September 11, 2020… we invite you to watch a Glass Eye favorite, LIBERTY KID. Directed by Ilya Chaiken. Starring Al Thompson and Kareem Savinon. Produced by GEP pals Mike Ryan, Roger Kass and Brent Kunkle.
“Liberty Kid elevates that woeful genre, the 9/11 movie,
by keeping a ‘Wire’-worthy ear to the street talk of south Williamsburg
and maintaining a shrewd balance of the personal and the political…
an uncommonly acute, deftly played drama of the New York working class.” – THE VILLAGE VOICE
“Chaiken makes us feel for her characters… “Liberty Kid” is a poignant look at what might be called 9/11′s collateral damage.” – NEW YORK POST
In celebration of Glass Eye Pix’s 35th anniversary, the Woodstock Film Festival will present a special tribute at the drive-in, featuring three horror movies from GEP’s extensive back catalogue (BITTER FEAST by Joe Maggio, WENDIGO by Larry Fessenden and STAKE LAND by Jim Mickle), all shot in the Hudson Valley. Fessenden notes, “These thrillers will unspool at a drive-in theater surrounded by the very woods where their stories take place, drenched in country darkness.”
When you sit down to watch a film, how often do you think about what it took to get the film in front of you? We rarely bother to think about this, but we really should. Typically, most films take years to make it to the screen, and the more limited the resources are, the longer that wait it is. This process forms the basis for Justin McConnell’s autobiographical documentary, Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Industry. Beginning in 2014 and ending in 2019, Clapboard Jungle charts McConnell’s mission to get a feature film off of the ground. Along the way, he falls into every pitfall an indie filmmaker can, and offers a brutally honest look at how tough the film industry is and what it takes to survive.
It’s not just McConnell that takes a turn in front of the camera, as he seeks out various friends and peers from the industry to find out about their own experiences getting movies made. The information gathered within these interviews is vital for anyone thinking of starting a career in the industry, and the whole documentary works wonderfully as a ‘how to’ guide. The scope of the people he sits down with are also impressive. Over the course of the film we get insights from Travis Stevens, Graham Skipper, Barbara Crampton, Guillermo del Toro, Larry Fessenden, and the late Dick Miller and Sid Haig. Larry Fessenden in particular has some lovely (but heartbreaking) things to say about the writing process and those projects that get stuck at script level.
From Screen Rant: Its the die-hard horror fans that keep the genre moving forward, mainly by spreading the word about classics, under-appreciated gems, and new releases that may go unnoticed by casual streamer. As for Shudder, the service always has loads of quality horror to enjoy, whether it’s the impressive list of featured collections or the curated playlists from industry figures like like Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden, or Alice Lowe (to name a few).
Be sure to stream a handful of Glass Eye flix on Shudder, such as Wendigo, Most Beautiful Island, Like Me, Psychopaths, House of the Devil, Stake Land, The Ranger and more.
Back in March, when the cavalcade of coronavirus closures began, Woodstock Film Festival cofounder Meira Blaustein, perhaps like most sane festival organizers this year, considered canceling the beloved event. But not for long. Instead, Blaustein, who cites “a healthy dose of insanity” as part of what made her want to start the 21-years-and-still-running film festival in the first place, didn’t yield to pressure. Taking a cue from the artistic spirit of the fest’s namesake town, she and her—to borrow the festival’s famous tagline—”fiercely independent” team of fellow film lovers got creative. With traditional movie theaters currently closed in New York State, they made astute use of technology and found alternate venues at which to screen some of this year’s hand-picked selection of over 30 full-length movies and nearly 40 short films. And so (insert clapperboard clack! here) the 2020 Woodstock Film Festival will take place from September 30 through October 4, after all.
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A special component for 2020 is the festival’s 35th anniversary tribute to celebrated horror producers Glass Eye Pix (Depraved, The Last Winter, Habit) that features three locally filmed genre films: Wendigo (2001), Bitter Feast (2010), and Stake Land (2009). “Glass Eye Pix presents three films from its canon of over 50 movies, each highlighting the director’s unique voice, and each offering a glimpse at the range of stories found in the horror genre,” says head producer and area resident Larry Fessenden. “All shot in the Hudson Valley at different times of year.”
Glass Eye Pix is the fierce independent NYC-based production outfit headed by award-winning art-horror auteur Larry Fessenden with the mission of supporting individual voices in the arts. Read more...
