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Directors’ Notes

Beyond the Multiplex: the 2015 Lake Placid Film ForumOn behalf of the Adirondack Film Society Board of Directors, staff, and membership, welcome to the 2015 edition of the Lake Placid Film Forum—now in its 14th year!

Since its inception in 2000, the Lake Placid Film Forum has been the Adirondack North Country’s premier film event. It’s one place in the region where resident and visitor movie buffs can count on seeing films they’re not likely to encounter at the local multiplex—and meet filmmakers in an up-close-and-intimate setting. The Adirondack Film Society—the people who bring you the Lake Placid Film Forum—doesn’t just screen films: it curates, analyzes, and seeks to help educate audience members about the films it presents.

Inspired ScreeningsThe initial multi-day Film Forum proved to be an instant smash hit with filmmakers as well as North Country audiences. Guest filmmakers have included such directors as Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, John Sayles, and Courtney Hunt (“Frozen River,” an independent film shot in Clinton County); novelists such as Russell Banks, William Kennedy, Jay Parini, and Richard Russo, all of whom have had work adapted for the screen; and such actors as Hal Holbrook, Steve Buscemi, James Tolkan, Kyra Sedgwick, Tony Shalhoub, Matthew Modine, Campbell Scott, Parker Posey, and Academy Award winners Cliff Robertson (for Charly) and Melissa Leo (for Frozen River). Programming at the annual event has typically included such segments as workshops and panel discussions with invited filmmakers; “North Country Shorts”—films made by area residents and/or shot in the region; and “Sleepless in Lake Placid,” the 24-hour undergraduate student filmmaking competition that returns this year under the guidance of coordinator Matt Wohl, who chairs the Film & Media Dept. at Burlington College.

The creation of the Lake Placid Film Forum was inspired in part

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by a sold-out screening at the Palace Theatre in 1999 of The Sweet Hereafter, adapted from the novel by part-time North Country resident Russell Banks, which was introduced by Mr. Banks, the film director’s Atom Egoyan, and Kathleen Carroll (pictured), former film critic of the New York Daily News and herself a Lake Placid native. Shortly thereafter, the Adirondack Film Society (AFS) was born, co-founded by a team that included Ms. Carroll, Lake Placid’s John Huttlinger (currently serving as Chair of the AFS board), movie-house impresario Nelson Page (former Chair, now Vice Chair), Naj Wikoff, and Robin Pell, with active participation from Mr. Banks.

Between 2000 and 2013, the Film Forum was held every year but one. For 2014, the AFS board made the decision to go a different route and initiated a monthly screening series in partnership with the Lake Placid Center for the Arts (LPCA). The series debuted where the Film Society essentially began—with a retrospective screening of The Sweet Hereafter, with Mr. Banks on hand in person to introduce the film and lead a discussion afterwards.

Other films and filmmakers taking part in the series included: the documentaries Life Itself, about film critic Roger Ebert, and Stray Dog, by the director of the Jennifer Lawrence feature Winter’s Bone, Debra Granik (who appeared at LPCA via Skype); Red Army, a documentary about the Soviet Olympic hockey team, with director Gabe Polsky on hand via Skype; and 50 Years with Peter, Paul and Mary, a documentary about the famous folksingers, with director Jim Brown appearing in person at LPCA. Plans are already underway for programming the second year of the LP Film Forum Screening Series, returning to LPCA in September 2015, followed by the 2016 edition of the Lake Placid Film Forum in early June. For more info, please be sure to check the AFS contact info listed below.

In the meantime, thank you for attending this year’s Film Forum. See you at the movies!

