Williamstown Film Festival

The 13th Season of the Williamstown Film Festival ended amidst the first Nor Easter during Fall season 2011. Call it lucky 13 ! This is the sixth and final BFA article, highlighting some of the 21 Shorts, which were screened throughout the two week long festival.

The sixth and final day of the 13th annual Williamstown Film Festival got clobbered by a freak October blizzard. There was a small audience for the superb Saturday program. For the annual lunch seminar Jeff Kleizer took us behind the scenes while spending two years creating special effects for a just released Bollywood action film Ra.One. The afternoon screening presented a documentary on three time Tony winner, Carol Channing created by three time Tony winner, Lori Berenstein. It was a win win for the audience.

Over a number of years there have been annual collaborations between Jacob's Pillow and Mass MoCA. As a part of the Williamstown Film Festival the New England premiere of Never Stand Still, directed by Ron Honsa, was screened in the Hunter Center of Mass MoCA. The documentary film includes a sketch of the founding of the festival by Ted Shawn in 1941 as well as a collage of its diverse programming.

The Restaurateur by Roger Sherman provided a tasty start for the second weekend of the Williamstown Film Festival. It was a nasty, stormy Thursday night but Images Cinema was packed for a film about New York entrepreneur Danny Meyer. He and Sherman were on had for a post film chat with organizer Steve Lawson. Then the audience decamped for a tasting party at Mezze.

After three days and nights in the dark there is much to sort through in the particularly rich, varied, fertile and provocative 13th annual Williamstown Film Festival curated by its tasteful and insightful artistic director Steve Lawson. The festival continues through October 29.

For the opening night of the 13th annual Williamstown Film Festival, Steve Lawson, the executive director of WFF, selected a film he first viewed at Sundance. Before a capacity audience at Images Cinema, last night, Lawson introduced the feature film, The Lie, and followed that with a talk back and Q&A with the writer/ director/ star Joshua Leonard and his co star Jess Weixler.

Surgery for a brain tumor left the actress Caris Corfman with long term memory but no short term memory. In a struggle to overcome a cornucopia of health and memory issues she developed a one woman play. It is the culmination of a documentary film by Gaylen Ross which will be screened as a part of the Williamstown Film Festival. Her friend and one of the producers, the comedian Lewis Black, discussed Caris, his approach to comedy, and the play One Slight Hitch which was produced at the Williamstown Theatre Festival this past summer.

Over two weekends (October 21-23 and 27-29), the Williamstown Film Festival's "Lucky 13th" season will include two East Coast and four New England premieres, family and late-night slots, titles from Sundance, Tribeca, and Toronto, and films featuring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Carol Channing, Ezra Miller, Lewis Black, Kate Burton, Tony Shalhoub, Campbell Scott, and Christo. WFF will conclude with a salute to legendary director Sidney Lumet at the Clark Art Institute.

This week the Williamstown Theatre Festival will start to build the first of seven sets. There is the opening of Streetcar Named Desire on the Nikos Stage opening on June 22. That's just three weeks from now. With tech rehearsals on June 21 and 22 which means the set has to be installed on the 18th and 19th. That's the norm for WTF. But right now a crew of 15 is frantically building the set shops to build the sets. On February 11 the roof collapsed at the Delftree Mill which housed the former props and set workshops.

Last fall the short film God of Love, written, directed and starring Luke Matheny won the Reeve Award at the Williamstown Film Festival. There was an aha, flashback moment when he bounded on stage to pick up an Oscar. The most recent WFF also included stunning Indy films starring Melissa Leo, another Oscar winner, as well as Kim Cattrall who recently was seen in a Masterpiece Theatre series. We discussed these awards and accomplishment with WFF artistic director Steve Lawson.

In addition to a superb schedule of seminars, an evening with Alec Baldwin and Robert Osborne, features and short films the Williamstown Film Festival explored new approaches to independent films. A case in point was the final film Nice Guy Johnny. It was written and directed by Edward Burns on a minuscule budget of $25,000 in twelve days.

