Crandell Theatre Presents FilmColumbia 2021

FILMCOLUMBIA 21, OCTOBER 22-31, IS A FILM FAN’S DELIGHT, OFFERING SCREENINGS OF NEW, ACCLAIMED FEATURES; IN-PERSON AUDIENCE Q&A’S WITH FILMMAKERS; A FREE CHILDREN’S SHORTS SESSION; AND THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SATURDAY NIGHT “SNEAK PEEK,” A FEATURE THAT INEVITABLY GARNERS OSCAR® NOMINATIONS

HEALTH AND SAFETY PROTOCOLS WILL BE ENFORCED FOR

ALL ATTENDEES AND FESTIVAL STAFF

TICKETS GO ON SALE TODAY, OCTOBER 4, FOR CRANDELL THEATRE MEMBERS AND OCTOBER 16 FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC

In addition to an always rich slate of world-class independent and international features and documentaries, FilmColumbia 21, October 22-31, also will offer a series of highly anticipated screenings and special events designed to engage all film fans, from the earnest to the occasional. The festival is presented by The Crandell Theatre, and the complete FilmColumbia 2021 lineup is available now at https://crandelltheatre.org/filmcolumbia/. For a complete list of the health and safety protocols for the festival, go to https://crandelltheatre.org/filmcolumbia-2021-health-protocol/. While food will not be available at the concession stand this year, popcorn will be offered between screenings.

“Despite tough odds, we’re very pleased that we’ve managed to get the film festival back on track,” said Peter Biskind, Executive Director and Co-Artistic Director of FilmColumbia 21.” I have no doubt that it will be better than ever and provide our loyal patrons with all of the excitement, engagement and surprises they’ve come to expect from FilmColumbia. We can’t wait for the first screening.”

Columbia County’s premier annual cultural event, the 10-day festival in Chatham, NY, will kick off on Friday, October 22, at 7:30 p.m., with Parallel Mothers, the latest film from celebrated filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar and starring frequent collaborator Penelope Cruz in a story about two mothers who meet in a Madrid maternity ward and become single mothers at the same time. Setting the stage for that feature, at 4:30 p.m., is Compartment No. 6, an offbeat “love” story about a tough, vodka-swilling Russian man and a gay, lovesick female Finnish student; the film shared the Grand Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The following day, at 10:30 a.m., FilmColumbia 21 presents the annual Children’s International Shorts Program, a family favorite, with children’s short films from around the world. Admission is free.

Three compelling live filmmaker Q&A’s with local connections be offered this year following the screening of their respective documentaries:

• On Saturday, October 23, at 5 p.m., is The Rescue, which was edited by Columbia County resident Bob Eisenhardt and chronicles the 2018 heroic rescue of a boys’ soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand. Eisenhardt, who also edited Free Solo, the Oscar® winner for Best Documentary in 2018, will conduct a live Q&A following the screening.
• On Wednesday, October 27, at 8 p.m., a Q&A with celebrated food critic and Columbia County resident Ruth Reichl will follow the screening of Julia. This new documentary about iconic cook, writer and social activist Julia Child comes from the Oscar-nominated directors of RBG.
• On the final day of FilmColumbia 21, Sunday, October 31, at 12 Noon, Columbia County filmmakers Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss will conduct a Q&A following the screening of The Land of Abaza. The duo recorded the beautiful cycles of nature and observed the first experiments in ecological reforestation in an area of central Spain. 

Among some of the most anticipated feature films at the festival this year are:

• The prime feature on Saturday, October 23, will be C’Mon, C’Mon, Joaquin Phoenix’s first film since his Academy Award®-winning performance in The Joker that was featured at the Telluride and New York film festivals this year. Phoenix’s character is suddenly saddled with his nephew in this transcontinental road movie, a never-sentimental, but moving film. 
• The Humans, will be shown on Friday, October 29, at 8 p.m. Featuring Amy Schumer and Oscar® nominees Richard Jenkins and Steven Yeun, this adaptation of Stephen Karam’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated and Tony Award-winning play puts a troubled working-class family under a microscope as they prep a Thanksgiving dinner and fight over religion, politics, and everything else.
• The Saturday “Sneak Peek,” on October 30 at 8 p.m., is the annual surprise screening of a major to-be-released film that is sure to gather Oscar® nominations in the ensuing months. Previous FilmColumbia Sneak Peeks have included Brokeback Mountain, The Squid and the Whale and Green Book. 

As part of the festival’s COVID-19-related safety protocols, the number of films, nearly 40 this year, is slightly reduced from previous years, and only individual tickets─and no festival passes─will be sold. The sale of online tickets for Crandell Theater members will begin today, October 4, at 9 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. Online sales for the general public will begin on October 16 at 9 a.m. For details of ticket sales procedures and to purchase tickets, please go to http://www.filmcolumbia.org/.

The festival is programmed by Biskind and Laurence Kardish. Biskind is an author, film historian, contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Esquire, and past executive editor of Premiere magazine. His latest book is The Sky is Falling: How Vampires, Zombies, Androids, and Superheroes Made America Great for Extremism. Kardish is senior curator emeritus for film and media at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Calliope Nicholas is the long-time managing director of the festival.

The Crandell Theatre is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote and develop the appreciation of film to enrich the social, cultural and educational experience of the community, and to renovate and revitalize the Crandell Theatre as a cornerstone of culture in Chatham, NY. The theater, founded on the theme “small town, big movies,” is Columbia County’s oldest and largest movie theatre with 534 seats and was built in 1926 by Walter S. Crandell as a vaudeville house. It features mainstream and independent films and hosts the FilmColumbia festival each year in October. We encourage you to become a member today.