Your friends at the Adirondack Film SocietyP.O. Box 489, Lake Placid, NY 12946(518) 588-7275 / www.adirondackfilmsociety.org

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Film Screenings and Special EventsAdmission is $10 per person per screening or event, except where noted. Wednesday, June 3

JawsDirected by Steven SpielbergStarring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw—and Bruce the mechanical sharkUniversal, 1975, 124 mins., color, PGIntroduced by John Huttlinger, Chair, & Kathleen Carroll, Artistic Director, Adirondack Film Society9 PM (at dark) – Mid’s Park, NYS Route 86/Main St. (across & down the street from the Palace Theatre); rainout location: LPCA

Join us for this FREE 40th anniversary screening almost to the day (the movie opened June 1st, 1975) of one of the biggest blockbusters (and audience favorites) of all time. This is the movie that started the trend of Hollywood summertime films that had mass appeal and warranted repeated viewings—changing the face of big-time studio movies forever. Be forewarned: after viewing Jaws you may never want to go near open water again!

From Kathleen Carroll’s report during on-location filming of Jaws in and around Martha’s Vineyard, Daily News, Aug. 11, 1974:

It would be all too easy for the shark to dominate a movie such as this at the expense of the acting. Admits [actor Roy] Scheider rather wryly: “There is a constant battle of lowering the shark’s billing.” But Spielberg is determined to make “a people movie of ‘Jaws.’ ” With the help of [novelist Peter] Benchley, [producer Richard] Zanuck and the cast, he is trying to make it “a very personal human drama, one that is both contemporary and horrifying.”

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Thursday, June 4

Silent Film Program:• Mantrap (feature)Directed by Victor Fleming & starring Clara BowParamount, 1926, 71 mins.• Dog Shy (opening short), starring Charley ChaseUSA, 1926, 20 mins.Featuring live piano accompaniment by Ben ModelIntroduced by Nelson Page, AFS Vice Chair7 PM – LPCA

“It girl” Clara Bow stars in this roaring 20s tale of flirtation and fidelity, set in the fictional town of Mantrap, just over the border in Canada. Silent-era star Percy Marmont plays a big- city divorce attorney looking for a change of scenery, and his buddy Eugene Palette suggests that they camp at a backwoods cabin he knows about up north. That cabin is owned by Ernest Torrence (Buster Keaton’s dad in Steamboat Bill, Jr.) and his new, young wife—played by Clara Bow. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz) and was released by Paramount in July 1926, so it’s likely this picture played at the Palace the year the theater opened. Ms. Bow’s own personal favorite, Mantrap was the breakout film that put her on the map. To learn more about Ben Model’s work, please visit www.silentfilmmusic.com.

Documentary Screening:RosenwaldDirected & written by Aviva KempnerUSA, 2015, 100 mins., colorIntroduced by Nelson Page, AFS Vice Chair9:30 PM – LPCA; encore screening Sun., 6/7, 4 PM – Palace

Rosenwald is the newest film project from the Ciesla Foundation, which prides itself on producing documentaries with an uplifting

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social message about unsung Jewish heroes. This documentary tells the incredible story of how businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald joined with African-American communities in the South to build schools during the early part of the 20th century. The story of the partnership between Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington is both compelling and timely, with the future of public schools at a crossroads in American society today. To learn more, please visit: www.rosenwaldfilm.org.

Photo courtesy of the Ciesla Foundation

Friday, June 5

Feature Screening:Effie GrayDirected by Richard Laxton, written by Emma ThompsonStarring Dakota Fanning, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, David Suchet, Edward Fox, and Derek JacobiEngland, 2014, 108 mins., colorIntroduced by Nelson Page, AFS Vice Chair7 PM – Palace; encore screening Sun., 6/7, 1 PM – Palace

In her original screenplay, Emma Thompson takes a bold look at the real-life story of the Effie Gray-John Ruskin marriage, exposing what was hiding behind the veil of their public life. Set in a time when neither divorce nor gay marriage were an option, Effie Gray is the story of a young woman coming of age and finding her own voice in a world where women were expected to be seen but not heard. The film explores the roots of sexual intolerance while shedding light on the marital politics of the Victorian era. To learn more, please visit www.adoptfilms.com/effiegray.

