The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was begun in 1999

1999 in film

The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...

. The festival was first conceived as a part of the Woodstock '99 Music and Arts Festival

Woodstock 1999

Woodstock 1999, also called Woodstock 99, performed July 22–25, 1999, was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original Woodstock Festival of 1969. Like the previous Woodstock festivals it was performed in upstate New York, this time in Rome, New York, around 200...

, with movies being screened as part of that event.

History

With offices located in Woodstock, NY, the festival was spun out as a stand-alone festival in 2000. The 1999 version of the festival was held in a converted B-52 hanger, and Clerks

Clerks

Clerks is a 1994 independent comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also appears in the film as Silent Bob. Starring Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, it presents a day in the lives of two store clerks and their acquaintances...

, Easy Rider

Easy Rider

Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...

, Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction (film)

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...

, and of course the original Woodstock

Woodstock (film)

Woodstock is a 1970 American documentary on the Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel in New York. Entertainment Weekly called this film the benchmark of concert movies and one of the most entertaining documentaries ever made...

film documentary. The inaugural stand-alone festival ran from September 21-24, 2000. It included workshops, documentaries, concerts and films from all over the world. Speakers at the festival's workshops included author Warren Adler

Warren Adler

Warren Adler is a world-renowned American novelist, short story writer and playwright based in New York, NY. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages and two of his novels, The War of the Roses and Random Hearts, have been made into movies, shown continually throughout the...

, Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn

-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...

, and Ron Nyswaner

Ron Nyswaner

Ronald L. Nyswaner is an American screenwriter and film director.Nyswaner wrote his first screenplay for the Susan Seidelman film Smithereens. After two other notable screenplays for Swing Shift and Mrs...

, who wrote the screenplay for Philadelphia

Philadelphia (film)

Philadelphia is a 1993 American drama film that was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and homophobia. It was written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme. The film stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington...

. James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...

 emceed the Maverick Awards, given out for various categories of film excellence.

The second annual event was held despite falling only nine days after the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001

September 11, 2001 attacks

The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

, despite some initial concerns. The festival's co-founder, Meira Blaustein said of the decision not to postpone the festival, "This is such an incredible event, so many dreams are realized here -- it must continue," and noted that the event was dedicated to "the men, women and children who lost their lives in the September 11 tragedies."

Notable attendees

The festival has featured many high-powered members of the film community. These have included industry executives, network and cable executives, record label executives, writers, entertainment lawyers, producers, and critics. Some notable attendees have included Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon

Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....

, Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi

Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...

, Matt Dillon

Matt Dillon

Matthew Raymond "Matt" Dillon is an American actor and film director. He began acting in the late 1970s, gaining fame as a teenage idol during the 1980s.- Early life :...

, Olympia Dukakis

Olympia Dukakis

Olympia Dukakis is an American actress. In 1987, she won an Academy Award, BAFTA, and a Golden Globe for her performance in Moonstruck...

, Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson

Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...

, Ethan Hawke

Ethan Hawke

Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...

, Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...

, Laura Linney

Laura Linney

Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...

, Parker Posey

Parker Posey

Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....

, Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn

-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...

, Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith

Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...

 and Tim Robbins

Tim Robbins

Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...

.

Awards presented

The festival's "Maverick Awards" are given for:

• Best Feature Narrative-The Lee Marvin Award
• Best Feature Documentary
• Best Short Documentary-The Diane Seligman Award
• Best Short Film-The Diane Seligman Award
• Best Student Film-The Diane Seligman Award
• Best Cinematography–The Haskell Wexler Award
• Best Editing–The James Lyons Award
• Best Animation
• Audience Award for Best Feature Narrative
• Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary
• Honorary Maverick Award winner
• Honorary Trailbalzer Award winner