Glimmerglass Film Days Announces Films For Sixth Annual Festival November 8-12

Glimmerglass Film Days will explore the theme "Passages" in Cooperstown November 8-12. A program of Otsego 2000, Film Days features 32 films, 26 filmmakers and special guests, panels, receptions with local food and drink, a companion art exhibit, a pop-up bookstore, a free film for kids, and guided hikes.

"Our line-up for Film Days this year includes many surprises, as well as beautiful and stimulating documentaries and narratives, plus lots of filmmakers and artists with a range of visual and storytelling talents," says Film Days curator Margaret (Peggy) Parsons.

"We chose 'Passages' as our general theme to allow for a diverse focus, and many issues and interpretations-from the flow of humanity around the globe right now, to personal histories, to the passing on of endangered local traditions," explains Ms. Parsons, who is founder and director of the film program at the National Gallery of Art.

The Opening Film on Thursday, November 8 is Human Flow, directed by artist and activist Ai Weiwei. Filmed over the course of a year in 23 different countries and 40 refugee camps, Human Flow explores the refugee crisis on a global level as well as its profoundly personal human impact.

On November 9, Friday Forums offer the chance to view films and discuss them with the filmmakers who made them. Ric Burns will present his film-in-progress Driving While Black, which examines the travel guides written to help African Americans navigate through Jim Crow America. Dr. Gretchen Sorin, the senior historical advisor for the film and distinguished professor and director of the Cooperstown Graduate Program, will also offer insights. Travis Wilkerson will discuss his critically acclaimed documentary, Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? (2017, 90 minutes), which recounts the disturbing story of how his great-grandfather murdered an African American man in 1946 and got away with it.

Friday films also include 12th and Clairmount (Brian Kaufman, Kathy Kieliszewski, and Bill McGraw, 2017, USA, 82 minutes) with Mr. Kaufman and Ms. Kieliszewski attending, I Pay for Your Story (Lech Kowalski, 2017, France, 86 minutes) with Mr. Kowalski and producer Odile Allard attending, and RBG (Julie Cohen and Betsy West, 2018, USA, 98 minutes) with special guest Jim Ginsburg, son of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

On Saturday, November 10, filmmakers Marsha Gordon and Louis Cherry will present their film

Rendered Small (2017, USA, 16 minutes) about the largest private collection of American folk-art buildings. Lovers of the Night (Anna Frances Ewert, 2017, Ireland 56 minutes) will be shown with Rendered Small. There will be a free panel discussion with the collectors and film subjects, Steven Burke and Randy Campbell, following the screening. Sandy Cannon-Brown, Tom Horton, and Dave Harp will present their film High Tide in Dorchester (2017, USA, 57 minutes)?about a low-lying county on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where the impact of rising sea levels and erosion due to climate change is causing people to take action. Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf (Thomas Piper, 2017, USA, 75 minutes) is a profile of the Dutch landscape designer whose commissions around the world are changing garden design. Award-winning director Thomas Piper, who met Oudolf after making a feature documentary on New York City's High Line, will attend.

Saturday films also include: All This Can Happen (Siobhan Davies/David Hinton, 2012, United Kingdom, 50 minutes), which will be shown with Wilderness (Temujin Doran, 2016, Scotland, 5 minutes); Faces Places (Visages Villages) (Agnès Varda and JR, 2017, France, 90 minutes); and The Other Side of Hope (Aki Kaurismäki, 2017, Finland, 100 minutes). Jane Steuerwald, executive director of the Black Maria Film Festival (BMFF), and filmmaker and animator Willy Harland will present selected winning shorts from the BMFF on Saturday night.

Sunday, November 11 kicks off with a Farm-to-Table Brunch and screening of The Sixth Side of the Pentagon (Chris Marker, 1968, USA, 28 minutes). This popular annual feature of Film Days includes a discussion led by Peter Rutkoff, professor of American Studies at Kenyon College and a member of the Film Days Steering Committee. Sunday continues with filmmakers in attendance to answer questions about their films: Sky and Ground (Talya Tibbon and Joshua Bennett, 2017, USA/Macedonia, 86 minutes), Good Evening to the People Living in the Camp (Joost Conijn, 2017, Netherlands, 45 minutes), Modified (Aube Giroux, 2017, Canada, 87 minutes), and Bagages (Paul Tom and Mélissa Lefebvre, 2018, Canada, 52 minutes) shown with Migration (Yeon Jin Kim, 2008, 8 minutes). Leaning into the Wind (Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2017, United Kingdom, 93 minutes) about the British land artist Andy Goldsworthy also will be shown on Sunday.