Now 91, Marge Champion drove over from Stockbridge to attend a matinee screening of the documentary film, Keep Dancing, that features her with Donald Saddler. She was an original board member of Williamstown Theatre Festival as well as Jacob's Pillow. It was delightful. Which was not the case that evening at Mass MoCA when the Vincent Price cult classic was accompanied by a live rock score by Marco Benevento. The music obliterated rather than enhanced the film.

First time director, Nick Tomnay, was on hand to discuss The Perfect Host after a screening of the thriller during the Williamstown Film Festival. He lucked out in convincing the veteran actor David Hyde Pierce to appear more or less pro bono. He delivers a total gonzo performance in a low budget film shot for just $1 million in a remarkably brief 17 days.

The first weekend of the two part Williamstown Film Festival offered three features with compelling performances by mid career women: Kim Cattrall, Melissa Leo and Helen Hunt. All three films also include juvenile actors. Significantly, these superb independent films are looking for distribution deals. Right now they are making their way around the festival circuit, connecting with enthusiastic audiences. Veteran character actor, Brian Dennehy, appeared in two of the three films.

Steve Lawson, the artistic director of the Williamstown Film Festival has created a remarkable program for its 12th season. In addition to a program of shorts and three feature films the highlight of the first of two weekends was a packed house at Mass MoCA for a tribute to Billy Wilder with a dialogue between actor Alec Baldwin and Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne.

In 1969, while a sophomore at Williams College Steve Lawson worked that summer for the then young Williamstown Theatre Festival. From a base in Williamstown he divides his time in New York and LA keeping up on theatre and film. He is the Executive Director of the Williamstown Film Festival which will have its 12th season from October 15 through 24. Over two weekends the festival will screen 33 films.

The founders of the first Berkshire Forum Tina Chase and Mary Collins George intend to move forward with planning next year. Despite a thin attendance for the three days of lectures, panels and performances they report nearly breaking even. A daunting range and depth of information and insights was provided. It evoked expanding and redefining the branding of the Berkshires. A highlight among many was the dialogue with Boston Globe editor Martin Baron.

A large part of the success of Nicholas Martin's final of three seasons as Artistic Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival has been the year round presence of the Williamstown resident, General Manager, Joe Finnegan. With a strong background in finance, for the past year, he has brought a professional status to his passion for theatre. With WTF back on track signified by rave reviews and sold out shows he looks forward to working with the new artistic director, Jenny Gersten.

Joe Finnegan, a former Wall Street floor trader, who evokes the heart-throb, Don, in TV's Mad Men, moved his family four years ago to Williamstown. He hooked up with boyhood friend Steve Lawson to become President of his Williamstown Film Festival. We talked with Finnegan about gearing up for his first season as General Manager of the prestigious but challenged Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Over five consecutive Mondays at 7PM, from February 8 to March 8, 2010, the Williams College Department of Romance Languages will screen five recent films from France at Images Cinema on Spring Street in Williamstown, Mass. The screenings are free and open to the public.

New York's eclectic string quartet ETHEL created an original score for the Mexican Sci-Fi film La Nave de los Monstruos ("Ship of Monsters."). The group delivered a perfect melding of strings and sound effects to accompany the B-Film classic. While the film and performers were lighthearted and campy, the music had a surprising depth, performed with an ear for improvisation.

Producer Ismail Merchant, who passed away in 2005, and director, James Ivory, created their first film "The Householder" in 1963. They are mostly noted for literary costume dramas like "Room with a View" "Howards End" and "Remains of the Day." Ivory was frank and amusing in discussing the occasional clunkers like "Slaves of New York." His appearance was a highlight of the Eleventh Williamstown Film Festival.

So far, more than two dozen features and shorts have received their debuts at the Williamstown Film Festival and there wasn't a dud among them. And Week Two is at hand.

e-Harmony couldn't come up with a stranger match than the one on tap Friday night, October 30. Hear string quartet ETHEL playing original music while you watch the Mexican sci-fi film La Nave De Los Monstruos (Ship of Monsters). We talk to violist Ralph Farris about this perplexing pairing.

With a combination of budget cuts, a reduced schedule and mixed reviews the second season for Williamstown Theatre Festival artistic director, Nicholas Martin, proved to be challenging. In 2010 Martin will work with a new general manager Joe Finnegan. This appointment has been announced by WTF.