Over the past three decades, the biggest public health threats to teenagers in the United States came from binge drinking, drunken driving, teenage pregnancy, and smoking. Today, these have been replaced by soaring rates of mental health disorders-especially anxiety. In a rare public advisory in early 2022, the U.S. surgeon general warned of a devastating mental health crisis among adolescents, creating a national emergency. Like pouring gasoline on an already out-of-control inferno, anxiety and its impact were intensely exacerbated by the pandemic.

A SONIC WAVE 2 and CLOSE UP special event. Saturday, May 19 6:30p - Post-screening skype Q&A with director Svetlana Zill  Perhaps one of the most culturally-shifting and iconic women of our time, Anita Pallenberg was a muse, an artist, and a galvanizing force in rock music. Never-seen-before home movies and family photographs explore her involvement with The Rolling Stones and tell a unique story of personal success and heartbreak. Narrated by Scarlett Johanson, and featuring Kate Moss, Keith Richards, Marianne Faithfull, and others. (dir. Alexis Bloom/ Svetlana Zill, US/UK, 2024, 110m) “...a nuanced story about an inspiring and troubled woman who has come close to being mythologized out of existence and sidelined by the juggernaut that is the Rolling Stones.” – Vogue Svetlana Zill is an award winning filmmaker born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her feature directorial debut Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. She is also known for her work on In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon and Wormwood.

Paulette feels guilty after unjustly punishing her daughter Linda and would do anything to make it up to her. Linda immediately asks for a meal of chicken with peppers, which reminds her of the dish her father used to make. But with a general strike closing stores all across town and pushing people into this streets, this innocent request quickly leads to an outrageous series of events that spirals out of control, as Paulette does everything she can to keep her promise and find a chicken for Linda.

Common Ground is the highly anticipated sequel to the juggernaut success documentary, Kiss the Ground, which touched over 1 billion people globally and inspired the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to put $20 billion toward soil health. By fusing journalistic exposé with deeply personal stories from those on the front lines of the food movement, Common Ground unveils a dark web of money, power, and politics behind our broken food system. The film reveals how unjust practices forged our current farm system in which farmers of all colors are literally dying to feed us. The film profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of white, black, and indigenous farmers who are using alternative "regenerative" models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America's economy -- before it's too late.

A SONIC WAVE 2 and LIVE FROM UPSTATE special event. While the visual poetry of cinema rightfully receives adulation, the invisible alchemy of a film score is essential in transporting moviegoers into new realms. Talented local composers Will Epstein and Clare & Olivier Manchon will be revealing their secrets for making riveting scores for films including Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV, Turn Every Page and more. Olivier and Clare Manchon come from a background of writing, recording, and touring. Offering music for both film and TV, they’ve been Oscar-shortlisted for Hysterical Girl and the upcoming French adventure En Attendant Bojangles. Olivier and Clare approach each film project by creating a new musical palette and world to support and enhance the story. Will Epstein uses a stylish blend of experimental pop, jazz improvisation, and electronic textures to color his melodic songwriting style. He expanded into film music, scoring the 2020 HBO documentary Baby God, before signing with the Fat Possum label, where he put out his album Wendy in 2023. Presented by Hudson Valley Filmmakers

