This episode is the first of two episodes with Dispatches from the 2019 Woodstock Film Festival. In the first segment I spoke to Filmwax friend Ben Kasulke who has worked on countless indie films but in the role of cinematographer or director of photography. With this new film, a comedy called “Banana Split”, Ben makes is directorial debut. After a messy break-up with her high school boyfriend, April (Hannah Marks) strikes up an unexpected friendship with his new girlfriend, Clara (Liana Liberato). The film will be distributed in 2020 and we’ll catch up with it again. Ben is joined by the film’s composer, the musician Annie Hart (whose songs bookend the segment).
“Colewell” is director Tom Quinn’s second feature and stars the actor Karen Allen, both of whom join me in this segment. The film features a moving performance from Karen Allen who plays Nora, the manager of the post office in the titular rural Pennsylvania town, who is shaken by the closure of the town’s de facto community center and her reason for getting up every morning. “Colewell” is currently in the festival circuit and we’ll keep audiences appraised of its future.
Last up, the team behind another dramatic film, “Once Upon a River”, which was adapted from a novel of the same name by Bonnie Jo Campbell. Joining me in this segment is the film’s director, Haroula Rose, along with two of her actors: Coburn Goss & Kenadi DelaCerna. Margo Crane’s (DelaCerna) odyssey on the Stark River introduces her to a world filled with wonders and dangers in this updated re-envisioning of the Huckleberry Finn tale. The film is also seeking distribution and we’ll keep in touch with its progress.