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Student-made Short Films & Award Ceremony:Sleepless in Lake PlacidModerated by Coordinator Matt Wohl, Chair of the Film & Media Dept., Burlington College; Judges: Susan Robbins, director-producer, and Tracy & Jon Cring, editors, Lee’s 88 Keys8 PM – LPCA

The crowd-pleasing, 24-hour undergraduate college student film competition returns for its eighth year. Four- and five-member teams of aspiring professional filmmakers from Burlington College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Marist College—each under the supervision of faculty advisers Ben Finer, Marilyn Jimenez, and Jeff Bass, respectively, and our new “Sleepless” Coordinator Matt Wohl—set out on Thursday, June 4th, to conceive, write, cast, shoot, and edit a 10-minute film in one long day in beautiful, downtown Lake Placid and environs. The results—as North Country filmgoers will have a chance to see when the students’ films are screened and judged Friday evening—are often astounding. Awards include the People’s Choice for Best Film, Actor, and Actress and a juried award for best film, described as follows:

The Robin and Anitra Pell Emerging Filmmaker AwardThe late Robin Pell was instrumental in the creation of the Lake Placid Film Forum and remained a proactive board member of the Adirondack Film Society until his death in 2003. To honor his memory, an award was established in Robin’s name by his wife, Anitra Pell, his goddaughter Helen Burnham, and filmmaker Ruth Sergel—with the aim of encouraging and supporting emerging filmmakers. Earlier this year, Anitra passed away unexpectedly while on a cultural exchange trip to Cuba. To honor her memory as well as Robin’s, the AFS board has renamed the top prize for “Sleepless” in both their names and dedicates this year’s competition and the Film Forum as a whole to Anitra’s memory:

In loving memoryAnitra Pell (1941-2015)

AFS Board Member and Champion of the Arts

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Saturday, June 6

Roundtable Discussion:The Challenges of Making a Documentary11 AM-12:30 PM – LPCA; free admission

A large part of the mission of the Adirondack Film Society is educational and its chief program, the Lake Placid Film Forum, has often featured one or more panel discussions. For our 2015 roundtable, we take an in-depth look at documentary filmmaking, which continues to be a prominent component of the independent film industry. Despite the strong interest in documentaries, challenges—including funding, distribution, and finding an audience—persist, especially for newer, smaller independent filmmakers and film companies. Panelists will include Kate Geis, director/producer/editor of Paul Taylor: Creative Domai n; Susan Robbins, director/producer of Lee’s 88 Keys; Jon and Tracy Cring, co-editors of Lee’s 88 Keys, and Kathleen Carroll, AFS Artistic Director; with Tom Hanrahan, AFS Board Member-at-Large, moderating.

Documentary Screening:Archie’s Betty Directed & written by Gerald PearyUSA, 2015, 69 mins.Introduced by David Press of Paul Smith’s College, Paul Smiths, NY2 PM – LPCA

The filmmaker, a devoted fan of Archie, makes an independent documentary search for the real-life people behind the characters in the comics, still popular after 75 years. Were Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead based on students whom Bob Montana, the original Archie cartoonist, knew in high school in the 1930s in Haverhill, Massachusetts? The documentary visits Montana’s surviving classmates, a veteran Archie illustrator, and Archie experts to determine the real story, which culminates at a senior living facility in Edison, New Jersey. Might a 91-year-old woman living there be the

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inspiration for one of the Archie comics’ immortal characters? To learn more, please visit https://bigsleepfilms.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/archies-betty and http://artsfuse.org/128152/fuse-film-interview-gerald-peary-searches-for-archies-betty.

Archie’s Betty has been called “Delightful, touching and appropriately comic,” by Sherman’s March filmmaker Ross McElwee. Cartoonist and filmmaker Bill Plympton says it’s “A terrific film…a great documentary.”

