from ROSENDALE Theater ishing rainforest of Brazil. lending a strong opinion as a fierce advo- Sun Sept 25 • 2:30PM cate of free speech and social justice. The film centers on Blu, a rare macaw who “A Force of Nature” celebrates Ellen’s life Beloved by children of all ages around the believes that he is the last of his kind, and work. This documentary portrays an world, Elmo is an international icon. Few however he shortly discovers there’s another impassioned crusader driven to ease the people know his creator, Kevin Clash, who macaw out there, a girl named as Jewel. suffering of others, a woman characterized dreamed of working with his idol, master Then to set up a life with her, he leaves his by her friends as “being out to change the puppeteer Jim Henson. cage in small town Minnesota and heads world.” to Rio de Janeiro. Blu is domesticated Displaying his creativity and talent at a and flight-challenged, and Jewel is the “A Force of Nature” is told through Ellen’s young age, Kevin ultimately found a home fiercely independent, high-flying female. work, following her as she travels from on Sesame Street. Narrated by Whoopi They embark on an adventure of a lifetime, home base in Washington, DC, to hurricane- Goldberg, this documentary includes rare where they find out about friendship, love, ravaged Mississippi, to war-torn South archival footage, interviews with Frank Oz, courage, and being open to life’s many Sudan. “A Force of Nature” offers a rare Rosie O’Donnell, Cheryl Henson, Joan Ganz wonders as unpredictably thrown mutually. perspective, revealing the passions that Cooney and others and offers a behind-the- ‘Rio’ also brings collectively a menagerie of keep her reaching for a better tomorrow. scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim bright characters, a heart-warming story, Henson Workshop. colorful backdrops, stimulating Latin & Featuring her friends, family and political modern music, and family-friendly song & peers, as well as the people she is dedicated dance. to helping, “A Force of Nature” tells the inspiring story of how one, unapologetically committed person can make a difference and help others do the same.iller FEATURES FRIDAY NIGHT Fright Night New York Premiere East Coast Premiere East Coast Premiere World Premiere COMPETITION FINALIST 96 Minutes An Ordinary Family Another Happy Day Another kind Directed by Aimeé Lagos Directed by Mike Akel Directed by Sam Levinson Directed by Jonathan Blitstein USA / 2011 / 94 minutes USA / 2011 / 93 minutes USA / 2011 / 115 minutes USA / 2011 / 75 minutes Upstate Films I RHINEBECK ROSENDALE Theater Upstate Films I RHINEBECK WOODSTOCK Playhouse Fri Sept 23 • 9:00PM Fri Sept 23 • 7:00PM Fri Sept 23 • 6:00PM Fri Sept 23 • 11:00PM Upstate Films WOODSTOCK WOODSTOCK Playhouse WOODSTOCK Playhouse Upstate Films II RHINEBECK Sat Sept 24 • 4:45PM Sun Sept 25 • 12:30PM Sat Sept 24 • 12:30PM Sat Sept 24 • 10:00PM COURTESY: Arc Entertainment Seth takes his partner, William, to his COURTESY: PHASE 4 FILMS Some city folk can’t even handle a brother’s lakeside home for a family weekend upstate! Patrick, Jamie, Nate In a single shocking act, four young Ellen Barkin delivers yet another reunion, and just before they enter and Laura, a group of 20-something New lives are irrevocably changed. Thrill- astounding performance in what has Yorkers, drive to the Catskills for a long ingly told in an interlocking structure, 96 the threshold, he drops a bomb—his been a stellar career for the actress weekend of winter camping, but shortly Minutes centers around Dre, a precocious family still thinks he’s straight. They (Barkin is the recipient of this year’s after beginning their trek, it becomes ap- student on his way to university. Still tied are all blindsided, but none more than Woodstock Excellence in Acting parent that they were probably better off to his violent neighborhood, Dre attempts Thomas, Seth’s conservative preacher Award). Playing the excitable, emotional staying home. Strange and inexplicable to show his troubled friend, Kevin, other brother. The week is thrown into awkward Lynn, Barkin is at the center of a whirl- things begin to occur — creepy and mys- possibilities in life. On the other side are turmoil, creating an environment that is at wind of a family reunion, on the eve of her terious lights flash around them, their cell Carley and Lena, two smart and beautiful times both comedic and seriously heartfelt. estranged son’s (Michael Nardelli) wedding. phones go haywire and their camping gear soon-to-be