The Closing Film is Genesis 2.0 (Christian Frei and Maxim Arbugaev, 2018, Switzerland, 112 minutes). The film examines efforts worldwide in synthetic biology, including a Harvard genetics lab that hopes to create a hybrid mammoth-elephant embryo using ancient DNA from wooly mammoth tusks and carcasses found in the melting Siberian permafrost.

On Monday, November 12, there will be a free Glimmerglass Kids Film: An American Tail (Don Bluth, 1986, USA, 80 minutes) as well as a Shorts + Cake program featuring: 2,300 Miles to Work (Tim Brown, 2018, USA, 11 minutes), Knife Skills (Thomas Lennon, 2017, USA, 40 minutes), Under the Husk (Katsitsionni Fox, 2017, USA, 26 minutes), and Paint the Alpacas.(Aidan Macaluso, 2016, USA, 18 minutes). Director Katsitsionni FOX will attend and answer questions after her film, and cake and coffee will be served. Descriptions of the films and trailers are available at glimmerglassfilmdays.org.

Parties, Art Exhibit, Hikes, and More

Opening and Closing Parties will take place at The Smithy, where the Film Days companion exhibit Journeys En Route is on display. These events are a chance to enjoy local food and drink and mix with filmmakers and film enthusiasts surrounded by the work of artists Ted Lott and Yeon Jin Kim. After viewing The Other Side of Hope by award-winning Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki, filmgoers can enjoy a Taste of Scandinavia Buffet dinner at Templeton Hall. To offer Film Days audiences the chance to enjoy the outdoors, the Otsego Land TRUST and the Otsego County Conservation Association will lead guided hikes. There also will be a pop-up bookstore featuring titles that complement the films. "As usual, there will be loads of opportunity for discussion and interaction as well as enjoying the regional ambience and all that goes with it," explains Film Days curator Peggy Parsons.

Venues and Tickets

Films will be screened at multiple landmark Cooperstown locations, including the new Grandstand Theater at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Otesaga Hotel, the Fenimore Art Museum, Templeton Hall, and the Village Hall.

"We have a dedicated local audience as well as people from throughout New York State, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and further afield who come to Cooperstown expressly for Film Days," says Ellen Pope, executive director of Otsego 2000, the environmental and preservation advocacy non-profit that organizes Film Days. "We are delighted by those who come year after year and also are eager to welcome new audience members to Film Days. Filmmakers and visitors tell us they appreciate the festival for the caliber and range of the selected films, the fun parties, the intimate and casual atmosphere, as well as the opportunity to explore Cooperstown's Main Street, museums, and the natural beauty of the region." She said since many events sell out, buying tickets in advance is recommended.

Film tickets are $6 in advance, $7 at the door. Evening buffet dinner parties are $35 in advance, $40 at the door, and the Sunday Brunch/Film Discussion costs $25 in advance, $30 at the door. ?The Patron Pass ($350) includes admission to all films and events and a donation to support Film Days. Purchase tickets and passes online glimmerglassfilmdays.org, or in person on Saturdays 9 am to 2 pm at the Cooperstown Farmers' Market, located just off Main Street in Cooperstown.

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Cooperstown and the surrounding region offer an inviting?range of lodging and dining options. Visit?thisiscooperstown.com?or?cooperstownchamber.org for more information.??Information on hiking, biking, paddling, and other outdoor activities can be found at otsegooutdoors.org.?

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About Otsego 2000

Otsego 2000, based in Cooperstown, NY is an environmental and preservation advocacy non-profit founded in 1981.?Otsego 2000 believes?that the Otsego Lake region is a masterpiece of nature, and that its surrounding landscapes, valleys, villages, and farms constitute a unique confluence of historic, environmental, cultural, agricultural, rural, and scenic resources. We believe that the long-term economic well-being of the region and the quality of life for its residents derives from these resources and their stewardship. Thus, we seek to protect these attributes for the benefit of present and future generations. As no place is an island, we extend our concern and programs to the region's larger setting in Central New York. We advance our mission through informed advocacy, public education, innovative projects, economic alternatives, and strategic campaigns.?

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About Glimmerglass Film Days

Glimmerglass Film?Days?was started in the same spirit that the launched the Cooperstown Farmers' Market 27?years ago-to build an event that contributes significantly to local cultural life and attracts both residents and visitors to experience Main Street and the natural, cultural and historic resources in the Otsego Lake region. The mission of Glimmerglass Film Days, curated by the National Gallery of Art's Peggy Parsons (a Cooperstown Graduate?Program?alumna), is to showcase exceptional independent films that explore humanity's complex relationship with the natural world.? Films and discussions explore both the natural and built environments, and include documentaries, classic features, short?films, and experimental films.? In addition, the weekend puts an emphasis on exploring the region, and events feature local foods and local drinks and spirits.??

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