Greenwood Features

Join us Sunday, April 19th, for New York City's longest-running, non-competitive short film exhibition. We're thrilled to welcome festival co-founder Doug LeClaire, as he brings us the 45th installment of the exhibition. Doug and the team have toured the USA, Canada & Europe. Asbury Short Film Concerts have been presented in cinemas, art museums, outdoor sites, and performing arts centers from Berlin to Los Angeles with many stops in between, and are now adding Bethel, CT to their destinations. This program will run approximately 2 hours and features a 10-15 intermission. age recommendation: 16++

"The winner of 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, Ben-Hur stands as one of the greatest Hollywood epics ever filmed. A member of the Jewish nobility living in Jerusalem, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) lives a religious life and peacefully opposes the tyrannical occupation of Judea by Rome. When a boyhood friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd), returns to the region as a Roman official, he and Judah become estranged due to Messala’s fanatical loyalty to Rome and ruthless indifference to the fate of Judea. Casting friendship aside, Messala fabricates a charge of treason against Ben-Hur, his sister and mother, all of whom are arrested by Roman soldiers. While the fate of his family remains unknown to him, Judah is condemned to spend the rest of his life enslaved on a Roman warship. However, his fate takes a fortuitous turn when he saves the life of the fleet commander, Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins). Freed from slavery, Judah becomes Arrius’ adopted son and a horse trainer. Rather than forgetting his past to become the heir of the Roman aristocrat, Judah sets his sights on finding his family and exacting his revenge on the treacherous Messala, which Judah eventually does in the famous chariot race. — Based on the novel by Lew Wallace. Academy Award winner for Best Motion Picture, Actor (Charlton Heston), Actor in a Supporting Role (Hugh Griffith), Directing, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture), Sound, Special Effects. Golden Globe Award: Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Stephen Boyd), Best Director."

Doors 12:30pm Documentary: ~1pm En coda video Concert: ~2pm Post-show soundbath mediation: ~3pm Does Sound Heal is a multi-award-winning feature documentary now making its way through the United States after selling out screenings across Australia and now selling out its initial US cinema showings as well. Blending the artistry of orchestral composition with the precision of scientific inquiry, this 51-minute cinematic experience invites audiences into one of the most intriguing conversations of our time: the relationship between sound, the brain, the body, and human wellbeing. At its core, the film is a captivating journey through story, science, and sound. Viewers are guided through interviews with leading researchers, neuroscientists, sound therapists, cultural knowledge holders, and composers, each offering a unique lens into how sound interacts with human physiology and psychology. Figures such as Daniel Lane (Perth Brain Centre), Dr Jon Prince, Dr Alan Harvey and Indigenous Elder - Dr Richard Walley who share insights from modern neuroscience to ancient cultural knowledge, exploring the question that has echoed across civilisations: Does sound have the power to heal? The film weaves these perspectives into an immersive narrative supported by the evocative music of the award-winning En Coda Orchestra, founded by one of the film’s co-creators, Tenille Bentley. The orchestral compositions serve not only as a soundtrack but as a living, breathing example of how sound can influence emotional and mental states. Directly after the screening, there will be a soundbath meditation session led by Julia Gerace of Soundbath & Beyond.

A housewife who is unhappy with her life befriends an old lady in a nursing home and is enthralled by the tales she tells of people she used to know.

What if you could talk to animals and understand what they’re saying? In Disney and Pixar’s all-new feature film “Hoppers,” scientists have discovered how to “hop” human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals! The adventure introduces Mabel, an animal lover who seizes an opportunity to use the technology, uncovering mysteries within the animal world that are beyond anything she could have imagined.

Join us on Saturday, May 2nd to watch the Kentucky Derby! The party will include live music, pony races, mint julips, fun events and of course, big hats are encouraged!

Join us on Saturday June 6th for live music featuring local CT artists: Ethan Fiske (and the Big Love Band) - Feel good modern pop from Middlebury, CT Emma Henning - Acoustic vocals & guitar: oldies, pop, & more

Pasha Talankin is an unlikely hero—a beloved Russian primary school teacher, known as a mentor and prankster who offers students a safe haven in his office. After Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha’s role in the school changes dramatically as he is reluctantly drawn into Putin’s propaganda machine. Forced to promote state-sanctioned messages and horrified by the transformation of his school and community, he struggles with guilt and a sense of powerlessness, leading him to become an international whistleblower. As the school’s videographer, Pasha documents intimate and revealing footage of Putin’s regime, capturing the rise of militarized children’s groups, repressive laws, fervent nationalism, and the recruitment of graduating students to fight in the war. When he learns his own life may be at risk, Pasha is forced to plan a dangerous escape from Russia. Directed by David Borenstein and co-directed by Pasha Talankin, this uniquely collaborative film is as captivating and joyful as it is eye-opening and sobering. Mr. Nobody Against Putin showcases rare footage that reveals the profound impact of Putin’s regime on the lives of everyday Russians, particularly its children.

Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.

From the Academy Award®-winning filmmakers behind Everything Everywhere All at Once and Navalny; a father-to-be tries to figure out what is happening with all this AI insanity. The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist is a hand-made, eye-opening documentary about the most powerful technology humanity has ever created... and what’s at stake if we get it wrong.

A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is an animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros., and follows The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which was released in 2023 and earned more than $1.3 billion worldwide. Both the 2023 film and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie are produced by Chris Meledandri of Illumination and Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo. The film will be co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo and will be released worldwide by Universal Pictures. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is directed by returning filmmakers Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, from a screenplay by returning screenwriter Matthew Fogel, with Brian Tyler returning to compose the score.

Mr. Pearson’s days in front of the camera may be a thing of the past, but the actor inside of him is very much alive. Caroline and Miguel split days and nights with legendary Hollywood actor Robert Pearson, a brilliant and talented gentleman battling mental decline. Despite their differences in approach to caring for the cantankerous man, both have the same goal of keeping him safe and connected. Miguel’s caretaking method is pretty straightforward as he spends most of his time with Mr. Pearson meeting his basic needs of eating, sleeping, and grooming. Caroline, on the other hand, has become more than a nurse. A maternal confidante and playful companion, Caroline stops at nothing to keep Mr. Pearson from slipping away, even if that means casting herself opposite the leading man to perform a scene from one of his hit movies from long ago. And it’s working. Their make-believe games cause Mr. Pearson to feel alive again, but as the line between fantasy and reality blurs, his grip loosens and Caroline’s gets tighter. Now, with everyone’s livelihood on the line, Miguel and Caroline must work together to save Mr. Pearson’s luminous star from fading to black.