LOCALadk Magazine

66 Fall 2018 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk Smith to the position. He, in turn, felt strongly that the fes- tival needed a "stor y" to give it more cohesion—and to give prospective filmgoers a compelling reason to check out the event in the first place —and eventually settled on the theme of diversity. For this year's event, the organizers would make a conscious effort to select films that reflected a wide range of racial, religious, gender, class, and cultural diversity. Timing of the event was also a major subject of discussion coming out of 2017. The Film Forum had always been held in early June, but that's when one can safely assume winter in the Adirondacks is finally done and people are eager to be out in the mountains or on the wa- ter. Sitting in a darkened movie theater is just about the last place a lot of outdoor enthusi- asts want to be in early June, so the board voted to move the Film Forum to the fall (October 25-28 this year), when thoughts turn from exterior activities like leaf-peeping to decidedly inte- rior ones such as cuddling by a warming fire — or the warming glow of hot buttered popcorn and a movie screen. But that's not all, folks. Arguably the most radical change of all this year involves the event's name itself. "Film Forum" has long been an issue for some of the festival's participants. When the LPFF was founded, a major focus of the event was on live filmmaker introductions of their work, typical- ly followed by Q& A sessions with the audience, as well as non-screening programs such as panel discussions, master classes, and various types of workshops. The AFS, it likes to say of itself, "doesn't just screen films—it analyzes and cu- rates them," helping to educate its audience members about "the art of film and filmmaking." But because so many po- tential attendees do not know what a film "forum" is, but do know what a film "festival" implies, the board voted to re- christen the event the "Lake Placid Film Festival." The 2018 edition will still retain many of the non-screening programs that made its predecessors a "forum," but this year the organizers are aiming to walk the fine line between re- spect for the event's celebrated traditions and tr ying out so many innovations and festival firsts that, according to Gar y, the Lake Placid Film Festival could almost be re-branded as a brand-new event. "Having a 19-year histor y to build off can be both a blessing and a curse because so many of us think [the festival] should be what it was 18, 19 years ago," he said. "Others felt it had to change with the times, like so many other things. We are in the process of making some of these changes happen, and we think the event will be better for it." A Diverse Array of Films Stemming from a Multiplicity of Voices So what can prospective filmgoers expect from the 2018 Lake Placid Film Festival? There will likely be some 30 dis- tinct new films shown in probably twice as many time slots over four days at three main venues—the beloved historic Palace movie theater, the culturally indispensable Lake Plac- id Center for the Arts, and the tourism-anchoring High Peaks Resort. As with any public event of this magnitude, it takes many hands to make it happen and thus a multiplicity of voices to convey what the festival is all about. For AFS Board Chair John Huttlinger, the 2018 incarna- tion represents something of a "rebirth" of the Film Forum. "This year's festival will be bringing quality films and relat- ed programs on a larger, more far-reaching scale, selected by a sole professional programmer, so it's not just a local event," he said. Vice- Chair Nelson Page is es- pecially excited about content this year. "Like in real estate, where ever ything comes down to 'location, location, loca- tion,' here it's about the programming," he said. " We have slots for over 30 different new films and the opportunity to fill them with all the colors of the cinematic spectrum… something that's tough to do when you're only showing a handful of new films." The person responsible for that programming is Dylan Skolnick, a long-time LPFF participant and, more recently, an AFS consultant who is co-director of one of Long Island's top art houses, the Cinema Arts Centre. He's promising depth and breadth as well as diversity. "There will be films from all across the U.S. and around the world and films from other prestigious film festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, and Vienna," he said. "The world of film is coming right to Lake Placid. We'll have comedies, dramas, American and for- eign-language films, and documentaries. People will have a great time…. [The festival] will be such a great film window on the world." Board Member-at-Large Amy Quinn is someone who —in stark contrast to the current trend of viewing films on small- er and smaller devices—prefers to watch movies only on the big screens "It's a completely immersive experience, like going to live theater," she said. She is excited about all the changes occurring with this year's festival and is especially looking for ward to the classic film and the Latin American film that will again be curated by Jeremy Arnold, a Turn- er Classic Movies contributor and author of the TCM tie-in

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