2024 Panels

INDEPENDENTS DAYS

As the Woodstock Film Festival commemorates 25 years of fierce independence, we are marking our next generation by celebrating the link between today’s trailblazing filmmakers and the pioneers whose passion, ingenuity, and pure love of filmmaking inspired them. Independents Days is a unique series of talks woven throughout the festival, shining a light on the process of creating brave, distinctive art. The series pairs a new generation of filmmakers with their predecessors, with in-depth conversations between those filmmakers.

Academy Award-nominated director and screenwriter Paul Schrader’s acclaimed films include AMERICAN GIGOLO, MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS, AFFLICTION, FIRST REFORMED, THE CARD COUNTER and MASTER GARDENER. He also collaborated with Martin Scorsese, writing TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, and THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.

Academy Award, BAFTA, WGA, and Emmy nominee Ramin Bahrani is the writer, director and producer of such films as MAN PUSH CART, CHOP SHOP, 99 HOMES, and THE WHITE TIGER.

Bearsville Theater,  Wednesday October 16th at 12:15pm

Sponsored by Amazon MGM Studios

Carla Gutiérrez is an Emmy-nominated documentary director/editor. Her directorial debut, Frida, premiered at Sundance 2024 and she edited the Oscar-nominated films RBG and La Corona. Carla is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and the American Cinema Editors.

Roger Ross Williams is an Oscar, Emmy, Peabody, and NAACP Image award-winning director, producer, and writer – and the first African American director to win an Academy Award, with his film Music By Prudence.

Kleinert James Art Center, Sunday, October 20 at 12:30

With a screening of the short film I AM READY, WARDEN dir. Smriti Mundhra

Smriti Mundhra is a DGA-winning, Academy Award-nominated and three-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker. She created and directed Netflix’s The Romantics; created, directed, and executive produced the Emmy-nominated Netflix show, Indian Matchmaking; and her debut feature documentary, A SUITABLE GIRL, premiered at Tribeca.

Barbara Kopple, a two-time Academy Award and Emmy-winning filmmaker, directs and produces documentaries and narrative films. Her latest film, Gumbo Coalition, follows civil rights leaders Marc Morial and Janet Murguia during a pivotal moment in American history.

Co-presented by NYWIFT

With Yvonne Russo, Heidi Ewing, Ondi Timoner, Rebecca Miller and Christine La Monte moderated by NYWIFT’s Executive Director Cynthia Lopez

Today’s women filmmakers are calling the shots, whether with a movie camera on their shoulder, a pen in their hand, an idea in their head, or a computer and a desk at their feet. In this conversation co-presented by New York Women in Film & Television, meet some of today’s most inspiring filmmakers, all current participating filmmakers or alumni of the Woodstock Film Festival, as they discuss the trajectory of their careers.

Yvonne Russo is an acclaimed producer, director, and writer, recognized for her groundbreaking work in film, television, and animation. Her projects span global productions in 17 countries, including award-winning documentaries, feature films, and children’s programming. Russo is a member of the Sicangu Lakota Tribal Nation, a Redford Center grantee, and a Sundance and Tribeca Fellow. Currently, she’s directing a four-part docu-series for ONYX/HULU on Indigenous activist Annie Mae Aquash and developing numerous high-profile projects with Warner Brothers and FX.

Heidi Ewing is an Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker. Credits include JESUS CAMP, LOVE FRAUD, ONE OF US, DETROPIA, THE BOYS OF BARAKA and ENDANGERED. Her first narrative, I CARRY YOU WITH ME, opened at Sundance and was released to critical acclaim by Sony Pictures Classics in 2021.

Ondi Timoner is a critically-acclaimed filmmaker, with the rare distinction of winning Sundance's Grand Jury Prize twice. Ondi has been Oscar-shortlisted, Emmy and WGA-nominated, and was the 2022 recipient of Humanitas Award and the Visionary Award for Observational Filmmaker from DOCNYC.

Rebecca Miller is an Independent Spirit and Gotham Award-winning and Emmy-nominated filmmaker who has written and directed seven feature films: ANGELA (1995), winner of the Sundance Film Festival Filmmakers Trophy and Cinematography Award, as well as the Gotham Award; PERSONAL VELOCITY (2002), winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Cinematography Award, as well as the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award; THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE (2005); THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (2009) ; MAGGIE’S PLAN (2015); ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER (2017) a documentary for HBO; and SHE CAME TO ME (2023). Several of her films are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

Miller is also the screenwriter of the feature film PROOF (2005) adapted from the stage play.

She is also a painter and author of the short story collections PERSONAL VELOCITY (2001) and TOTAL (2022) and the novels THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (2009) and JACOB’S FOLLY (2013).

Christine La Monte is the founder of La Monte Productions, and producer of feature documentaries VIVA VERDI!; AI WEIWEI’S TURANDOT; and FIGLI DEL FIUME/CHILDREN OF THE RIVER. Former Studio Marketing Executive: Universal Pictures, Walt Disney/Touchstone Pictures/Orion Pictures; also EVP of Film Division at Rogers & Cowan.

