Selections, followed by the complete 2023 schedule.

The audience at Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power was given a discount code to see Personal Problems (1980), which was streamed from February 17 through 22, on the virtual theater. A discussion on zoom with two actors who appeared in it, Sam Waymon (partner of the Director, Bill Gunn) and Marshall Johnson, was moderated by Nyack NAACP secretary Bill Batson. Sam Waymon, Marshall Johnson and Bill Gunn were local residents. Unfortunately, Sam Waymon had sound problems, and Marshall was unable to connect until about half way through. Because of the quality it has not been promoted, but it is public and contains fascinating comments about a neglected filmmaker (Gunn), the writer/producer Ishmael Reed, and this experimental Black soap opera. View it on vimeo, here.

On June 28, Rivertown Film screened Jimmy in Saigon, discussed afterward with the Director, Peter McDowell, and the film’s composer (and Peter’s brother), John McDowell (who is also the founder of a local organization, Rockland Farm Alliance). The story is about a third brother, who died mysteriously in Saigon. The Community Partner for this screening was the Pride Center of Rockland County.

Director Daniel Wolff and Editor Marta Renzi discussed their new film
Guardians of the Flame on December 13. The film had been started by
Jonathan Demme and was finished years after his death by his long-time associate
Daniel Wolff. It was one of numerous projects they worked on together
about post-Katrina New Orleans.

2023 Schedule

December 19
Aftersun (2022)
Discussed by two-time Oscar nominee Kristi Zea.

February 9
Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (2022)
Video welcome by Director Sam Pollard. Discussion moderated by Congressman Mondair Jones. Panel with VP of production company Multitude Films, Anya Rouse; Spring Valley NAACP Chair Willie Trotman, Directory of the Voting Rights Project at the NY ACLU, Perry Grossman.

February 17 – February 22
Personal Problems (1980), streaming on the virtual theater
Discussion with actors Sam Waymon (and partner of Director Bill Gunn) and Marshall Johnson, moderated by Nyack NAACP Secretary Bill Batson – all local residents.

March 16
The Seasons: Four Love Stories (2022)
Discussion with local director, Paul Schwartz, and Peabody winning broadcaster, Elliott Forrest. Audience given passcode for viewing New York Stories (see below)

March 17 – February 26
New York Story (2021)
Presented on the virtual theater. An earlier film by Paul Schwartz (The Seasons) provided free to those who purchased tickets to The Seasons.

April 7 – April 13
The Quiet Epidemic (2022)
Presented on the virtual theater. Discussion on Zoom with directors Lindsay Keys and Winslow Crane-Murdoch, moderated by local filmmaker Suzanne Mitchell.

April 27
Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island (2022)
Discussion with the Director, Heidi Hutner, moderated by environmental attorney Susan Shapiro. Community Partners: Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, Radiation and Public Health Project, Sierra Club Lower Hudson Group.

May 11
EO (2022)
Discussion with the founder and director of Whispering River Animal Rescue, Jacqueline Serrano, via skype.

May 26
Las Abogadas (2022)
Discussion with two refugees from Afghanistan and poetry by an immigrant from Russia, all now living locally.

June 8
The Quiet Girl (2022)
Discussion with Celtic musician Sean Fleming.

June 24
What Happened to Jackson Avenue? (2023)
Discussion with the Director, Hakim Alem, and two interviewees, moderated by the Secretary of the Nyack NAACP. The film is about Urban Renewal in Nyack in the 1960s, in the neighborhood our screening was held in.

June 28
Jimmy in Saigon (2022)
Discussion with the Director, Peter McDowell, and his brother, composer John McDowell, about their third brother, Jimmy. Community Partner, Rockland County Pride Center.

July 7
What Happened to Jackson Avenue (2023)
Return engagement from June 24 (both sold out), and discussion with the Director, Hakim Alem, and two interviewees, moderated by the Secretary of the Nyack NAACP.

July 22
Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Mickey Mouse: Outdoors at Garner Arts Center
Silent films accompanied by local musicians Hervé and Skyler Alexandre.

August 26
Free, outdoors, under the stars, and by the Hudson River
The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)
Introduced by guest curator Norvin Van Dunk

September 13
Past Lives (2023)
Discussed by Juliana Roth, an adjunct professor at NYU and CUNY.

September 27
Showing Up (2023)
Discussed by Daly Flannagan, Executive Director of Rockland Center for the Arts.

October 11
Chile ’76 (2022)
Discussion led by Dr. Juan Pablo Valenzuela, assistant professor of History and Political Sciences at Perimeter College, Georgia State University, by Skype. Community Partner: the Global Film Series and the annual Hispanic & Latina/o/x Heritage Month hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas College.

October 25
Tori and Lokita (2022)
Discussion led by Stefany Ovalles, Director of Immigration Legal Services at Center for Safety and Change.

November 18
Jonathan Demme: Close Up
Film clips chosen and discussed by Jonathan Demme associates, curated by his son, Brooklyn Demme.

December 13
Guardians of the Flame (2023)
Discussion with the Director, Daniel Wolff, and editor, Marta Renzi about a film that was one of several that Wolff made with Demme about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Programmed to follow Jonathan Demme: Close Up.

Thank you to our funders

Rivertown Film is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts and from Restart the Arts, a regrant program of Arts Westchester, with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Your ability to access all of the information on our website in a comfortable manner is extremely important to us. Rivertown Film is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. To access these features, look for the 'wheelchair' icon.