CLOSE UP and REVIVAL HOUSE screening. An iconic early ‘90’s cast are masterful in this gratifying and spunky film about three generations of Italian American women, one of whom was the prize in a pinochle game, one who talks to ghosts, and another who believes to have a direct connection to God. The performances from Vincent D’Onofrio, Lilli Taylor, Michael Imperioli, and Tracey Ullman are worth the price of admission alone, and the vibrant story, based on the book pulls at heartstrings. (Nancy Savoca, US, 1993, 124m) “Savoca’s subject is larger: She wants to show how, in only three generations, an Italian family that is comfortable with the mystical turns into an American family that is threatened by it. And she wants to explore the possibilities of sainthood in these secular days. That she sees great humor in her subject is perfect; it is always easier to find the truth through laughter.” – Chicago-Sun Times About Nancy Savoca – Born and raised inThe Bronx, Savoca began her career as a production assistant to John Sayles on his film The Brother From Another Planet, and as an assistant auditor for Jonathan Demmeon two of his films: Something Wild, and Married to the Mob. Her first full-length movie, True Love, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. She was among five writers and co-wrote all three segments of the Demi Moore-produced If These Walls Could Talk, a miniseries about abortion rights, and she directed the first two segments. She continues to make groundbreaking films and TV. About Richard Guay – Guay is a New York City-based American film producer. His productions include True Love which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1989 Sundance Film Festival, Dogfight, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Kinsey, and Shutter. About Francine Prose – Writer Francine Prose is the former president of PEN America as well as a Guggenheim fellow, PEN Translation Prize-winner, and visiting professor at Bard College. Her novel, Blue Angel, a satire about sexual harassment on college campuses, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Household Saints, was adapted for film. In 2010, she received the Washington University International Humanities Medal, reserved for those who continue humanistic endeavors in scholarship, journalism, and literature.

Everyone has their own Chimera, something they try to achieve but never manage to find. For the band of tombaroli, thieves of ancient grave goods and archaeological wonders, the Chimera means redemption from work and the dream of easy wealth. For Arthur, the Chimera looks like the woman he lost, Beniamina. To find her, Arthur challenges the invisible, searches everywhere, goes inside the earth – in search of the door to the afterlife of which myths speak. In an adventurous journey between the living and the dead, between forests and cities, between celebrations and solitudes, the intertwined destinies of these characters unfold, all in search of the Chimera.

A SONIC WAVE 2 and LIVE FROM UPSTATE special event. While the visual poetry of cinema rightfully receives adulation, the invisible alchemy of a film score is essential in transporting moviegoers into new realms. Talented local composers Will Epstein and Clare & Olivier Manchon will be revealing their secrets for making riveting scores for films including Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV, Turn Every Page and more. Olivier and Clare Manchon come from a background of writing, recording, and touring. Offering music for both film and TV, they’ve been Oscar-shortlisted for Hysterical Girl and the upcoming French adventure En Attendant Bojangles. Olivier and Clare approach each film project by creating a new musical palette and world to support and enhance the story. Will Epstein uses a stylish blend of experimental pop, jazz improvisation, and electronic textures to color his melodic songwriting style. He expanded into film music, scoring the 2020 HBO documentary Baby God, before signing with the Fat Possum label, where he put out his album Wendy in 2023. Presented by Hudson Valley Filmmakers

Writer Peter Biskind (author of the new Pandora’s Box: How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV) and director Allen Coulter (director of many Sopranos episodes) in conversation (Foreword!) “Biskind’s saga about the rise and fall of prestige television explains, in punchy, propulsive prose, how we went from Tony Soprano to Ted Lasso.” —New Yorker Peter Biskind is the author of five previous books, including Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. He is a contributor to Vanity Fair and was formerly the executive editor of Premiere magazine.  Film director Allen Coulter has specialized in directing long-running TV series such as  "Sex and the City" (HBO, 1998-2004)  "The Sopranos" (HBO, 1999-2007), "Six Feet Under" (HBO, 2001-05) His feature films include the period biopic "Hollywoodland" (2007). He is also on the Upstate board.

The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society as humans routinely “erase” their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Époque-era Paris, Louis is a British man who woos her away from a cold husband, then in early 21st Century Los Angeles, he is a disturbed American bent on delivering violent “retribution.” Will the process allow Gabrielle to fully connect with Louis in the present, or are the two doomed to repeat their previous fates? Visually audacious director Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent, Nocturama) fashions his most accomplished film to date: a sci-fi epic, inspired by Henry James' turn-of-the-century novella, suffused with mounting dread and a haunting sense of mystery. Punctuated by a career-defining, three-role performance by Seydoux, The Beast poignantly conveys humanity’s struggle against dissociative identity and emotionless existence.

