Film Otsego To Host Second Annual New York Women Film Festival 

By HANNA TADESSE
SUNY Institute for Local News 
ONEONTA

The Otsego County film commission, Film Otsego, will celebrate Women’s History Month and the work of female creators this week with the second annual Made By New York Women Film Festival at the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center. 

The two-night event will be held on Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7, featuring 15 films written, directed or produced by women from across New York State. Supported by a $6,575.00 grant from the Community Foundation of Otsego County, the festival is designed to showcase the work of New York residents alongside those who filmed their projects within the state. 

“I know that there’s a lot of stuff out there for women in film, but this is the first one that I know of that’s geared toward New York filmmakers who are women,” said Greg Klein, Otsego County’s film commissioner. 

The festival kicks off on Friday with a night dedicated to comedy. Doors open for a happy hour meet-and-greet with the filmmakers, featuring free food and a cash bar. A series of five comedic shorts begins at 7 p.m., followed by the feature film, “The List,” at 8:15 p.m. 

Saturday night shifts focus to drama and documentaries, again starting with a 6 p.m. meet-and-greet. Seven dramatic shorts will screen at 7 p.m., followed by a “doc block” of three short documentaries at 8:45 p.m.  

“If people just wanted to laugh and forget about all the darkness of what’s going on in the world right now, they can just come and laugh on Friday night,” said Klein. “But if people want to cry and really have their viewpoints challenged and see some dramatic work, they can come on Saturday night and see the drama night.” 

Each screening program both evenings will be followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers. 

Festival programmer Kaman Burger said the selection process focused on “new voices or women still finding their voice.”

Further describing her curatorial approach, Burger added, “I was looking for projects that had vibrancy. Like a dash of spice. I wasn’t looking for perfection, but [rather] anything that had that impulse that I associate with womanhood.” 

This year’s lineup includes notable talent such as veteran actresses Lesley Ann Warren, who received an Oscar nomination for 1983’s “Victor/Victoria,” and Molly Bernard, known for her role in the television series “Younger.” Alongside those established film and television personalities will be young, emerging talents like Ondine Bader, director of the short film “Vivving,” and Binghamton University graduate Katherine Quinn, whose film “eleven:eleven” will appear during Friday’s comedy shorts block. 

Klein also highlighted some documentary selections that audiences should look out for. These include “Resonancia,” which follows a Grammy-winning composer in Havana, Cuba, and “Dindigul Diaries,” a Fulbright Award-winning project documenting the lives of four women in Southern India over 23 years.

“It’s a dark film. It’s a disturbing film,” Klein said about “Dindigul Diaries, directed by Long Island native Annette Danto, “but it’s also a really amazing film in terms of what she was able to accomplish.”  

For local organizers, the festival is about more than just entertainment: It is part of a broader effort to expand the film industry in Otsego County. 

“We want to bring filmmakers here, show them how beautiful it is here, show them how easy it is to make films here, and show them how much cheaper it is to make films here,” Klein said. 

The director of the Made By New York Women Film Festival is Oneonta-based actress Cheyenne Phillips.

Phillips is excited about being part of this year’s festival. In a press release, she stated, “This festival has already brought wonderful opportunities for our female filmmakers. We have had such talented people attend last year, and I can’t wait to meet more great filmmakers this year.” 

The festival will be held in the Foothills Loft, accessible via the Market Street entrance at 24 Market Street in downtown Oneonta. Both nights, the festivities start at 6 p.m. Admission is free. 

This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Lab, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.