college graduates out for a night As Thomas and the rest of the family come Family dynamics have never been more goes missing. They lose all sense of direc- of fun, who find themselves in the wrong to terms with Seth’s homosexuality in their intense as this roller-coaster drama careens tion, and after a snowy, frostbitten night, place at the wrong time. In an instant, the own ways, Seth must work through his own between Lynn’s on-going warfare with her the bitter cold numbing their bodies and four collide in a dreadful scenario with an differences with both his brother and his ex-husband (Thomas Hayden Church) and minds, they begin having strange visions. acutely uncertain outcome. With incredible partner. his prickly wife (Demi Moore), the alarming It becomes difficult for them to discern performances by a multicultural cast, this Following the success of Chalk, Mike behavior of Lynn’s other three children, and dreams from reality, and little do they know, spellbinding and riveting moral tale deftly Akel once again creates a film full of eclec- her mother’s (Ellen Burstyn) and sisters’ a twisted surprise awaits them back at the touches on issues of race, class, friendship tic and multi-dimensional characters, all of derision and reproach. As Lynn tries to trail head. and shows our connections to the past and which are perfectly cast. An Ordinary Family confront reality, her mother sweeps it away. Touching on our fears that, at any that no matter how small the choice may is a bittersweet dramedy that reminds us But reality has a way of asserting itself. The moment anyone can lose one’s grip on be, it can change our lives forever. that even a drastic difference in world views family warfare escalates and wounds, and reality, director Jonathan Blitstein crafts a – Patrick Miller can’t break up the love of a family. – Emily Suttmeier the minefields that span three-generations suspenseful horror flick that will have your are portrayed with raw performances from heart racing until the very end. the ensemble cast. – Emily Suttmeier World Premiere Coming Up Roses She shuttles her teenage daughter Alice (in Directed by Lisa Albright a terrific performance by Rachel Brosna- USA / 2011 / 93 minutes han), across small-town America, confront- ing bad neighborhoods, money woes, failed WOODSTOCK Playhouse love affairs and depression. Larger-than-life Fri Sept 23 • 5:45PM Diane pins her hopes on wrong man after ROSENDALE Theater wrong man, until one promising suitor Sat Sept 24 • 6:15PM enters her life. But is this really their salva- Bernadette Peters is transfixing as tion? A disturbing yet tender portrait of a the domineering Diane, a woman theatrical mother and her impressionable with enormous problems and a daughter as they desperately cling to shreds titanic personality to match. of hope and dreams of a better life. All events are subject to change. For latest updates, visit 4 www.WoodstockFilmFestival.com WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL 2011 FEATURES FRIDAY NIGHT Fright Night World Premiere World Premiere Photo: Susan Meiselas East Coast Premiere New York Premiere COMPETITION FINALIST Downtown Express East Fifth Bliss the Innkeepers Letters from Directed by David Grubin Directed by Michael Knowles Directed by Ti West the Big Man USA / 2011 / 91 minutes USA / 2010 / 97 minutes USA / 2010 / 101 minutes Directed by Christopher Munch Upstate Films WOODSTOCK ROSENDALE Theater WOODSTOCK Playhouse USA / 2011 / 115 minutes Thurs Sept 22 • 4:00PM Sat Sept 24 • 11:30AM Fri Sept 23 • 8:15PM ROSENDALE Theater ROSENDALE Theater WOODSTOCK Playhouse ROSENDALE Theater Fri Sept 23 • 9:30PM Sun Sept 25 • 12:00PM Sun Sept 25 • 3:15PM Sat Sept 24 • 9:00PM BEARSVILLE Theater COURTESY: DARK SKY FILMS World-renowned violinist Philippe Michael C. Hall is terrific as Morris Sun Sept 25• 6:45PM Quint takes his acting bow in David Bliss in this coming-of-age tale of What is a day in the life of an inn- The deeper Sarah, an environmental Grubin’s witty, musical romance and a 35-year-old with a wicked case of keeper like ... if the inn is haunted? scientist, travels into the lush forests directorial debut feature, Downtown inertia. Bliss still lives at home with his After over 100 years of service, of Oregon collecting field data, the Express. Quint, a two-time Grammy nomi- father (Peter Fonda), mourns the death The Yankee Pedlar Inn is shutting more she feels as though someone nee, dazzles as Sasha, a Russian immigrant of his mother and just can’t seem to find its doors for good.