Bob Montana, the original “Archie” cartoonist, at the drawing board. Photo courtesy of the Bob Montana estate.

Feature Screening:HippocratesDirected by Thomas LiltiFrance, 2014, 102 mins., color, in French with English subtitles3 PM – Palace

This dark comedy centers on the coming of age of a young man who feels destined to be a great doctor. In fact, Benjamin is certain of it. However, his first experience as a junior doctor in the hospital ward where his father works doesn’t turn out exactly the way he envisioned. The responsibilities are overwhelming and the challenges monumental. It is an eye-opening, life-changing experience in which Benjamin is forced to confront his limits and weigh the value and consequences of saving lives. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc61Di-g-E4.

Documentary Screening:Rubble KingsDirected, written & co-produced by Shan NicholsonUSA, 2014, 67 mins.Introduced by Mr. Nicholson, who will participate in a Q&A

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discussion following the Sat. screening5 PM – LPCA; encore screening Sun., 6/7, 8 PM – LPCA

In the 1970s, the South Bronx became a war zone controlled by gangs like the Savage Skulls and the Ghetto Brothers. This was their answer to a bankrupt, decaying city and the dashed hopes of the Civil Rights generation. This film juxtaposes riveting archival footage with present-day interviews with former gang members to show how peace was brokered at the peak of the bloodshed in an unlikely manner, laying the foundation for what would become hip-hop culture. To learn more, please visit: www.goldcrestfilms.com/films/view/distribution/rubble-kings, www.facebook.com/rubblekings.

“The film’s lively roster of former Savage Skulls, Black Spades, Assassinators, Ghetto Brothers, Hitmen or Turban Queens, expressively recalling and explaining gang culture, is matched only by its flood of down-and-dirty archival imagery.”—Variety

Documentary Screening:Listen to Me MarlonDirected, written, & edited by Stevan RileyEngland, 2015, 95 mins., colorIntroduced by Kathleen Carroll, AFS Artistic Director6:30 PM – Palace; encore screening Sun., 6/7, 7 PM – Palace

With exclusive access to the actor’s personal archive, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and extraordinary life away from the stage and screen, the film fully explores the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon’s perspective. Listen to Me Marlon is much less a factual recital of Brando’s acting career and personal life than it is a creative odyssey into the mind and motivation of an enigma. Like an arch hypnotist, Brando’s own voice leads the storytelling: there are no interviewees, no talking heads—just Marlon guiding us into the padlocked recesses of his own memory and through the story of his life. In homage to the corkscrew personality of its subject, previously unheard audio tapes reveal witty and unexpected turns of Marlon’s thinking—dipping between light and

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dark, humor and self-psychoanalysis. As Marlon looks back on his legendary career, film clips are woven alongside his personal archive: the young Brando’s electrifying looks, raw performances, and brooding charm put us entirely under his spell, leaving no doubt why he once skyrocketed to overnight stardom. In mid-life his meteoric comeback continues to resonate, while the reclusive exile of later years offers up rare flashes of acting brilliance from a waning supernova. The film’s undercurrent and final note is one of celebration, a homage to a creative genius. Listen to Me Marlon is emotionally complex, revealing, and insightful—but ultimately playful and surprising, moving between harmonious and discordant notes with eccentric virtuosity. Like Marlon himself.

Marlon Brando. Photo: Getty Images/courtesy of Showtime

Documentary Screening:Paul Taylor: Creative DomainDirected, produced & edited by Kate GeisUSA, 2014, 86 mins., colorIntroduced by Ms. Geis, who will participate in a Q&A discussion afterwards moderated by John Huttlinger, AFS Chair

One of the dance world’s most admired choreographers, Paul Taylor has remained elusive for more than 50 years. For his 133rd dance, “Three Dubious Memories,” he has opened the window into his creative process. This new dance is an exploration of memory, involving three characters entangled in a relationship, each believing only in her or his own dark version of it. The dominant voice in the documentary is Taylor’s, and viewers will find it alternately soothing, demanding, and amusing as they delve into the private world of the choreographer. Of special note, the Paul Taylor Dance Company was in residence at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts for several summers in the 1970s. To learn more about the film, please visit www.paultaylorcreativedomain.com.

