Festival Turns 11 This Year

By WRILEY NELSON
COOPERSTOWN

Glimmerglass Film Days will be held at various locations in Cooperstown from 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 9 through 9:30 p.m. on Monday, November 13. The eleventh installment of the festival will feature more than two dozen films, talks, and events with filmmakers, an art installment at The Smithy, trivia, books, parties, and guided walking tours.

“This year’s festival theme is ‘Messengers,’” said Xander Moffat, festival technical director, programmer and steering committee member. “A lot of the films follow that theme, concerning artists or others who communicate ideas in their own ways. Of course, the filmmakers themselves are messengers, too, telling us about the world as they see it.”

“The theme is pretty broad, but it gives us enough of a direction to get a good mix of programming,” added long-serving Programmer and Steering Committee Member Joey Katz. “Our ‘messengers’ include people, art, and parts of nature that try to communicate with us about the environment, about social justice, and about the world around us.”

Film Days is a program of Otsego 2000, so some programming choices are typically based on an environmental angle. Peggy Parsons, Film Days founder and artistic director, has professionally evaluated films for most of her career. She has attended and judged film festivals around the world and earned honors from the governments of France, Czechia, Italy, Romania, and Georgia for her work.

“She is very tuned into the film world and has a ton of experience we can draw on,” Moffat said. “Many of the films that we ultimately choose are on her radar and we’re able to evaluate them throughout the year. A lot of our films come from around the world, including entries from Italy, the Middle East and Asia. We keep track of them as they wind their way through the industry; many have already been entered at international festivals. Most are newer, but we have some older films in the mix as well. There will also be a few local offerings, including ‘A Cure for Hate.’”

“[Katz] is directly involved in the field as well, whereas I approach this work initially from more of a technical angle,” Moffat continued. “Once we’ve found a few different films, we reach out to the filmmakers and distributors to allow us to watch and evaluate the projects. We’re really looking for works that fit into the broader program and theme for the year.”

“It’s been great having a new eye on the films with Xander this year; I’ve been working on this festival for years, to say nothing of all of Peggy’s work,” Katz added. “People have come to expect eye-opening, unique films from around the world from this festival. We’re offering films that will likely never be available on screen in this area again. This year has a broad range of topics, as usual, but I think it has a lot of art content and a lot of examinations of nature and living with the natural world.”

Katz said he particularly appreciates the way the festival has grown beyond a simple program of screenings; he will run the film trivia event at 4 p.m. on Sunday, November 12 at the Cooperstown Beverage Exchange. He also noted the art exhibition that will be hosted at The Smithy during and after the festival weekend. Still, the primary focus remains the films.

“We’re very fortunate to have the use of the Grandstand Theater at the Hall of Fame,” Katz said. “I would strongly recommend seeing any films you can in that space. That kind of theater is simply the best way to see a movie.”

“Other festivals, which are more competition based, are a different kind of program,” Moffat said. “Everything we’re looking at has already been proven in an artistic sense. I’m enjoying experiencing them as an audience member and seeing how the films interact with one another… I would definitely urge audience members to watch for themes that appear in many of our offerings, including a lot of focus on artists and makers.”

“I grew up in Cooperstown and have always been passionate about watching and making films,” Moffat concluded. “It’s incredibly exciting to have this event here for the eleventh year, that I get to be a part of it and that the community has been so supportive. Hopefully, whatever you see at the festival will spark some ideas. I’d tell any community member who is interested to visit the website, look at all the trailers and not be afraid to try something new or unexpected.”

“We’ve reached the 10-year mark, which I think gives the festival a real presence in the area,” Katz reflected. Now we’re well into our second decade and starting to think about the decades to come. It’s always a pleasure to work on something that’s such a celebration of film and ideas, and such a celebration of the local area.”

Tickets and a full lineup of screenings and events may be found at https://www.glimmerglassfilmdays.org/.