The 9th Annual Peekskill Film Festival will launch this week on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27, 2024 supported by The Field Library and the Paramount Hudson Valley Theater. This year, the Film Festival has more than 50 short films that will be shown in the historic Paramount Hudson Valley Theater. The films are eclectic and range from a mix of first-rate features, shorts, and documentaries, to animations, from diverse voices all around the world.
The Peekskill Film Festival kicks off on Friday, July 26th, where the red carpet will be rolled out for the official opening night of the 9th annual Peekskill Film Festival. Starting at 6:00 pm, theater goers will flock in droves to the historic Paramount Hudson Valley Theater where they will have the chance to grab a drink in the lobby and mingle with independent filmmakers, actors, and other theater goers.
Starting at 8:00 pm on Friday, 6 short films will be shown. One of the very first films to kick off the Film Festival is a short film directed by Daniel Poliner entitled “Asynchronous”. The film, featuring Peekskill’s very own writer, producer and lead actress, Sol Miranda, was even filmed in Peekskill as reported by David Carbone of Peekskill Today.
Sol Miranda is known widely for her roles as “mole woman” Donna Maria Nuñez in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and the medium Beatriz on the Netflix horror series, Archive 81. Both series went #1 globally on Netflix. Most recently, Sol co-starred in Poliner’s indie feature Come Find Me.
The final film of the evening on Friday, will be the feature film entitled “Creep Box”. “Creep Box” is a local Sci-fi film from Cold Spring native Patrick Biesemans. “The Peekskill Film Festival will be the last public screening of the short film before the film hits streaming services nationwide,” said Festival manager, Chris Fox. “After his wife’s death, a scientist tries to use ground- breaking technology to determine if there is life after death but once he is through the looking glass, there is no turning back” reads the storyline on IMDB.com.
The Peekskill Film Festival goes full swing on Saturday with over 40 films airing all day from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm. The films will be broken up into an hour to an hour-and-a-half blocks, showing on average 7 films per block. By breaking the films down into blocks, the audience has time to enjoy each short film, but also has the opportunity to stand up, stretch, and grab some food and beverages before they enjoy another block of films. Tickets for Saturday are $20 and grant attendees an all day pass for an entire full day of films. Tickets for Friday and Saturday can be purchased at peekskillfilmfestival.org, or at paramounthudsonvalley.com or in person at the Paramount.
Also on Saturday, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm, the Film Festival will host a panel discussion moderated by Jane Applegate, entitled “The Future of the Entertainment Industry: How to Succeed Despite the Chaos.”
Of special interest on Saturday, the Peekskill Herald short film, “Peekskill: A Friendly City” will air. This six minute documentary was filmed by three Marist College students in partnership with the Peekskill Herald on the subject of housing and gentrification in Peekskill. To view the schedule for both days, visit peekskillfilmfestival.org/schedule/.
After the final film airs on Saturday, the Film Festival awards ceremony will begin. Films will be judged by Film Festival Organizers Carol Bash and John Morgan, along with Film Festival Manager, Chris Fox. Awards will be given for Best Feature, Best Short, Best Documentary, Best Student, Best Animation, Best Director, Best Cinematography, NY State of Mind Award, Best of Fest and Audience Favorite.
On Friday and Saturday nights, filmmakers and attendees alike will mingle, have a drink and a bite to eat at after parties. The Friday night after party will be at Gleason’s starting at 11:00 pm. On Saturday, after the Awards ceremony, the after party will be held at the Birdsall House beginning around 11:00 pm.
The Film Festival tops off the weekend on Sunday, July 28th with an outdoor movie screening of “Nimona” at Pugsley Park. “We coordinated with the City to have an outdoor screening of the Academy-award nominated film “Nimona,” and the Festival will sponsor an introduction by one of the film’s directors, Nick Bruno” said Chris Fox. Nick Bruno is a local native of Mohegan Lake where he was born and raised. The movie is free of charge and begins at 6:00 pm. Attendees are encouraged to bring a chair, a blanket, snacks, and drinks.
“We are thrilled to see the Peekskill Film Festival grow this year with more options for both filmmakers and movie fans,” said Fox. “We look forward to people coming to Peekskill for the day or the weekend, seeing our films and, also, enjoying the restaurants, cultural attractions, parks in and around the city.”
The films selected were announced in early July, and are posted on the Peekskill Film Festival’s website. For more information contact: [email protected]
The Peekskill Film Festival was founded in 2015 to promote the art of filmmaking in the vibrant and historic Hudson River city of Peekskill, NY. The mission of the Peekskill Film Festival is to give established and emerging filmmakers, writers, actors and producers a showcase to share their work in a festival setting; provide exposure to award winning films and performers who reflect the diversity of the city of Peekskill; promote film literacy through workshops and lectures; and give audiences a chance to see important, overlooked, and often excluded works of film. It is an important opportunity to view new works by emerging filmmakers, including features, shorts, documentaries, and animation. A portion of proceeds from the Film Festival and all sponsorships benefit the cultural programming of The Field Library. The PFF and its filmmakers strive to provide scholarship and filmmaking opportunities for underprivileged filmmakers.
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