Photo courtesy of tvgeis

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Sunday, June 7

Feature Screening:MommyDirected & written by Xavier DolanCanada, 2014, 139 mins., color, in French with English subtitlesIntroduced by Tom Hanrahan, AFS Board Member-at-Large11 AM – LPCA

Diane Després (Anne Dorval) has been widowed for three years. She is 46 and has decided it is time to remove her only son, 15-year-old Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon), from the institution where he has been living since shortly after his father’s death. Diane is faced with the choice of sending Steve to a more restrictive juvenile detention as a result of his setting fire to the cafeteria and injuring another boy or taking on the responsibility of this violent adolescent herself. She is a woman who always does what she needs to do but taking care of this boy who is prone to violent outbursts could be her undoing. Co-starring Suzanne Clément. Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7rtSqI0ZeA.

Winner: Jury Prize, 2014 Cannes Film Festival • “A powerful film about the ferocity of a mother’s love.”—Time • “A heart-swelling, breathtaking piece of cinema.”—Vanity Fair

Encore Feature Screening:Effie GrayDirected by Richard Laxton, written by Emma ThompsonStarring Dakota Fanning, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, David Suchet, Edward Fox, and Derek JacobiEngland, 2014, 108 mins., color1 PM – Palace

Please see 6/5 listing for more details.

Feature Screening:Felix and MeiraDirected & co-written by Maxime GirouxCanada, 2014, 105 mins., color, in French with English subtitles

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Mr. Giroux will introduce his film and participate in a Q&A discussion afterwards, moderated by Tom Hanrahan, AFS Board Member-at-Large2 PM – LPCA

In Maxime Giroux’s latest feature, an unusual romance blossoms between two lost souls who inhabit the same neighborhood but vastly different worlds. Meira (Hadas Yaron) is a young Hasidic Jewish wife and mother in Montreal’s Mile End district who secretly rebels against her faith by listening to soul music and taking birth control pills; while Félix (Martin Dubreuil) is a loner grieving the recent death of his estranged father. Intrigued by Meira, Félix hopes her religious devotion will provide insight into his loss and, though she rebuffs him at first, a mutual affection soon arises between the two. What starts as an innocent friendship grows into a relationship that has Meira questioning her entire way of life. As Meira’s desire for change becomes harder for her to hide, the young woman is faced with a stark choice: remain within the community she has always known or pursue an uncertain future outside of it. Trailer: www.imdb.com/title/tt3685218.

Winner: Best Canadian Feature, 2015 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)

Encore Documentary Screening:RosenwaldDirected & written by Aviva KempnerUSA, 2015, 100 mins., color4 PM – Palace

Please see 6/4 listing for more details.

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Documentary Screening:Lee’s 88 KeysDirected & co-produced by Susan RobbinsUSA, 2015, 66 mins., colorMs. Robbins will introduce her film and participate in a Q&A discussion afterwards moderated by Kathleen Carroll, AFS Artistic Director5 PM – LPCA

Eighty-eight-year-old jazz pianist Lee Shaw—proudly known as the “Queen of Jazz” in Albany, NY—has lived a diverse, accomplished, and charmed life. From the piano bench. she has bravely struggled not only with being a woman in a male-dominated field, but with the financial challenges that come with pursuing a dream and the conflict of her sharp musical mind’s residence in an ever-aging bodily vessel. As a veteran of a lifetime of music—from the finest stages in New York City to a namesake jazz festival in Germany and then home to her birthplace in Oklahoma, where she was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame—Lee Shaw’s legend continues to grow. Her story is one of passion and triumph, all of which she attributes to her love of the 88’s. Share that passion with her in Lee’s 88 Keys. Trailer: http://youtu.be/5tRRWbn-PiA.

