Woodstock Film Festival Announces the MEERA GANDHI GIVING BACK AWARD
Promoting Positive Social Change Through the Art of Film
Debuting at 12th Annual WFF Awards Gala

The Woodstock Film Festival is honored to announce that 2011 will mark the inaugural year for the Meera Gandhi Giving Back Award, which will be presented annually to a director, producer or actor who best delivers a message of social change. This prestigious award will include a cash prize of five thousand dollars. The award will be presented at the WFF Annual Awards Gala on Saturday, Sept 24 by Ms. Gandhi herself.

This partnership between the Woodstock Film Festival and The Giving Back Foundation demonstrates the commitment that both organizations have in support of humanitarian efforts through the art of film.

Meera Gandhi is a Humanitarian, Mother, Businesswoman and Diplomat who was born in Mumbai, India. As the founder of the Giving Back Foundation, she splits her time between her various causes in New York, London and Hong Kong.

Gandhi's personal life motto and that of the Foundation is: "You are to the universe as much as you give back to it." Click to read the full story...

Other WFF awards include the Lee Marvin Best Feature Award, The Diane Seligman Award for Shorts, The James Lyons Editing Awards and the Haskell Wexler Cinematography Award. For information about the Woodstock Film Festival CALL FOR ENTRIES, click here.

3 Backyards

If you missed 3 Backyards at the 2010 Annual Festival, you can catch the film at a theater near you March 11.

Nearly every sense is called upon to observe and absorb the many layers of meaning in this elusive and nuanced masterwork by Eric Mendelsohn. Set in a preternaturally squeaky-clean seaside suburb, the ordinary lives of three of its residents take unexpected turns.

Driven by an eerily plaintive score and voyeuristic cinematography, 3 Backyards blends genuine suspense with brilliant performances; a chameleon-like Edie Falco as Peggy hungers for excitement while dabbling in painting to gloss over a humdrum life. And if divorce is what happens when the conversation ends, then the marriage of world-weary John (Elias Koteas) teeters on the brink of dissolution. Eight-year-old Christina (Rachel Resheff) must guard a precious gift while stumbling upon a disturbing secret.

A treatise on loss? Are “backyards” the underbrush where secrets reside? At times maddeningly subtle, this is a mesmerizing film unafraid to pose possibly unanswerable questions. A “must see!” (Barbara Pokras, A.C.E.)

White Irish Drinkers

2010 WFF Audience Award Winner White Irish Drinkers is set to hit theaters March 25.

None would envy the lives of Danny and Brian Leary, brothers trapped in blue collar Brooklyn, circa 1975, in a family where brutality is the norm. Petty criminal Danny (Geoff Wigdor) takes the brunt of the punishment doled out by Patrick (Steven Lang), their tyrannical, alcoholic father, as long-suffering wife and mother Margaret (Karen Allen), stands by helplessly. Brian (Nick Thurston), afraid to reveal his talents, works for the hapless Whitey (Peter Riegert) at the nearly defunct Layfeyette movie theater. Shauna (Leslie Murphy), Brian’s love interest, strikes the perfect note of rough-edged authenticity as she, too, struggles to escape. Alternately tender and violent and peppered with humor, this is smart and suspenseful storytelling where the ties that bind can also break a family, and childhood memories haunt and deceive. Writer-director John Gray skillfully turns tragedy to triumph with an ending bound to shock and surprise. Powerful, well-crafted and thoroughly engaging. (Barbara Pokras, A.C.E.)

IFP Independent Filmmaker Labs
Call for Entries: First Feature Directors with Documentary or Narrative Films in Post-Production
Documentary Deadline: March 11, Narrative Deadline: April 8
 
IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs are a year-long fellowship supporting independent filmmakers when they need it most: through the completion, marketing, and distribution of their first features. Labs provide community, mentorship, and film-specific strategies to help filmmakers reach their artistic goals, support the film’s launch, and maximize exposure in the global marketplace. The program consists of three focused workshops in spring, fall and winter in New York City.
 
IFP seeks to ensure that at least half of participating projects have an inclusive range of voices in key positions. We especially encourage female and minority directors to apply, as well as filmmakers from outside NY & LA.
 
Open to all first time documentary and narrative feature directors with films in post-production. Documentary Applications open now, Narrative Applications open Feb 1! Additional information and online application: www.ifp.org/Labs

Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It!

The wait is over: Crazy Sexy Diet by Woodstocker Kris Carr is now officially available! In case you missed it, the book burned up the charts on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders after its release. It climbed into the TOP 10 of the NY Times bestseller list, where it has spent the past month and still remains. Congratulations Kris.

Kris Carr is a New York Times best-selling author, motivational speaker and wellness coach. Back in 2003, she directed and starred in Crazy Sexy Cancer, an inspirational documentary for TLC that chronicled her journey from cancer diagnosis to juicy healthy living. She also authored Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips and Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor, two must-have manuals for triumphing over disease and embracing a holistic approach to recovery.

For more about Kris, visit Crazy Sexy Life