FilmColumbia

Our 12th annual festival is now over. It was a landmark of sorts, in that we successfully upgraded our website and managed to convert to online ticket sales without mishap thanks to Jean Strong and Ira Sher. We also, it should be noted, set a record for ticket sales.

As for the films themselves, there was something for everyone, from the light side--The Artist, My Week With Marilyn, and We Have a Pope, three very amusing pictures--to the dark side, represented by Melancholia and Martha Marcy May Marlene, to the very dark side: We Need to Talk About Kevin. Then there were two terrific films by local filmmakers, Deborah Shaffer’s To Be Heard ,and David Grubin’s Downtown Express.

And of course, no festival would be complete without movie stars, so George Clooney, Vanessa Redgrave, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Michelle Williams, Ralph Fiennes, et al made their virtual appearances. We are grateful to the distributors—Focus Features, Sony Classics, the Weinstein Company, Fox Searchlight, Paramount Vantage, Magnolia, Oscilloscope, Strand Releasing, Janus Films--who have given us their generous support over the years, the loyal filmgoers who make FilmColumbia a must see event on their calendars, as well as the small army of folks who actually put on the festival, especially Calliope Nicholas, our director, who makes the trains run on time; Matt Converse, our projectionist, who keeps everything in focus, Peter Blandori, for consistently great graphics, and the rest of the Chatham Film Club. Without their hard work and enthusiasm, where would we be? See you next year! —Peter Biskind


FilmColumbia 2011 at the Crandell Theatre. Photo Credit: Peter Blandori