Rivertown Film marked its 25th anniversary in 2026. We’re commemorating it by telling you our “Origin” story.
2001
Following an idea that was hatched on the back porch of filmmakers Nancy Savoca and Rich Guay’s home in Nyack, a group of filmmakers began meeting at the Piermont home of Ric Pantele, the owner of Piermont Pictures, then known as the best video store in the Hudson Valley. Their goal was to bring the independent and foreign films that they loved and made to Rockland County, where theaters were rapidly being lost.
Not many months after these meetings began, Joan May, a community activist, posted a letter in the Nyack Villager lamenting the lack of a way to see independent and foreign films locally and invited like-minded people to contact to her. The group that was meeting in Piermont reached out, and a public meeting was called. That meeting received a large response. These initial supporters – composed of film professionals and cinema lovers – met in an empty storefront that was part of the Helen Haye’s theater in Nyack. At its core were about a dozen people, with dozens more volunteering for specific tasks. They christened themselves the “Rivertown Film Society” and got to work planning a fall film series. Kris Burns, part of the group that had been meeting in Piermont, was named Director, and Friends of the Nyacks became their fiscal sponsor.
A date was chosen for the first film and fundraising event: Saturday, September 15. The film was Buster Keaton’s The Camerman, presented with piano accompaniment by Ben Model, the house accompanist for silent films at MoMA and The Film Forum. Actor Bill Irwin provided a short lesson on the art of the “silent clowns” and hosted the evening.
On September 11th, the day that the planes crashed into the Twin Towers, life changed. Many events were cancelled that week. Rivertown Film Society, believing in the healing power of art and community, decided to proceed with their launch. Against all odds, the evening sold out, filling the 400 seat BOCES theater. The air was replete with badly needed laughter.
Rivertown Film went on to present nine films that first season, screened at both BOCES and The Helen Hayes Theater, once a single screen first-run theater, later home to Riverspace Arts, and now a food market. “Meet the Filmmaker” evenings included Karyn Kusama, director of Girlfight, and Jim McKay, the director of Our Song. Maria Luisa Whittingham provided space in the basement of her boutique for an office, rent free.
2002
Rivertown amassed a large and enthusiastic group of volunteers. The season continued at BOCES with a roster of eight films, and the first educational programs were presented. The season included the film Chutney Popcorn with director Nisha Ganatra and actress Sakina Jaffrey, a reading of a screenplay by West Nyack resident and Hollywood screenwriter Scott M. Smith, a screenplay writing workshop, the Festival of Shorts by Rockland filmmakers (the first of many), and an outdoor screening of Grease, with Rockland local Didi Conn in attendance.
In a surprising turn of events, Rivertown Film received the Arts Council of Rockland’s 2002 “County Executive Arts Organization” award, and Rivertown Director Kris Burns won the “Supporter of the Arts” award. Quite an accomplishment for an organization less than two years old!
2003
Rivertown found a new home and an office at the Nyack Center. A Spring Benefit honoring founder Nancy Savoca included well known guests, including actors Chris Cooper and Rosie Perez.
Jonathan Demme showed The Agronomist and John Sayles screened Casa de los Babies. Both would return to Rivertown regularly to show and discuss their work.
2004
In the fall of 2004, Kris Burns stepped down as Director. The organization reduced programming and a steering committee comprised of Mary Buchbinder, Ric Plaisance, Michael Overn, Betsy Hastedt and Matthew Seig began discussions about turning Rivertown into an independent non-profit and forming a Board of Directors to manage it.
2005
Thirty or forty people, including representatives from local government, such as County Legislator Harriet Cornell, attended a meeting at the home of cinematographer Ellen Kuras where plans were presented for the future of Rivertown Film. After this meeting, many of the participants attended a sreening of Supersize Me,
Supersize Me was presented by its executive producers (both Rivertown Film board members) Heather Winters and Joe Morely (who went on to help found local performing arts organization ArtsRock). Director Morgan Spurlock had to drop out of the event when he was nominated for a Golden Globe, requiring him to be in Los Angeles. He was replaced by his wife, who was his nutritionist, and his doctor, who were both involved in the film. The program, presented with the Rockland County Department of Health, was sold out.