Nancy Abraham is Executive Vice President and Co-Head of Documentary Programming for HBO. She is responsible for overseeing the development and production of HBO Documentary Films which have garnered prestigious industry awards including Primetime Emmys®, News and Documentary Emmys®, George Foster Peabody Awards, Alfred I. DuPont Awards and Academy Awards®. She was named to this position in 2018.

Prior to joining HBO’s documentary division in 1995, and being promoted to vice president, HBO Documentary Programming, in 1998, Abraham was director, Film Acquisition, acquiring feature films and other programs for HBO’s international channels. She also spent three years in Budapest as Director of Programming, for HBO Hungary.

Moderated by:
Cynthia Lopez (NYWIFT): Cynthia López is the Chief Executive Officer of New York Women in Film & Television, an award-winning media strategist, and former Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, where she implemented strategies to support film and TV production throughout the fiveboroughs. López is the recipient of many coveted industry awards including: 11 News and Documentary Emmy Awards, a Special Emmy Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking, three Peabody Awards, and two
duPont-Columbia Awards.

With Amanda Seyfried and Aya Cash. Moderated by Martha Frankel.

A frank and in-depth conversation with actors Amanda Seyfried and Aya Cash, focusing on their storied careers and their acting craftsmanship. As successful actors, the two will discuss teamwork (actors with actors, actors with directors), and share anecdotes from some of their more well known films. A not-to-be-missed glimpse into the behind the scenes of the career trajectory of award-winning actors.

Amanda Seyfried is an award-winning actress known for her roles in MANK and THE DROPOUT, as well as the beloved MAMMA MIA! Her career spans film, television, and stage, with diverse upcoming projects highlighting her versatility.

Aya Cash can currently be seen starring in Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes’ HBO comedy series, THE FRANCHISE and next year, she will star in, and executive produce the much-anticipated THE BOYS prequel series, VOUGHT RISING for Amazon Prime.

Cash most recently appeared opposite Elle Fanning in the Hulu limited series THE GIRL FROM PLAINVILLE, alongside Michelle Pfeiffer in the Showtime limited series THE FIRST LADY, and in the Fox comedy WELCOME TO FLATCH. Aya’s major television credits include Amazon’s Emmy-nominated, hit series THE BOYS, for which she won a Critics Choice Super Award; FX’s Emmy nominated mini-series FOSSE/VERDON alongside Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams, and FXX’s critical hit comedy, YOU’RE THE WORST created by Stephen Falk, which earned her 2016 TCA and Critics Choice Award nominations.

Sponsored by Netflix

With Sandi DuBowski, Yance Ford, and Benjamin Ree moderated by Jessica Edwards.

Amidst the softest distribution market in decades, at the peak of its popularity, documentary filmmaking has reached an inflection point. In this wide-ranging conversation with some of the most prolific filmmakers in the industry, we take a “bird's-eye” view of the challenges and opportunities. Addressing audience engagement and career sustainability while contextualizing our current climate in broader documentary history, the panel addresses how docs will survive and thrive into the future.

Sandi DuBowski is the director/producer of Sabbath Queen and Trembling Before G-D, producer of A Jihad For Love, and co-producer of Budrus. His award-winning work screened at Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca, Toronto, and he is a doc branch member of the Academy.

Director Yance Ford's documentary Power premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. His film Strong Island was nominated for an Oscar in 2018 and won the 2019 Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Film.

Benjamin Ree’s The Remarkable Life of Ibelin received the Audience Award and Directing Award in World Documentary at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. His previous film The Painter and the Thief received a 2020 Sundance World Documentary Special Jury Award.

Jessica Edwards is a Peabody award-winning director, producer, and publicist. In 2010, she launched Film First to produce short and feature-length documentaries. Since then, she’s created and released dozens of projects across all platforms.

Kleinert James Art Center, Saturday, October 19th at 10:00am

Produced by Janet Grillo

With Runway AI Creative Team member Nicolas Neubert, Philip Shane, Kris Lefcoe, and Eunice Lau moderated by Filmmaker Magazine Co-Founder / Editor in Chief Scott Macauley

AI has been making its way into many areas of society over the last two years including the creative arts and filmmaking. As a versatile tool, AI is being embraced by many artists, filmmakers, and studios to explore new ideas and bring their visions to life. These tools are already streamlining production processes and lowering budgets, while simultaneously sparking discussions about their impact on the creative industry at large. This panel of filmmakers, artists, and AI tool builders will discuss these new tools and their impact on creativity.

Nicolas Neubert is a member of creative staff at Runway and Independant Creative Director (AI). Nicolas's contributions to this cutting-edge field have yielded globally recognized AI movies, earning accolades and coverage from prestigious media outlets like Forbes, CNN, Yahoo Finance and VentureBeat.