A REVIVAL HOUSE screening post-film discussion w/ writer David Weir Awarded the Palme d’Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, The Leopard is an intoxicating visual masterwork from Italian director Luchino Visconti. Burt Lancaster ignites the screen as an aging prince who watches the slipping social landscape of Italy’s ruling class with shattering beauty and decadence. An exquisite depiction of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel, this is Italian cinema at its finest. (dir. Luchino Visconti, Italy, 1963, 185m) “The film’s magnificent final hour–an extended ballroom sequence that leaves history behind – becomes one of the most moving meditations on individual mortality in the history of the cinema.” —Chicago Reader David Weir is an American scholar who has written widely on the Decadent movement in literature and its impact in America. Weir is internationally renowned as an expert on the works of James Joyce and on the culture of decadence. His latest book is on The Leopard seeks to understand the film’s paradoxical place in Italian film history: Visconti was a Marxist aristocrat and an an auteur director whose films borrowed heavily from the decadent tradition, while at the same time professing allegiance to the Italian Communist Party. He argues that Visconti’s use of artifice, narrative and history, all aspects that came to be criticized, were essential to his cinematic art, and can all be understood as strengths of the film. He provides a scene-by-scene analysis of the film, as well as illuminating its relationship to the Lampedusa novel from which it was adapted.

In America, the debate about gun ownership is fierce and unrelenting. Through interviews with individuals who have been impacted by gun violence, this documentary examines the challenges of gun control happening at the state and local levels, even though mass shootings continue to skyrocket. Executive produced and narrated by Katie Couric and directed by award-winning writer, producer, and documentary film director Stephanie Soechtig. (dir. Stephanie Soechtig, 2016, US, 110m) “Absorbing and gripping, this documentary details the rise of the NRA into a lobbying powerhouse – and provides an incentive to get involved in the debate” - The Guardian About Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America: Moms Demand Action is a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. Moms Demand Action has established a volunteer chapter in every state of the country and Washington, D.C. and is part of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with nearly 10 million supporters. “Extraordinary … Their human bodies, their environments, the sounds around them, and the sutra merge into a single expression unfolding before and within us … It is, for us, a transformative experience.” –Tricycle

A "LIVE FROM UPSTATE" and "Foreword!" event. Thieves author Valerie Werder and avant-garde rock icon Taraka Larson come together for an evening of literature, music, film, and a mind-bending spin through the idea funnel cloud of art/self/theft/money. About Valerie: Valerie is a writer and visual studies scholar. She uses fiction and multimedia performance to navigate questions of consent, complicity, and institutional transparency. Her work has been published in BOMB, performed at Participant Inc, and exhibited at A.I.R. Gallery. Valerie’s debut novel, Thieves, won the Fence Modern Prize in Prose and was published by Fence Books in 2023. About Taraka Larson: Larson is a wide-ranging musician born on Beethoven’s birthday in Houston. She was one half of Prince Rama and founder of NASA (Now Age of Spiritual

A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS follows two neighbours: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town’s women - led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) - begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.

CLOSE UP and REVIVAL HOUSE screening A Senegalese satire about a corrupt politician cursed with impotence on the night of his third wedding after embezzling 100 tons of rice. As much a commentary on corruption in African post-independence governments as an illustration of patriarchy, this witty, sophisticated screenplay solidified director Ousmane Sembene as the “father of African film.” (dir. Ousmane Sembene, 1975, 123 min.) “The actors are wonderful, especially the women who play El Hadji’s first two wives – ladies of magisterial personality, social shrewdness and sexual pride. The wedding sequence in Xala makes the one in Godfather I look like a wedding party at McDonald’s. This allegory of impotence in the body politic shows Sembene on his way to becoming an African Moliere.” – Newsweek About Samba Gadjigo: Gadjigo graduated from the University of Dakar and Ecole Normale Supérieure de Dakar and received his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2015, he directed the film Sembene! along with Jason Silverman, about the life of Ousmane Sembène. Gadjigo currently works as the Professor of French in Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts since 1986.