By Bradley Towle
LEXINGTON — When Van Dusen's proprietor Caitlin McColl conceived of a film festival in 2023, she had a very short window within which to plan. "Last year, the decision to have the festival in October was made in September!" writes McColl in a recent email interview. "We planned for a small scope that would allow for a lot of lessons learned." Despite the limited time to plan, McColl organized a successful weekend of films with help from the Catskill Mountain Foundation and The Maude Adams Theater Hub called Homegrown: a Mountaintop Film Feast. "I still have members of the community mentioning how impactful and important the screenings were last year."
After last year's success, McColl, The Catskill Mountain Foundation, and The Maude Adams Theater Hub have once again organized a weekend of films for the Mountaintop. The newly named Lexington Film Fest kicks off on August 16th at Van Dusen's with an already sold-out screening of the Schoharie County-shot Shudderbugs (which had its Schoharie County debut in April). The opening night film is the only film in the festival that McColl has yet to see despite a unique connection. "Funnily enough, my mom is an actress and did voice-over work on this film during the pandemic." The cast and crew of the award-winning film, Johanna Putnam, Brennan Brooks, Jamie Unruh, and Eric Elterman, will be in attendance for the screening.
The festival's name isn't the only change in this year's event. For one, McColl began planning well in advance. "This year, I started solidifying the line-up earlier in the year, which gave more time to collaborate with other venues and for creative teams to save the date. It's also allowed more time to be intentional with the programming and give the weekend a stronger through line." With the benefit of time, McColl conceived of a theme for the Lexington Film Fest. "All of the films are telling a story around space," she writes. "One is, who belongs on this land, and who is othered? What possibilities exist in our relationship to the land and structures around us? There's such clear inspiration taken from being in the Catskills. There's also a darker tone this year as well, as we look at what lies beneath (or within, as the case may be)." The "within" will be explored in the Saturday, August 17th screening of the 2021 horror-comedy Werewolves Within at the Phoenicia Diner.
In honor of the film, which was shot in Phoenicia and Fleischmanns in 2020, the Phoenicia Diner will offer "a themed werewolf dinner and drink offering" for attendees to the ticketed event (a $50 ticket includes a four-course meal from the menu with the movie). Members of the cast and crew, including actress Anni Krueger, Corey Spears, and Doria Tremente, will be in attendance, as well as Susie Sofranko, the Executive Director of Stockade Works, to talk about production and the filming experience in the Hudson Valley.
The Mountain Cinema at the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter will host the third and final day of the film fest with screenings of The Art of Metaphor, All-American Ruins, and Come Home. "Sunday has both film subject, the artist Donna Dennis, and artist Kate Taverna (Director) in attendance from The Art of Metaphor, as well as Nicole Pursell and Caitlin Zoz, the Director/Writer/Cast of Come Home," reports McColl. "Blake Pfeil (Creator and Lead of All-American Ruins), will also be present to share an episode of his travelogue on the Nevele Grand Hotel in Ellenville, and I'll drop a teaser here for a potential additional new work to be shared with Sunday's films." Sunday's screenings are free and begin at 4:00 p.m.
"I've been excited to collaborate on what this year's experience will be with the artists and the venues," writes McColl. "I wanted to start a film festival initially because there was the space and support to try something new. There's something really special about our area and the encouragement we give each other to bring new things into existence." McColl cites the "storied history of theatre-making and collaboration" in the area as well as the abundance of talented people who work in film scattered throughout the region as motivations to not only create the Lexington Film Fest but to keep it going. "I felt like we have the community to participate in and drive a festival." McColl knows it isn't something she could do alone. "I'm continually grateful for [actress Patricia Charbonneau] and [Maude Adams Theater Hub Creative Director] Amy Scheibe's perspectives and partnership on this endeavor." For more information about the Lexington Film Fest, including how to reserve seats, visit https://www.catskillmtn.org/lexington-film-festival.
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