Woodstock Film Festival 2024 to Honor Paul Schrader with Maverick Award

The Woodstock ’99 music festival may have been an unmitigated disaster, but that town and that year brought us something far more lasting: The Woodstock Film Festival.

Fast-forward to 2024, and we’re celebrating the film fest’s 25th year. Among the slate’s highlights this fall is Paul Schrader‘s latest film “Oh, Canada,” which will screen on Saturday, October 19. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Schrader, who will be further celebrated with the Honorary Maverick Award.

The 2024 festival will take place from October 15-20 at venues across the Hudson Valley towns of Woodstock, Rosendale, Kingston, and Saugerties. The centerpiece selection is Steve McQueen’s “Blitz,” with Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” closing the festival.

“On this 25th anniversary of the film festival, and at this pivotal time in our nation and the world, I’m thrilled to welcome the many talented filmmakers who will be arriving from near and far to attend with their extraordinary work,” Meira Blaustein, Woodstock Film Festival co-founder and executive director, said in a statement shared with IndieWire. “Their diverse voices shine a light on the complex fabric of our lives, and their gathering here will once again bring storytellers of all stripes together in celebration of creativity, innovation, and the fierce independent spirit.”

Twenty-two of the films in this year’s program were produced or directed primarily in the region by local filmmakers.

In addition to the celebration of Schrader’s work, Ira Deutchman will be feted with the Honorary Trailblazer Award. Deutchman has been making, marketing, and distributing films since 1975. He’s worked on more than 150 films, including some of the most successful independent films of all time. Deutchman’s latest projects include “Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” “Nickel & Dimed,” and “Radio Girls.”

The inaugural Art of Activism Award will be bestowed upon filmmakers and human-rights activists Pamela Yates and Paco de Onís. Yates and de Onís are best known for their Guatemala trilogy, which includes “When The Mountains Tremble,” “Granito: How To Nail A Dictator,” and “500 Years.” The films have been showcased globally and also used as key forensic evidence in the genocide trial against Efraín Ríos Montt in Guatemala. Yates is the senior creative director of Skylight, a non-profit human rights media organization that aims to combine cinematic arts with a quest for justice; de Onís is executive director. Their latest documentary, “Borderland | The Line Within,” directed by Yates and produced by de Onis and screening at this year’s festival, investigates the costly border industrial complex that targets immigrants.

The Woodstock Film Festival partners with the Leiden International Film Festival in the Netherlands for a cultural collaboration of select screenings. The film-exchange program this year will bring “Jippie No More” by Margien Rogaar, “Hardcore Never Dies” by Jim Taihuttu, and “Torch Song” by Jeroen Houben to the Hudson Valley.

Woodstock’s Best Short Narrative, Best Animated Short, and Best Short Documentary films will automatically be eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award in their respective categories.

Woodstock panel highlights include Amanda Seyfried in discussion with Jennifer Carpenter; Sheila Nevins and Smiriti Mundrha; and supermodels Tyra Banks, Carol Alt, and Stacey Williams discussing documentary “Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell’s Swimsuit Issue.”

Check out the full film lineup below.

Narrative Features

– All We Imagine As Light, by Payal Kapadia, France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg, 2024
– Anna Comes Home, by Amber Paulette Suzor, U.S., 2024
– Anora, by Sean Baker, U.S., 2024
– Armand, by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, Norway, 2024
– Blitz, by Steve McQueen, U.K., 2024
– Bob Trevino Likes It, by Tracie Laymon, U.S., 2024
– Boundary Waters, by Tessa Blake, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– Brooklyn, Minnesota, by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– Emilia Pérez, by Jacques Audiard, France, U.S., 2024
– The End, by Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Italy, U.K., U.S., Sweden, 2024
– Flow, by Gints Zilbalodis, Latvia, France, Belgium, 2024
– Gazer, by Ryan J. Sloan, U.S., 2024
– Hardcore Never Dies, by Jim Taihuttu, Netherlands, 2023 – North American Premiere
– Hard Truths, by Mike Leigh, U.K., Spain, 2024
– Hazard, by Edward Russel Mensore, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– If You See Something, by Oday Rasheed, U.S., Jordan, 2024 – World Premiere
– I’m Still Here, by Walter Salles, Brazil, France, Spain, 2024
– Jippie No More, by Margien Rogaar, Netherlands, 2023 – North American Premiere
– Los Frikis, by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, U.S., 2024
– My Dead Friend Zoe, by Kyle Hausmann Stokes, U.S., 2023
– Nightbitch, by Marielle Heller, U.S., 2024
– Oh, Canada, by Paul Schrader, U.S., 2024
– Out of My Mind, by Amber Sealey, U.S., 2024 – East Coast Premiere
– The Piano Lesson, by Malcolm Washington, U.S., 2024
– A Real Pain, by Jesse Eisenberg, U.S., 2024
– The Seed of the Sacred Fig, by Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, Germany, France, 2024
– Seeds, by Kaniehtiio Horn, Canada, 2024 – U.S. Premiere
– Small Things Like These, by Tim Mielants, Ireland, Belgium, U.S., 2024
– The Strangers’ Case, by Brandt Andersen, Jordan, 2024
– Torch Song, by Jeroen Houben, Netherlands, 2024 – North American Premiere
– Turning, by Marco Baratta, U.S., 2024 – NY Premiere
– Twig, by Marian Quinn, Ireland, 2024 – North American Premiere
– The Uninvited, by Nadia Conners, U.S., 2024 – East Coast Premiere
– Unstoppable, by William Goldenberg, U.S., 2024
– The Wake, by Brian Brightly, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere

