Woodstock Film Festival Selects Atom Egoyan and Guy Maddin as 2015 Honorary Award Recipients
Zack Sharf
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The Woodstock Film Festival has announced that Canadian filmmakers Atom Egoyan (“Exotica,” “The Sweet Hereafter”) and Guy Maddin (“Archangel,” “The Heart of the World”) will receive the Honorary Maverick Award and the second annual Fiercely Independent Award, respectively. The awards will be presented to the filmmakers on October 3 during the annual Maverick Awards Gala at BSP Kingston, NY. Additionally, Egoyan’s “Remember” will open the festival on October 1, while Maddin’s “The Forbidden Room” will close the event on October 4.
“Remember” stars Christopher Plummer as a 90-year-old Auschwitz survivor struggling with memory loss. After he receives a letter from his friend containing a stack of money, a gun and a letter detailing a shocking plan, he embarks on a cross-country journey to bring justice to the man who destroyed his life. The film will screen at the Woodstock Playhouse, and Egoyan will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.
Touted as “Maddin’s ultimate epic phantasmagoria,” “The Forbidden Room” centers around a doomed submarine crew who encounter a lost woodsman and hear his tale of escaping from a fearsome clan of cave dwellers. Maddin will also be in attendance for a discussion at the Woodstock Playhouse following the film’s screening.
“This is such a special year for the festival,” said WFF co-founder and executive director Meira Blaustein. “Not only are we honoring two celebrated and visionary Canadian filmmakers, but paired with our already expanded World Cinema program, this year’s festival is a platform for foreign work and we could not be more thrilled.”
The 16th Woodstock Film Festival runs September 30 – October 4.
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