A screening of the film Going Through Splat: The Life and Work of Stewart Stern was shown at the Helen Hayes Theater. Stern wrote Rebel Without A Cause and was the nephew of Rockland movie mogul Adolf Zucker, founder of Paramount Pictures. The screening was attended by Stern as well as Pat Swinney Kaufman, director of the New York State Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television. Another notable screening that season was the documentary Grey Gardens at the Nyack Center. The legendary documentary director, Albert Maysles, participated in a rousing post-screening discussion, one of many “Meet the Filmmaker” programs over the years. The first Corporate Sponsors sign on, including Good Samaritan Hospital, St. Thomas Aquinas College, and Studio-On-Hudson.
2006
Rivertown Film Society became fully incorporated as a non-profit tax exempt 501c3. The first board officers were Michael Overn (chair), Roger Seiler and Mary Buchbinder (vice chairs), Ric Pleasance (secretary) and Christina Arthur (treasurer). Matthew Seig became Executive Director.
Mary Harron showed The Notorious Betty Page in the new Riverspace Arts (formerly the Helen Hayes Theater).
2007
Weekly screenings continue on 35mm film. The first film was Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?
A “Meet the Filmmaker” evening with Melvin Van Peebles featured Badasssss, a film by Melvin’s son Mario, about Melvin’s groundbreaking Black cinema classic Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.
A Spring Benefit featured music by John Malino, with John Sayles showing Silver City. Other events that season included a series of five “Classics of World Cinema” that played once at Riverspace in Nyack and then moved to the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern for a second screening.
The year ended with a film about the history of the Palisades Center mall, Megamall, made by local filmmakers Sara Mondale, Vera Aronow, and Roger Grange. It sold out the 590 seat theater, proving there is a hunger for films about important local issues.
2008
Rivertown continues partnering with Riverspace with 44 more films in 35mm, including Tell No One ,The Last Mistress and Man on A Wire. John Sayles presented Honeydripper, and scientists from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory discussed Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the World.
2009
Still at Riverspace, Rivertown Film showed 28 films in 35mm. Filmmakers who presented their movies include directors Ellen Kuras with The Betrayal, Deborah Kampmeier with Hounddog and producer Declan Baldwin with Adventureland. Riverspace closed and Rivertown decamped to the Nyack Center, where the documentary Food, Inc. sold out, and then had three extra showings at the Nyack Village Theater.
Rivertown Film launched “Rockland Filmmakers,” a series of screenings by local filmmakers as well as equipment demonstrations and workshops on subjects such as cameras, lighting, special effects and marketing. Organized by high school video teacher David Kaminsky, these events took place across Rockland County and lasted into 2013. Rivertown Film still is the administrator of the Rockland Filmmakers Facebook page (@rocklandfilmmakers).
2010
Board member Nelson Page, the Theater Manager of the historic Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, invited Rivertown Film to program films there. 19 films are shown at the 1,000-seat movie palace, including The Private Lives off Pippa Lee, which featured a discussion with producer Jill Footlick, and Me and Orson Welles, followed by a talk back with the screenwriter Robert Kaplow. To accommodate film distributors who supplied this first-run theater, the Lafayette moved the Rivertown Film screenings to Sunday morning, which proved to be unsustainable.
2011
Rivertown moved back to the Nyack Center full time. In the Spring, Oscar, Emmy, and Tony winning actress Ellen Burstyn came to Rivertown Film for a benefit screening of her groundbreaking film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which she hired Martin Scorsese, just off of Mean Streets, to direct. She was joined by the film’s production designer, Toby Carr Rafelson.
The internet is changing the film landscape, and Rivertown Film launched a website, created a Facebook page, and held their first Skype interview with Nicole Opper, the director of the documentary, Off and Running.
