This will be the first showing of “To Be Forever Wild” to the local audience, many of whom are featured in the film or worked on the film crew with Becker. Students from Saugerties High School, Ulster County BOCES and Bard College gained valuable experience by working on the film while the contribution of their time helped keep costs low for the small-budget production.
The documentary was filmed in the Catskill Mountains, but is less about portraying the place than it is about exploring how people connect with nature through chronicling the stories of people who live in or visit the region, from a group of kids sitting by a stream to a geologist, a natural historian, farmers, artists, hikers and cliff divers.
“To Be Forever Wild” is a work in progress, about 90 percent done, says Becker, but he assures that “it’ll feel like a movie, sound like a movie and look like a movie.” The final score is still being produced, and the sound isn’t mixed or color corrections done yet. The next step, he says, is to raise the money to complete the project and then take it out nationally to other film festivals and wider distribution.
The movies
The other films to be screened at the Orpheum Theatre are as follows:
Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. “The Great Chicken Wing Hunt.” Filmmaker and journalist Matt Reynolds abandons his overseas reporting career to return to the U.S. to embark with friends on a quest to consume nearly 300 varieties of chicken wings in two weeks. In an odyssey of 2,500 miles, Reynolds must eventually decide whether he cares more for chicken wings or his girlfriend. (An after-screening party open to the public will be held at Stella’s Station, 150 Partition St., where chicken wings and winning sauces can be sampled.)
Friday, Oct. 4 at 9:20 p.m. “Here Comes the Night.” College friends now estranged meet again after the funeral of their friend. Seemingly polar opposites, the straight-laced East Coast family man and would-be Hollywood movie producer embark on a series of outrageous nocturnal adventures with unexpected and engaging plot twists in an homage to debauchery.
Saturday, Oct. 5 at 1:15 p.m. “Under the Same Sun.” Set in the near future, “Under the Same Sun” looks back at the story of two businessmen—one Palestinian and one Israeli—who struggle to set up a solar energy company that would bring green energy to both sides of the border. As they battle the societal powers working against them, as well as open hostility within their families, they’re confronted with their own issues of trust. Using social media, the pair creates a popular campaign that may just change how two societies can finally come together. Israeli producer Amir Harel and Palestinian director Sameh Zoabi will conduct a question-and-answer session following the screening.
Saturday, Oct. 5 at 3:45 p.m. “Town Hall.” An unflinching eye is cast in the film on two Tea Party activists from Pennsylvania during the 2012 presidential election. One is a political novice rocketed to media stardom after a sensational confrontation at a Town Hall meeting with her senator. The other is a young stay-at-home mom turned Tea Party spokesperson, influenced by the voices of conservative media.
Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. “To Be Forever Wild.” (sold out)
Saturday, Oct. 5 at 9:15 p.m. “Face of Love.” A widow meets a man who looks exactly like her deceased husband. A flood of old feelings returns, and she’s met the love of her life: again. A romantic story with humor, surprise and reflections on the mystery of love, with Annette Bening, Ed Harris and Robin Williams.
Sunday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. “Lost on Purpose.” Two brothers closing in on age 30 begin to learn how unaccommodating the universe really is. Rather than bend to their plans, it has kept them working on a dairy farm for several years in the company of three close friends. When the co-op owner threatens to dismantle their boss’s operation with a buyout, the brothers come face-to-face with their own demons and struggle to find their place in the world.
Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. “American Commune.” Two documentarian sisters leave their jobs in reality television to revisit their secret rural upbringing at The Farm, America’s largest commune. The film cuts between past and present as the filmmakers explore what is left of their alternative childhood, bridging the gaps between their adult metropolitan lifestyles and their off-the-grid rearing. Through unapologetic storytelling and a hint of nostalgia, the sisters tap into the alternate universe of their pasts and bring to light the legacy of community.
Sunday, Oct. 6 at 6:45 p.m. “Brave Miss World.” A documentary about Linor Abargil, who was abducted, stabbed and raped in Milan, Italy, at age 18 and had to represent her country as Miss Israel in the Miss World competition only six weeks later. The film explores the trauma of sexual assault through one young woman’s journey from teenage rape victim to Miss World to empowered lawyer and activist.
Tickets are available at the Woodstock Film Festival box office at 13 Rock City Road (845) 810-0131; online at www.WoodstockFilmFestival.com; or at the Orpheum before the film screening.
