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Woman in green gown stands on rocky coast of Brittany, France. Still from Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed by Céline Sciamma, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.
Still from Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed by Céline Sciamma, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Stories that celebrate the victories of human spirit are perhaps the most beautiful ever told. We are drawn to these stories in oral tradition, literature, theater, and film. Three films featured at this year’s Woodstock Film Festival captured our hearts, each for a different reason, each through a different lens: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Last Color, and Speed of Life. Check them out below.

Two women embrace on beach in Brittany, France. Still from Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed by Céline Sciamma, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Still from Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed by Céline Sciamma, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.

 

Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed by Céline Sciamma, is a poignant story about life and love, all focused on the female spirit, with an all female cast. Set in France, in 1760, artist Marianne is commissioned to paint a wedding portrait of Héloïse, but the task presents a formidable challenge: Héloïse doesn’t want to be married and doesn’t want to be the subject of any painting. 

The story unfolds as Marianne looks for creative ways to get her job done without her subject realizing what is underway. She invites Héloïse to talk long walks together along the rugged remote coast of Brittany and tries to commit visual cues of her face to memory, which she later translates into sketches to inform the final portrait. As the two women spend more and more time together, they fall in love with each other, as the waves crash against the rocky shoreline and fires warm their evening retreats.  

Winner of the Cannes Film Festival Best Screenplay Award, the film has been described as being “painted with the same delicacy and craft as an 18th Century oil masterpiece.”

Watch trailer.

 


 

 

Woman lays down on a bed of yellow and pink flower petals. Still from The Last Color, by filmmaker Vikas Khanna, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.
Still from The Last Color, by filmmaker Vikas Khanna, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.

The Last Color, by filmmaker Vikas Khanna, is a love story than spans generations, defying traditions and expectations as it develops in the the ancient city of Banaras, India. Khanna centers the storyline around the quest to restore the right of widows in India to participate in the festival of Holi, a joyful annual time when people fling handfuls of brightly colored powders into the air in wild abandon.

Woman splashed with pink powder during the Holi Festival in India. Still from The Last Color, by filmmaker Vikas Khanna, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.
Still from The Last Color, by filmmaker Vikas Khanna, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Nine-year-old Chhoti, a penniless tightrope walker, befriends Noor, a widow, who is bound by society’s restrictions to lead a life of total abstinence and restraint. Each of them longs to be set free to live their lives as they each dream. Chhoti sets out to defy traditions, splashing Noor with her favorite color pink during the next Holi. While her plans are thwarted at the time, Chhoti grows up to become an advocate for societal reforms, and helps to bring freedom and respect to street children and widows 24 years later.

Hindu woman holds teapot at edge of river in India at sunset. Still from The Last Color, by filmmaker Vikas Khanna, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.
Still from The Last Color, by filmmaker Vikas Khanna, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Khanna, an actor, author, and chef before his filmmaking career, created documentary series Holy Kitchens, exploring food-sharing traditions.  Buried Seeds, a movie about his life by America-Russian filmmaker Andrei Severny, premiered at 71st Venice Film Festival. He has been a chef for 29 years, owner of the New York City restaurant Junoon, and one of the first Indian chefs to be awarded the Michelin Star. He has published 34 books, including Return to the Rivers, nominated for both the James Beard and the IACP Cookbook Awards. His book Utsav –A Culinary Epic of Indian Festivals is currently the most expensive cookbook in the World, presented to HH Pope Francis, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, President Obama, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, HH the Dalai Lama, and Mark Zuckerberg, among many other dignitaries. Khanna has received national and international recognitions for his foundations Cooking for Life and SAKIV, which raise funds for emergencies and World hunger. He is the global ambassador for Smile Foundation for nutrition and education for more than 25,000 underprivileged children in South Asia. He is also referred to as one of the Hottest Chefs in America (Eater) and Sexiest Man Alive (People Magazine).

Watch Trailer

 


 

 

Couple holding each other on a bed. Still from Speed of Life, by filmmaker Liz Manashil, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Still from Speed of Life, by filmmaker Liz Manashil, featured at the Woodstock Film Festival.

 

Speed of Life, by filmmaker Liz Manashil, is a quirky sci-fi tale about a time-travelling couple, Edward and June, both of whom are obsessed with David Bowie. When Bowie died, his passing created a hole in the universe, sucking Edward into the future, leaving June behind to live her life alone. As June ages and the world changes, her love for Edward endures. They meet up again, decades later, and while nothing is quite in sync, love prevails.

We were treated to a special unplugged Bowie songs performance by Robert Burke Warren before the screening.

Ann Dowd (The Handmaid's Tale) gives a superb performance as June and leads a similarly stellar supporting cast. 

 


 

 

 Woodstock Film Festival Poster. 2019.

Founded in 2000 as a grassroots arts organization driven by the sheer love of film and community, the Woodstock Film Festival has grown into one of the premiere independent film festivals in the US, bringing together thousands of filmmakers and film lovers over the years. This year, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Woodstock Film Festival, the 50th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock Festival, as well as the 100th anniversary of Woodstock as America’s oldest colony of the arts.

Actor Paul Rudd calls the Festival "a great festival... what a film festival should be, which is really independent films and showcasing the work of filmmakers you might not know about.”

 Woodstock Film Festival logo.

Read more Beautiful Stories in film featured at the Woodstock Film Festival in our weeklong series.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.

Film lovers line up at The Woodstock Playhouse during The Woodstock Film Festival.

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