“Swinging, exciting acoustic jazz piano trio led by a woman who not only expanded the tradition but helped create it.”—www.sonicbids.com

Encore Documentary Screening:Listen to Me MarlonDirected, written, & edited by Stevan RileyEngland, 2015, 95 mins., colorIntroduced by Kathleen Carroll, AFS Artistic Director7 PM – Palace

Please see 6/6 listing for more details.

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Encore Documentary Screening:Rubble KingsDirected, written & co-produced by Shan NicholsonUSA, 2014, 67 mins.Introduced by Fred Balzac, AFS Operations Mgr., with a closing of the 2015 Lake Placid Film Forum led by John Huttlinger, AFS Chair8 PM – LPCA

Please see 6/6 listing for more details.

Please note: times, locations, and films/events are subject to change. Except where noted, admission is $10 per person per screening or event. For further information, please visit www.adirondackfilmsociety.org or call (518) 588-7275. Members holding ticket vouchers are encouraged to call in advance wherever possible; but otherwise they should check in at the membership table (or else box office) with their voucher to confirm admission.

2015 Lake Placid Film Forum Credits

Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .. . . . . . . . . . . . ....... John Huttlinger (AFS Chair)

Executive Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . Nelson Page (AFS Vice Chair)

Line Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . Gary Smith (AFS Treasurer)

Line Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............ . . . . . Steve Reed (AFS Secretary)

Associate Producers . . . . . . . . . .................. Gary Dake, Tom Hanrahan, Kathy Sauers (AFS Board Members-at-Large)

Screenwriter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . Kathleen Carroll (AFS Artistic Director)

Based on an original story by . . . . ...... . . . . . Russell Banks (AFS Artistic Consultant)

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . Dylan Skolnick (Programming Consultant)

Cinematographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . . . Matt Wohl (Sleepless Coordinator)

Gaffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . . .. . Fred Balzac (AFS Operations Mgr.)

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Special Guests Born in Columbus, Ohio, Jon Russell Cring (co-editor, Lee’s 88 Keys) began his career acting for stage and television in California, following in the footsteps of his Grand Old Opry performer father. His experience in front of the camera made the transition to director successful. Interested in bringing to the screen films from every genre, he has 18 feature-film directing credits under his belt. Honored with multiple festival awards, including Best Director and Best Screenplay, Jon has had his work featured on PBS and garner worldwide distribution. After moving to upstate New York to help cultivate the film scene, he began editing and producing films and writing screenplays and is often found speaking to the next generation of filmmakers at HB Studios.

Tracy Nichole Cring (co-editor, Lee’s 88 Keys) grew up in a small town in Tennessee. A self-taught filmmaker, she won her first film festival award at age 18—at the Los Angeles Independent Film Fest for short narrative film. Tracy co-founded The ExtraOrdinary Film Project—an attempt to make 12 feature films in 12 months. Although it took 20 months to complete 12 features, she was the director of photography and the editor for them all. A natural at writing unique scenes that speak to her audience, Tracy has optioned screenplays to producers all over the world. In 2010, she moved to upstate New York and added editing documentary films to her repertoire. Tracy serves on the board of Upstate Women in Film and Television and just finished co-writing and shooting her nineteenth feature film.