2012
Rockland resident John Gray (creator of the long running TV series The Ghost Whisperer) showed his film, White Irish Drinkers, the U.S. premiere of a Director’s Cut of The Joneses, a film produced by Nyack local Kristi Zea (who was present to discuss it) was shown, and Bill Irwin performed alongside Chaplin and Lloyd silent films at the 10th Anniversary Benefit. Rivertown Film was a sponsor of a pop-up screening in the municipal parking lot of Psycho, as part of “Hopper Happens,” a multimedia project produced by Rivertown Film founding director Kris Burns, that commemorated Nyack artist Edward Hopper. Later, the idea was rebranded as The Artopee Way Drive-In for numerous other outdoor films. That year also included an interactive fundraiser, “Kitchen Tour de Force” and the first grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.
2013
The year featured a tribute to Sam Waymon, Rockland musician and filmmaker. Excerpts from the groundbreaking film that he composed, performed the music for and acted in, Ganja & Hess, were shown. NY State Congresswoman Ellen Jaffee was on hand, and County Legislative Chair Harriet Cornell presented Waymon with a proclamation honoring his contributions to American culture. In the Spring, Rivertown threw a “Notte de Fellini” Benefit featuring fire dancers and circus acts in an homage to the great Italian director. Harriet Cornell and longtime Nyack Library and Rivertown Film Board Member Roger Seiler were the evening’s honorees.
2014
Rivertown audiences were introduced to “Dark Side of the Hudson,” a Pink Floyd tribute band. The band performed while groundbreaking films used by Pink Floyd were projected above them. The evening sold out. November brought the first “Inspired” Benefit. Both the “Dark Side of The Hudson” and “Inspired” were popular events that continue to the present day.
2015
In the Spring, Rivertown partnered with Rockland Organized for a Safe Aquifer (ROSA) for the Wild & Scenic Film Festival at the Lafayette Theater. In May, Rivertown held its Spring Gala, “Hitchcock at Hand” at the historic Hand Mansion in South Nyack. The spectacular evening included re-enactments from Hitchcock classics, a silent auction and food and drink generously provided by local purveyors. The ROSA partnership on Wild & Scenic continued for years.
2016
The following seasons at Rivertown Film continued to feature a diverse selection of about twenty films a year. “Dance to the Movies” is held at the West Gate Lounge in Nyack, one of many held over the years. Attendees boogied the night away while clips from classic films were projected. Sam Waymon hosted a program of silent shorts from the Smithsonian’s “Pioneers of African American Cinema,” which the Smithsonian had hired him to compose music for.
2017 – 2019
Unseen Demme, an evening celebrating the late director and early supporter of Rivertown Film, featured a program of his short documentary and music films. A celebration of Women’s History Month showcased short films made by female Rockland filmmakers Deborah Kampmeier, Susanna Styron, Gabrielle Lansner, Suzanne Mitchell, and Jennifer Fineran. In celebration of the Carson McCullers’ Centennial (McCullers was a local writer), Rivertown Film partnered with the Carson McCullers Center to present two short films A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud. and A Domestic Dilemma, and a talk with their directors, Karen Allen and Kristi Zea.
A benefit in 2017, “Murder, Mayhem and the Movies,” was held at the West Gate Inn, and in 2019, “Historic Hauntings of Rockland” included a team of paranormal investigators reporting on local hauntings.
2020
The 6th “Inspired” event was held on February 29, 2020, and it was the final in-person evening that Rivertown would produce for a long while: the world suddenly stops short due to Covid.
Rivertown became one of the first local cultural organizations to move on-line by quickly posting excerpts from its Meet the Filmmakers video collection, then began showing entire films online in April with another Wild & Scenic Film Festival. That month it streamed The Woman Who Loved Giraffes and became one of the first nontheatrical exhibitors in the country that specialized film distributors allowed to stream their films in a “virtual theater.” Covid had forced theaters to shut down, but the virtual theaters kept them alive and connected to their audiences. Eventually Rivertown Film showed over 40 films online, from classics to new releases. Each one of them included a Zoom discussion during the run of the film. As it had twenty years earlier, Rivertown Film filled the need for shared experiences and community during a difficult time.
2021
In November Rivertown returned with a schedule of live programming at the Nyack Center. Masks and proof of vaccination were required, and seats were spaced widely apart. The first in-person film indoors was French filmmaker Sebastien Lifshitz’ Little Girl, a portrait of a young trans girl. The evening’s partner was Rockland County Pride.
