Tuesday May 27th was the final installment in a three part screening series co-presented by the Woodstock Film Festival and Stranger Than Fiction at the IFC Center.
The series ended on a high note with a sold out screening of Jonathan Demme's THE AGRONOMIST. The award-winning documentary is about outspoken freedom rights activist and Radio Haiti owner and journalist Jean Dominique who was assassinated April 3, 2000 on his way to his radio station. The film documents the amazing work Dominique and his wife Michel Montas pursued, as well as the political history of Haiti in the 20th century.
As the credits came to an end, Woodstock Film Festival co-founder and executive director, Meira Blaustein brought director Jonathan Demme, Michel Montas, film producer Peter Saraf and film executive producer Daniel Wolf on stage to a long standing ovation. The very graceful Montas, clearly taken by the strong emotional response, thanked the audience.
The Q&A session began with Demme discussing his involvement with Haiti and Dominique and the length of the filmmaking process. Montas talked about her continued work in Haiti. The Q&A took a turn with a surprise guest appearance by actor/activist Danny Glover, which generated a new round of applause. Glover talked about his long term interest in Haitian politics and his passion for pursuit of fairness and peace throughout the world.
Producers Peter Saraf and Daniel Wolff elaborated about the guerrilla style of filmmaking used for THE AGRONOMIST, rounding up a long, informative and passionate Q&A session that generated another standing ovation at the end.
Audience members lingered in the lobby and on the street, talking to all the participants, and then again at La Lanterna, where the after party, sponsored by Woodstock Film Festival's sponsor Ciroc Vodka was held. There audience members had the opportunity to continue talking to Demme, Glover, and everyone else late into the night.
With such a moving and inspiring film as THE AGRONOMIST, an amazing Q&A session and a fabulous after party where everyone gushed about the film and the filmmakers, the night ended on an inspiring note.
The Woodstock Film Festival would like to thank Thom Powers and Stranger Than Fiction for inviting us to take part in this series. It was a blast and we look forward to doing it again sometime in the future. Stay tuned!
Until then, see you at the Woodstock Film Festival, October 1 - 5!
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