Film festivals have been around for a century, and now, in the 21st, they have come into their own. They are meeting places for filmmakers and audiences who are interested in the world in its variety, different approaches to life and in film as an art form, a medium and a tool of social expression. Global digitalization has given film festivals an exceptional tool for crossing the communication channels from the most distant places and, with multiple languages, films now present a rich diversity of voices, aiding communication in an increasingly polarized world.
Rising Water(colors), Cel #5 by Enid Ryce is part of the exhibit at The Smithy Gallery in Cooperstown. It is reminiscent of the Sleeping Lion at the end of Otsego Lake as well as the Glimmerglass Film Days logo.
Glimmerglass Film Days returns November 4 and runs through November 11, featuring 26 feature-length films, two shorts, an art exhibition, filmmaker talks, restaurant specials, and guided walks around Cooperstown.
This year’s week-long festival, the ninth annual, reprises the 2020 virtual format but brings back the shared audience experience with the opportunity to view five of the feature-length films in person and view the exhibition “Rising Water(colors).”
“We’re excited about this year’s the films and shorts,” said Ellen Pope, Executive Director of Otsego 2000. “Glimmerglass Film Days 2021 is an environmental film festival. We define our environment to include places we live and the historic fabric around us. The economic life that knits us all together, if you will.”
FILM FESTIVAL – 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. The Glimmerglass Film Days invites you to view engrossing documentary film ‘The Truffle Hunters’ at the Hall of Fame Grandstand Theater, Cooperstown. 607-547-8881 www.glimmerglassfilmdays.org
FILM FESTIVAL – 7 p.m. Sign up to view online this years film festival featuring 27 full length films about topics ranging from community to racism, climate change to art, and more. Presented by The Glimmerglass Film Days. 607-547-8881 www.glimmerglassfilmdays.org
COOPERSTOWN – The annual Glimmerglass Film Days will be presented online this year, with a slate of films scheduled for Nov. 5-11.
“Curator Peggy Parsons and the Film Days Steering Committee are building a slate of films you’ll want to watch, ponder, and discuss,” the committee wrote in a press release. “You’ll meet mavericks, pioneers, dreamers, and doers and hear stories of revival, perseverance, injustice, and the human spirit. We also plan to offer filmmaker talks, a hallmark of Film Days.”
FILM DAYS – Fall film fest features films on theme “Adaptations.” Includes films:
‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ – 10 – 11:30 a.m. Film for the kids. Village Hall Ballroom, 22 Main St., Cooperstown.
Kids Hike – 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Get the kids out for ‘adaptations’ themed hike. Follows Susquehanna River from Main to Mill Street. Village Hall Ballroom, 22 Main St., Cooperstown.
‘Under The Palace Wall’ 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Village Hall Ballroom, 22 Main St., Cooperstown.
‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ – 1 – 3 p.m. Village Hall Ballroom, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. Final day. Visit www.glimmerglassfilmdays.org
TRIBUTE CONCERT – 5:30 p.m. Celebrate our nations veterans with featured performer Jerrod Niemann. Features VIP veterans reception in Wright-Wilber Bank Atrium. Show begins at 7 p.m. Cost, $25 at door. Free to vets, active duty military personnel. Foothills Performing Arts Center, Oneonta. 607-431-2080 or visit foothillspac.org
BENEFIT AUCTION – 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Find hundreds of items including jewelry, gift certificates, art, more available at live & silent auctions. Refreshments available. Support Greater Oneonta Historical Society. Quality Inn, 5206 NY-23, Oneonta. 607-433-2452 or visit www.oneontahistory.org
FILM DAYS – Fall film fest features films on theme “Adaptations.” Includes films:
‘Anthropocene: The Human Epoch’ – 6 – 7:45 p.m. Grand Stand Theater, Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown.
Opening Party/Exhibit – 8 – 9:30 p.m. The Smithy, 55 Pioneer St., Cooperstown.
‘The Unchanging Sea.’ 9:30 – 10:30 p.m. Templeton Hall, 63 Pioneer St., Cooperstown. Runs through 11/11. Visit www.glimmerglassfilmdays.org
Philo Vance movies in the 1930s featured William Powell and other top stars of the dayi.
ONEONTA – This fall, the forgotten detective will come home.
“We’re setting up a Philo Vance film series,” said Rev. Kenneth Hunter, rector, St. James Episcopal Church, who found many Philo Vance films are available on amazon.com.
A three-film series, each with a speaker and a talk-back following the film are planned Tuesday evenings, Oct. 15, 22 and 29.
It’s an extension of a movie group, “Tea and Murder,” he hosts every Wednesday at the church, where viewers have an English tea and watch a classic detective film. “They’re nice, polite murders,” he said. “Miss Marple, Poirot, Nero Wolfe – and then someone mentioned S.S. Van Dyne. I didn’t know the name, but when I looked him up, I said, ‘That’s Philo Vance’!”
As S.S. Van Dyne, Willard Huntington Wright – one of Oneonta’s Huntingtons – may have written the first Philo Vance novel, “The Benson Murder Case,” in the home of his maiden aunts, Bertha and Julia Wright, at 31 River St., while on a two-year recovery from a cocaine addiction.
KITE FESTIVAL – 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. All day outdoor kite fly for all. Includes Rev Riders Team Performances, Fighter Kite Battles, more. Admission, $5/adult. Campbell Road, Cherry Valley. 607-264-3080 or visit www.facebook.com/cherryvalleyartworks/
BLOCK PARTY – 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Benefit for Family Resource Network features free hot dogs, vendors, children’s activities, opportunity to dunk Pastor Paul, 3 tries/$1, Noon – 12:30 p.m. Bring friends, meet more. Atonement Lutheran Church parking lot, 1 Center St., Oneonta. 607-432-6852.
CONCERT – 7:30 p.m. Boston Brass treats audience to one-of-a-kind musical experience featuring classical, burning jazz standards. Tickets, $25 general admission. First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut St.,Oneonta. 607-433-7252 or visit oneontaconcertassociation.org
KITE FESTIVAL – 6 p.m. Build your own kite then see if it can fly without wind at indoor kite fly event. All ages welcome, cost $3. Old School Gymn Genesee St., Cherry Valley. 607-264-3080 or visit www.facebook.com/cherryvalleyartworks/
COOPERSTOWN – The annual Glimmerglass Film Days will be presented online this year, with a slate of films scheduled for Nov. 5-11.