2022
“Inspired” returned to The Nyack Center. To rebuild membership back to pre-pandemic levels, Rivertown reduced the membership fee by more than half. A program in the fall featured a survey of the Hollywood career of local actress Helen Hays, with clips discussed by film historian John DiLeo.
2023
In June, Rivertown Film received the “Arts Leadership/Organization Award” from the Arts Council of Rockland.
Stand-out evenings included a co-presentation with ArtsRock with composer Howard Shore, who has scored such films as Lord of the Rings, The Hobbitt, The Departed and many more, moderated by ArtsRock’s Elliott Forrest, host of WQXR’s program about film scores, “The Score at Four.”
Jonathan Demme: Close Up, a sold-out evening of clips and remembrances of the late director’s friends and associates, was curated by his son, Brooklyn.
2024
Questlove’s Summer of Soul was projected for free in downtown Nyack against a wall two stories above the municipal parking lot, in The Artopee Way Drive-In. The screening, produced with Bill Batson Arts, The Diamonds and Pearls Foundation, Angel Nyack, and Festoon on Hudson, coincided with a soul music dance party and a display in a neighboring park of images from a Black neighborhood that once stood on the site of the parking lot. Below the images, QR codes linked to segments of the film What Happened to Jackson Avenue, a film produced by The Phoenix Theater Ensemble that documented how the neighborhood was destroyed by an Urban Renewal Project in the 1960s, and largely forgotten. The Village of Nyack, a partner for the event, shut down two streets and the parking lot, while 500 people enjoyed the screening.
Mountain Lion, a film shot in Rockland County by Brooklyn Demme, was shown at the SUNY Rockland Community College.
2025
Rivertown screened the Academy-Award winning documentary film, No Other Land, which had been blacklisted by distributors. Rivertown’s presentation was the only screening that the film had in Rockland County. The evening was sold out. Local filmmaker Ashley Dawson presented her scripted film, That Kid, about a boy growing up in the same public housing project where she herself grew up, just up the street from the Nyack Center. The screening sold out, and the discussion after the film was animated and expressed the frustration of those living with the reality presented in the movie. Ellen Kuras presented her first scripted film as director, Lee, with Kate Winslet playing the part of photographer Lee Miller. Production Designer Kristi Zea brought Matthew Modine to discuss Jonathan Demme’s Married to the Mob.
2026 and Beyond
As part of the celebration of Rivertown’s 25th Anniversary, local film history was shared when Rivertown presented Losing Ground, a 1982 film by Nyack filmmaker Kathleen Collins, who died in 1988. Rediscovered and restored in 2015, the film is now considered a masterpiece of independent film. One of the first films directed by an African American woman, it grapples with issues of art, feminism, and race. Collin’s son Emilio, on hand to provide insight into his mother’s life and vision, was presented with an acknowledgment of his mother’s accomplishment from the County Legislature by local representative Beth Davidson. In June, a Benefit for Rivertown’s first Cash Reserve Fund included clips from the film, Woody Guthrie and the Ghost of Tom Joad, directed by Rockland filmmaker Greg Mitchell. There was also a discussion with Guthrie’s granddaughter, who now oversees his legacy, and local author Daniel Wolff, with musical performances by Tom Chapin, The Chapin Sisters and the All Together Now Chorus. The evening concluded with an audience sing along of “This Land is Your Land.” The benefit helped raise money for Rivertown Film’s first reserve fund, and was matched by two former board members, Bea Pohl and Barrie Peterson.
Rivertown Film will reach our 600th film screening by the end of 2026, its 25th anniversary. All told, we’ve served an audience of over 50,00 people over the years, and have hosted discussions with more than 200 filmmakers. More screenings and events will be taking place over 2026 to commemorate this landmark anniversary. The fact that a grassroots, scrappy group of “cineastes” have kept their vision going with the strong support of their neighbors, in today’s uncertain landscape, is proof enough that Rivertown is the “engine-that-could” and will continue to be.
