How do you make a modern film noir that’s worldly enough to tackle the strange shape of today’s undulating economics? We checked in with producer Bill Horberg, a Woodstock resident, who’ll be screening his latest work, The Burnt Orange Heresy, at Upstate Films Woodstock as a benefit for the Woodstock Film Festival at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, February 29 at Upstate Films Woodstock, 132 Tinker Street.
Amongst a month of other events, there will be a bilingual flash-mob performance of “Un Violador en Tu Camino” (“A Rapist on Your Path”) in front of the Ulster County Courthouse. This choreographed protest chant originated in Chile and has gone viral.
Sunday, Mar. 1: It is an especially painful time for Towne Crier proprietor Phil Ciganer and his wife Mary, who recently lost their 26-year-old son Greyson to opioid addiction. Ciganer is now committed to transforming a personal tragedy into a call for action and change.
Saturday, Feb. 29: The man is doing what is not just the best work of his career, but really, the best work of almost anyone’s career.
Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 27-Mar. 1, Mar. 5-8: As Agnes is packing up the contents of the family home, she finds a module Tilly had written for D&D, transmuting her high school friends into allies on her Hero’s Journey and her tormentors into monsters. Agnes decides to seek out the help of a Dungeon Master to play the game as her sister designed.
Sunday, Mar. 1: In this celebration of the life and work of the famed Muppeteer (who once lived in Esopus), a variety of artists showcase selections from film and television (The Muppet Show, Sesame Street) and Henson-produced specials (Emmett Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas).
Saturday/Sunday, Feb. 29/Mar. 1: “The repertory is varied and engaging – a spectacular celebration of dance in all of its forms,” says VRDT director John Meehan, professor of Dance who holds the Frances D. Fergusson Chair at Vassar. “We are very excited to bring back Larry Keigwin’s Caffeinated, which The New York Times described as ‘a hilarious, jittery mix of aerobics, cheerleading, ballet and boxing that seems to use every note of Philip Glass’ Glasspiece No. 3.’”
Friday, Feb. 28: Emmy-, Grammy- and Golden Globe-nominated jazz artist and bassist Russell Hall leads an exploratory study of the enigmas of jazz: Eric Dolphy, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Johnny Dunn, Charlie Mingus and others.
Saturday, Feb. 29: The Ancient Law is a landmark in Weimar cinema. It is the story of a rabbi’s son who leaves his shtetl home in Galicia and makes his way to Vienna, where an archduchess at the imperial court falls in love with him. The movie draws a complex portrait of the tension between tradition and modernity. Alicia Svigals is founder of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics. Donald Sosin has performed his silent film music at Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art and the Kennedy Center.
Saturday, Feb. 29: Joanie Madden formed the all-female supergroup Cherish the Ladies in New York City in 1985 and named it after a traditional fiddle tune to address the rise of women in what had theretofore been a male-dominated Irish music scene. Since then, with an evolving membership, the outfit has been an international touring sensation and a leading light in contemporary Irish music, both traditional and unafraid of the modern.