Kate Geis (director, producer & editor, Paul Taylor: Creative Domain) is an Emmy-Award-winning documentary producer. She began her career at Saturday Night Live and produced documentary programming for WNET, Channel Thirteen, History Channel, A&E, and Metro

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TV. Over the past 20 years her subject matter has been a diverse exploration of people’s lives: Saturday Night Live’s set design team, the last Checker Cab driver in New York, artists, and public school principals. Geis was born in Wiesbaden, Germany and was introduced to ballet as a child going to the Kirov in St. Petersburg, Russia with her Foreign-Service parents. She went on to study ballet, retiring at 13 when she saw the film Chariots of Fire. Running, as it turns out, was not her passion but filmmaking was. Paul Taylor: Creative Domain was born out of a successful fundraising video that Geis directed and co-produced with Taylor board member Robert Aberlin. It was a lifelong dream of Geis’s to make a work about the legendary choreographer. Her father, Robert Geis, while working as a US Information Agency Public Affairs Officer in Leningrad, hosted Taylor and his company on a tour of the Soviet Union in 1979.

Maxime Giroux (director, Felix and Meira) is a French Canadian film director. Felix and Meira, his third feature film, won Best Canadian Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. Giroux started his filmmaking career in 2002 by directing shorts, commercials, and music videos. Before Félix et Meira, Giroux had already made two feature-length movies—Demain (2008), the portrait of one generation about to replace another as seen through a young woman taking care of her diabetic parent, and Jo pour Jonathan (2010), a meditation about doomed brotherhood.

Ben Model (accompanist, Mantrap and Dog Shy) is one of the nation’s leading silent film accompanists, performing on both piano and theater organ. Over the past 30-plus years he has created and performed several hundred live scores for silent films on piano and theater organ—for films lasting anywhere from one minute to five hours. Ben is a resident film accompanist at the Museum of Modern Art in New

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York City, where he has co-curated several film series, and at the Library of Congress’s Packard Campus Theatre. His recorded scores can be heard on numerous DVD/Blu-ray releases, Turner Classic Movies, and his YouTube channel. He is the producer and co-founder of “The Silent Clowns Film Series,” now in its eighteenth season in NYC, and his composed ensemble scores for films by Chaplin and Keaton are performed around the United States every year by orchestras and concert bands. Connect with Ben on Twitter at @silentfilmmusic and at www.silentfilmmusic.com.

Shan Nicholson (director, writer, & co-producer, Rubble Kings) is an award-winning filmmaker, DJ, music producer, and counter-culture/pop-culture storyteller. His work is unabashedly inspired by being a product of New York City’s culturally rich period of the 1980s, which continues to influence the world over. Nicholson’s feature-length documentary, Rubble Kings, the story of New York City gang culture in the 1970s and its influence on the birth of hip-hop, is poised for national and international release this summer. A narrative feature directly inspired by the events described in Rubble Kings is currently in development, based on a script by Nicholson. It’s one of several screenplays he has in development that have emerged from his documentary work. Beyond his burgeoning success as a screenwriter as well as documentary film director, Shan has focused much of his attention on directing online content and music videos, with premieres on pop culture tastemaker sites such as Pitchfork, MTV, VH1, and Rolling Stone.

Gerald Peary (director/writer, Archie’s Betty) made his debut as director-writer with the acclaimed 2008 feature documentary, For the Love of Movies: the Story of American Film Criticism. He was a featured actor in the 2012 fiction film, Computer Chess. Peary has been a film critic for more than 35 years. From 1996-2012, he was a weekly reviewer for the Boston Phoenix. Currently, he is a film critic for artsfuse.org. He is a member of the National

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Society of Film Critics and FIPRESCI (the International Film Critics Association). Having earned a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Peary has taught film studies at Suffolk University in Boston since 1980. He was a Fulbright Scholar, studying Yugoslavian film comedy in Belgrade; served as Acting Curator of the Harvard University Film Archive; and, since 1997, has been the curator of the Boston University Cinematheque. Peary’s nine books include the anthologies The Classic American Novel and the Movies, The American Animated Cartoon, and Women and the Cinema: A Critical Anthology—all of which he co-edited. His latest book is Samuel Fuller: Interviews.