Philip Shane is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with over 35 years of experience. He has directed and edited films about iconic figures, won accolades at Sundance, and now explores the intersection of AI and documentary filmmaking.

Writer-director Kris Lefcoe’s award-winning films have screened at TIFF, SXSW, Tribeca, Art Basel Miami, and the Sundance Channel. Her eclectic body of work spans network comedies, satirical art films, stop motion animation, and original music.

A former journalist, Eunice Lau’s first independent feature documentary Accept the Call screened at Woodstock Film Festival in 2019, and she is an alumni of WFF’s Filmmakers’ Residency where she developed her film project Son of the Soil. A graduate of New York University’s MFA film program, her TV series inspired by her documentary A-Town Boyz is selected for the 2024 Film Independent Episodic Lab.

Scott Macaulay is a film producer with New York's Forensic Films and co-founder and editor-in-chief of Filmmaker Magazine. Among his producing credits are The Assistant, Raising Victor Vargas, Gummo, Saving Face, and the Sundance Grand Prize-winning What Happened Was….

The Fuller Building, Kingston, Wednesday October 16th at 6pm

Co-presented by Chronogram

Join a group of accomplished veteran filmmakers as they discuss the state of the film industry today, and the projects they are currently working on. Some of the in depth conversation will focus on the why and how their recent projects were getting done – from concept and funding, to production, post production and distribution. The conversation will also focus on the humble beginnings of the panelists' careers, with an eye towards advising aspiring filmmakers how to get into the film and media industry in today’s ecosystem. Join us for a glass of wine provided by Red Maple Vineyard and networking afterwards.

Peter Saraf is an independent film, television and theater producer whose credits include Little Miss Sunshine, Adaptation, Away We Go, The Farewell, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Loving, Land, Everything Is Illuminated, Sunshine Cleaning, Safety Not Guaranteed and the series’ Vida and Sorry For Your Loss. Peter has been nominated for Academy, Golden Globe and Tony Awards and has won multiple awards including the Spirit, Gotham, and Producers Guild Awards. He was the chair of the Producers Guild of America East and a Vice President of the PGA from 2012-2016 and currently sits on the board of directors of the PGA and the executive committee of the Producers Branch of the Academy.

Blair Breard is a producer with over 30 years of experience. Recent credits include Savant; While You Were Breeding; Scenes from a Marriage; The Half of It; The Drop.

Gill Holland is a Spirit Award nominee for Producer of the Year and has worked in various producer capacities on over 150 narrative features, documentaries, music videos, and short films. He also runs sonaBLAST! Records (gives free music to indie filmmakers) and does real estate community development in Appalachia and Outsider Art.

Kleinert James Art Center, Friday October 18th at 12:00pm

Trans Storytelling will feature exciting voices in queer cinema whose authentic visions are shaping the perception of trans communities.

Includes a screening of Kimberly Reed's short documentary Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr.

Moderated by:
Kimberly Reed's trailblazing film PRODIGAL SONS won 14 international awards and was the first documentary by a transgender filmmaker to be theatrically released in the US. Her next feature doc, DARK MONEY, was an award-winning selection at Sundance, was promptly named one of Vogue's 66 Best Documentaries of All Time, nominated for 4 Critics’ Choice Awards and the IDA Award for Best Documentary, shortlisted for an Oscar, and won the duPont Columbia Prize. She was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and Out Magazine’s “Out 100.” Her films have premiered at Telluride & Sundance, and been released on HBO/Max, Netflix, Amazon & PBS.

Panelists:
Alex Hedison is an internationally acclaimed photographer, artist, director and actor. Hedison has exhibited in galleries throughout Europe, the US, and Asia. Her photographic work is in public and private collections worldwide. Her acting career spans numerous television roles, including a pivotal character in the cultural phenomenon The L Word. A critical voice in both the artistic and LGBTQ+ community, Hedison directed the short documentary film Alok, featuring Alok Vaid-Menon.

Noah Schamus is an educator and filmmaker. Their first narrative feature Summer Solstice received a New York Times Critics Pick. Their most recent documentary short, The Script can be seen online on The New Yorker and The Criterion Channel.

ABOUT THE FILM: When Zooey Zephyr was expelled from the Montana House of Representatives for speaking on a bill banning transgender medical care, she made a nearby bench her “office.” Director Kimberly Reed’s cameras land next to Zooey, capturing shocking, funny, and joyous events.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER: Kimberly Reed's trailblazing film PRODIGAL SONS won 14 international awards and was the first documentary by a transgender filmmaker to be theatrically released in the US. Her next feature doc, DARK MONEY, was an award-winning selection at Sundance, was promptly named one of Vogue's 66 Best Documentaries of All Time, nominated for 4 Critics’ Choice Awards and the IDA Award for Best Documentary, shortlisted for an Oscar, and won the duPont Columbia Prize. She was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and Out Magazine’s “Out 100.” Her films have premiered at Telluride & Sundance, and been released on HBO/Max, Netflix, Amazon & PBS.