The dates for the 2012 Lake Placid Film Forum are June 15th and June 16th, featuring the student filmmaking competition and the Film Forum headline program, respectively. Additional programming may be featured on Thursday the 14th, TBD.*
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,300 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.
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This video was created in part to thank Essex County for its enduring support of the Lake Placid Film Forum through the years. While the guests, films, and events featured here are such a small fraction of the whole scope of this eleven-year-old film festival, they are cherished.
Thanks to Jordan Craig and Dave Bower for additional footage.
It’s that time of year! Well, no, we don’t mean THAT time of year (though it’s not far off), but it’s time for the Holiday Village Stroll in Lake Placid.
Each year, the Stroll ends with a FREE movie at the Palace Theatre. This year’s screening of “The Polar Express” is sponsored by the Lake Placid Film Forum for a beautifully realized digital presentation. Bring the family, grab some popcorn, and enjoy this wonderful animated feature from director Robert Zemeckis, adapted from Chris Van Allsburg’s celebrated children’s book.
Showtime is 11AM, Sunday December 11th at the Palace Theatre, 2430 Main Street, Lake Placid.
Filmmaker Craig Macneill seizes the epiphanic or “light bulb” moment with his arresting short films.
An LPFF alumnus, Craig’s 2004 “Late Bloomer” won the Audience Choice Award for best short film at the Lake Placid Film Forum that same year. The film illumines the journey of a young boy through the heart-pumping wilds of his first sex education class in school.
“Henley” is the director’s latest short work, and recently garnered the Grand Jury Award for best short film at the 2011 Gen Art Film Festival in July, with Ted Hope as the head of the jurors. Like it’s predecessor “Late Bloomer,” the hero of “Henley” is a young boy. Inventive and industrious, the titular young character devises how to use roadkill (yes, that’s right – “roadkill”) to divert his lugubrious, disenchanted life into something stunning.
“Henley” was co-written by Macneill and Clay McLeod Chapman.
In between the stories of sexual gestalt and unexpected industriousness, Macneill helmed “Lobos” (2009), another short tale from the perspective of a young boy – in this case a budding rebel who gets kicked out of his remote schoolhouse in the hills of central Spain and must brave the forest which lies beyond.
The departure from Macneill’s “boy’s life” subject matter comes into focus with his 2009 feature-length film, The Afterlight. Sparse and ethereal, The Afterlight walks the edge between the real and the surreal, the living and the dead. Macneill co-directed the film with Alexei Kaleina.
“Henley” has also recently won the grand jury prize for best short film at Clint Eastwood’s Carmel Film and Arts Festival. Over the past month the short film has screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, and the New Orleans Film Festival.
Kirk Sullivan, Hollywood filmmaker, Film Forum alum and Saranac Lake native embarks on a fantastic film project…
Kirk is the recipient of the Robin Pell Emerging Filmmaker award, an annual award presented by the Lake Placid Film Forum for an outstanding short film. Since his win, Kirk has gone on to work on a variety of independent and mainstream films, has written and directed several of his own projects, and now prepares for his most ambitious project yet – the story of a Hollywood production assistant who stages an audacious heist…
Recently, with the support of the Lake Placid Film Commission (part of the Adirondack Film Society), a feature film starring Ryan Gosling called The Place Beyond the Pines wrapped production. Filmed primarily in Schenectady, NY, the story’s final scene called for a pastoral setting with stunning views of a mountain range. Do we have that in the Adirondacks? Yes we do.
Thanks to Mike Camoin, a filmmaker from Albany who helped scout locations for the Pines movie, a location was found near Vermontville which thrilled the director and producers. To read about Mike’s experience scouting for the final scene, its production, and a look at the history of filming in Upstate, NY, check out this “Scouting the Adirondacks” in the Lake Champlain Weekly.
To read about the film’s principal location, Schenectady, the toughness which inspired and pervades the film and get a few words from the director, Derek Cianfrance, check out “Mean Streets” in The Free George.
THIEF OF BAGDAD
OCT 26TH
SILENT CLASSIC
On October 26th, the Palace Theatre screening of the Thief of Bagdad continues the Adirondack Film Society’s eleven years of silent film programming. As part of the Lake Placid Film Forum’s Fall Film Series, the Thief of Bagdad will show at 7 pm on Wednesday, October 26th, with live musical accompaniment by cinematic organist Jeff Barker on the 1926 Robert Morton Historical Theatre Organ. Adults and children alike will enjoy this 1924 silent film classic starring Douglas Fairbanks, a thief who sets off on a magical journey to find the rarest treasure in the world in order to win the hand of the woman he loves. Tickets are $7 at the Palace Theatre Box Office and go on sale approximately an hour prior to show time. For more information contact the Lake Placid Film Forum 518-523-3456 or visit lakeplacidfilmforum.wordpress.com.
THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924)
October 26th, 7 PM
Palace Theatre
With LIVE ORGAN ACCOMPANIMENT by Jeff Barker on the 1926 Robert Morton Theatre Organ
A thief falls in love with the Caliph of Bagdad’s daughter. The Caliph will give her hand to the suitor that brings back the rarest treasure after seven moons. The thief sets off on a magical journey while, unbeknownst to him, another suitor, the Prince of the Mongols, is not playing by the rules… (Erik Gregersen)
Tickets $7. On sale at the Palace Theatre box office on the show night.
Renew Your Membership to the Adirondack Film Society / Lake Placid Film Forum today and benefit from a variety of upcoming Member Privileges!
A FILM BY CINDY MEEHL
Guest Speaker: MARIE POSTIGLIONE-DUPELL
The October 7th Special Opening Night Screening of BUCK is presented with thanks to Marie Postiglione-Dupell, PATH International Instructor, Founder and CEO of Medicine Horse, and Susan Waters and Homeward Bound Adirondacks “Bringing Warriors and Families All the Way Home.” Postiglione-Dupell will introduce both the 7 PM and 930 PM showings of BUCK on October 7th, and host a discussion following the 7 PM showing about equine therapy and programs. The audience will be welcome to share their own horsemanship stories.
ABOUT THE FILM:
BUCK is the winner of the U.S. DOCUMENTARY AUDIENCE AWARD at the 2011 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL that Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times calls “Irresistible.” It is 88 minutes long.
“Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems.
READ A NEW YORK TIMES CRITIC’S PICK REVIEW
BUCK is a richly textured and visually stunning film, following Buck Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life “horse-whisperer”, he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses – and people – with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, BUCK is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds.
Come see BUCK at the Palace Theatre for its Special Opening Night. Tickets are $7 and on sale in advance by visiting brownpapertickets.com. BUCK will continue to show until October 13th, with tickets available at the Palace Theatre box office. (MAP TO PALACE THEATRE)
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SPECIAL THANKS:
The LAKE PLACID FILM FORUM would like to thank:
PATH International (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship), a world-wide organization ensuring excellence and changing lives through equine-assisted activities and therapies. http://www.pathintl.org/
Susan Waters and HOMEWARD BOUND ADIRONDACKS
Bringing Warriors and Families All the Way Home
http://patriothillssaranaclake.org/
Experience a full growing season through the eyes of first-generation
farmers as they enrich and enliven their rural environments.
October 1st, 2011
Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres 4:00pm
Film Screening 5:00pm
Golden Arrow Resort
2559 Mirror Lake Drive, Lake Placid (map)
There is no cost to attend.
RSVP online by September 23rd.