Susan Robbins (director-producer, Lee’s 88 Keys), a first-time filmmaker, has a background in acting and fine art. She began studying acting in 2005, working in the profession until 2012. Prior to 2012 she had been a mural artist and textile designer for more than 25 years. Susan attended college at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), SUNY New Paltz, and The New School for Social Research. She earned an Associate Degree in Textile Design and a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education. In 2013 Susan embarked on making this film and has not looked back since.

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New to the Film Forum Matt Wohl (Coordinator, “Sleepless in Lake Placid”) is a screenwriter,

filmmaker, and performer with more than two decades of experience. He has served as Executive Director of the Orlando International Fringe Festival, Arts Alive, and Waterfront Theatre. In addition, Matt has been active on artist boards—co-founding the Central Florida Theatre Alliance and serving as its Board President, as well as serving on the board of the Vermont International Film Festival. He currently serves on the board of Circus Smirkus.

Matt has a long history of performing improvisational comedy. He was trained at Sak Theatre in Orlando, Florida and performed on the Sak Theatre main stage before starting his own improv troupe, Atomic Cocktail. Matt also performs with Kamikaze Comedy and “The Chris and Matt Show” and has directed, produced, and acted in 24-hour competitions in Florida and Montreal. He has an MFA in Screenwriting from Spalding University and has optioned several scripts, including Two Grooms, a comedy in development with Northern Exposure Films. Matt’s short film $18 was a jury selection of the Vermont International Film Festival and earned him a showcase on the Vermont Public Television show Reel Independents. His original screenplay Funny Man recently won Best Comedy in the “Table Read My Screenplay” competition at Sundance. Matt is currently in production on a documentary titled It’s Great to be Here, a look at the life of stand-up comics and the hardships it takes on relationships. He is the Chair of the Film and Media Department at Burlington College in Vermont.

The Board of Directors and staff of the Adirondack Film Society would like to say a great, big “Thank YOU!” to all the guests, members, volunteers,

consultants, and especially patrons who contributed to this event. Without you, the 2015 Lake Placid Film Forum would not have been possible!

Special thanks to:

Our affiliated venues: the Lake Placid Center for the Arts—James Lemons, Doug Lansing, Mike McCreadie, Marianne Burdo, Anya Villeneuve, Cade

Grady and team—and the Palace Theatre: Reg and Barbara Clark and their staffOur sponsors & underwriters, including: Lake Placid Pub & Brewery, Gary Smith and the Northwoods Inn, High Peaks Resort, the Quality Inn of Lake

Placid, Smoke Signals, Saranac Soudough Deli, and Gary Dake and Stewart’s Shops

Our grantors, grant facilitators, underwriters & sponsors, including: Essex

County Board of Supervisors, Mayor Craig Randall and the Village of Lake Placid, New York State Council on the Arts, Uihlein Foundation, and the

Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST)/Lake Placid-Essex County Visitors Bureau—James McKenna, Sue Cameron, Jasen Lawrence, and Glenn

Pareia for designing our re-launched website

Our business support, including Charlene Trotter for posters, badges, and the tri-fold; Eric Granger of Placid Productions, and Jordan Craig of Jordan Craig Media Video & Photo for technical support; and Debbie & Jeff and the staff of the UPS Store in Lake Placid for program design & printing and shipping help

Our filmmaker/industry guests—Jon & Tracy Cring, Kate Geis, Maxime Giroux, Ben Model, Shan Nicholson, Gerald Peary, and Susan Robbins—

and Dylan Skolnick of Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington, Long Island and all the distributors, publicists & local media professionals who helped with the

acquisition and publicizing of our screenings and other events

Sleepless Coordinator Matt Wohl; faculty advisors Jeff Bass, Ben Fine, and Marilyn Jimenez; and Sleepless volunteers David Press, Chris LaFountain, & all

our actors—with a special nod to former Coordinator Barry Snyder

Karen Huttlinger; Mindy Reyell and Cathy Wheeler of Adirondack Audit; Kathleen Recchia and Sam Balzac; and all our volunteers