Film festival can be so much more
`Cryptid’ earns Best of the Fest honors at Adirondack Film Festival
By Ken Tingley
This was the seventh year for the Adirondack Film Festival.
This year’s festival again had strong local connections with directors, actors and one movie short that was partially shot right on Glen Street in Glens Falls. But it again seemed to lack the energy of a few years ago when theater-goers were shuttling between four venues downtown.
Let’s hope we are not taking the festival for granted because it has the potential to be so much more.
With the Adirondack Theater Festival’s connections it has shown it can connect with the movie-makers in New York City and get them to visit for a weekend.
The Wood Theater is a first-class 300-seat theater and the perfect centerpiece location for the event. Crandall Library is an excellent secondary venue and in the past the Park Theater and the Queensbury Hotel have been used for the festival. All are within walking distance of each other.
The event should be a big regional deal and the perfect follow-up event to the Balloon Festival in September.
The film festival has the potential to be one of the biggest events of the year in Glens Falls and a big tourist draw, especially as visitors discover downtown Glens Falls.
The city, Warren County and South Glens Falls should all be involved in promoting the event and doing whatever it can do to help the film festival succeed, but local people have to support it as well. More marketing is needed, more support from community groups.
High school theater nerds could be volunteers, Skidmore, SUNY Adirondack and Albany college students could be urged to submit their own films in a collegiate competition. Restaurants around the region cold offer dinner-and-a-movie specials.
When it first started there was an energy to the film festival as film-goers shuttled between venues all around Glens Falls. There was the smell of popcorn in the air. The lobby at the Queensbury Hotel was filled with autograph-seekers.
The Adirondack Film Festival is an opportunity to witness unique and different type of cinema experience. It can surprise, inspire and make us think.
We should immediately start thinking how to make next year’s festival even better.
Award winners
Not surprisingly, the hometown crowd was kind to the movies with hometown connections at the Adirondack Film Festival Saturday night.
Cryptid, the monster movie starring Queensbury actor Nick Baroudi, was selected with the “Best of the Fest” honors and “Best Narrative Feature for the Audience Choice Awards.
Baroudi was in attendance for the entire film festival.
The Lyme Disease documentary “The Quiet Epidemic” was chosen as Best Documentary Feature. Salem native Lindsay Keys and Tamarac native Winslow Crane-Murdoch were co-directors for the film and appeared as part of a panel discussion on Friday.
“A Lasting First Impression,” a movie that was partially shot in Glens Falls with scenes at Davidson Brothers, on Glen Street and the Exchange Street alley, was chosen as the Best Narrative Short.
The other two selections had Covid themes.
“We’re Gonna Come Back,” was chosen as Best Music Video for its bouncy tune with young singers looking to the future in a darkened Broadway scene.
“Waiting in the Wings” was chosen Best Documentary Short for chronicling how local community theaters in California survived during the pandemic.
My Friends and I enjoyed the festival. I agree wish there were more venues . Miss the virtual offering upstairs at the Wood from a couple of year ago. It is also sad that you have to leave early from short or miss some to see a film. But , we can't wait for next year.
So glad that the Board has not dropped the festival. Agree that more interested parties need to support it with time and money. Maybe they should put out a call for help now, in planning for next year.