Documentary Features

– 64 Days, by Nick Quested, U.S., 2024
– ADA – My Mother the Architect, by Yael Melamede, Israel, U.S., 2024
– The Battle for Laikipia, by Daphne Matziaraki and Pete Murimi, Kenya, U.S., 2024
– Behind the Lines, by John Benitz, U.S., Poland, Germany, Ukraine, 2024 – NY Premiere
– Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell’s Swimsuit Issue, by Jill Campbell, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– The Bibi Files, by Alexis Bloom, U.S., 2024 – U.S. Premiere (work in progress)
– Black Box Diaries, by Shiori Ito, Japan, U.S., U.K., 2024 – East Coast Premiere
– Borderland | The Line Within, by Pamela Yates, U.S., 2024
– Checkpoint Zoo, by Joshua Zeman, U.K., U.S., 2024
– Coastal, by Daryl Hannah, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, by Raoul Peck, France, 2024
– The Inn Between, by Ondi Timoner, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– It’s All Gonna Break, by Stephen Chung, Canada, 2024 – World Premiere
– The Jungle, by Matt Wechsler, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– Left Behind, by Anna Toomey, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– A Life In Rhythm: The Ray Conniff Story, by John McHugh, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– A New Kind of Wilderness, by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, Norway, 2024
– Oceania: Journey to the Center, by Natalie Zimmerman, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Fiji, U.S., 2024 – East Coast Premiere
– Paul Anka: His Way, by John Maggio, U.S., 2024 – U.S. Premiere
– A Photographic Memory, by Rachel Elizabeth Seed, U.S., 2024 – NY Premiere
– Porcelain War, by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, Australia, Ukraine, U.S., 2024
– The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, by Benjamin Ree, Norway, 2024
– Sabbath Queen, by Sandi DuBowski, U.S., 2024
– Secret Mall Apartment, by Jeremy Workman, U.S., 2024
– Something Better Change, by Scott Crawford, U.S., 2024 – U.S. Premiere
– Troll Storm, by Eunice Lau, U.S., 2024 – NY Premiere
– VIVA VERDI!, by Yvonne Marie Russo, U.S., 2024 – North American Premiere
– Union, by Stephen Maing and Brett Story, U.S., 2024
– Walk With Me, by Heidi Levitt, U.S., 2024
– We Can Be Heroes, by Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons, U.S., 2024 – East Coast Premiere
– Wisdom of Happiness, by Philip Delaquis and Barbara Miller, U.S., Switzerland, 2024 – North American Premiere

Shorts Program

– Death By Numbers, by Kim A. Snyder, U.S., 2024
– Alok, by Alex Hedison, U.S., 2024
– Good Enough Ancestor, by Cynthia Wade, U.S., 2024 – East Coast Premiere
– I Am Ready, Warden, by Smriti Mundhra, U.S., 2024 – East Coast Premiere
– Dancing Palestine, by Lamees Almakkawy, Palestine, U.K., 2024 – NY Premiere
– And Still, It Remains, by Arwa Aburawa and Turab Shah, Algeria, U.K., 2023 – NY Premiere
– The Yellow, by Maika Monroe and Simone Faoro, U.S., 2024 – East Coast Premiere
– Duckville, by Bill Plympton, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– Market Of Hate, by Candy Kugel, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– The Brown Dog, by Nadia Hallgren, Jamie-James Medina, U.S., 2024
– Don’t Be Late, Myra, by Afia Serena Nathaniel, Pakistan, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere
– Ya Hanouni, by Sofian Chouaib and Lyna Tadount, France, 2024 – NY Premiere
– Mashed Potatoes, by Suha Araj, U.S., 2024 – World Premiere