Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:11 — 15.6MB)
I start the New Year catching up with Meira Blaustein Co-Founder/Executive & Artistic Director of the Woodstock Film Festival. Fiercely independent is her motto. A maverick, and beautiful free spirit, she follows her intuition and boldly leads her team to continue as one of the top, most respected, and influential regional film festivals worldwide.
Launched in 2000, we cover the gamut of over twenty years of transformation from analog to digital, regional expansion from renovated movie theaters to Covid lockdown and its virtual screen land audiences; annual film festival submissions and curated programming to year-round events and intensive filmmaking incubators for the next up and coming filmmakers.
You could hear the excitement in her voice. And when all is said and done, another successful film festival under her belt (2021 was a hybrid of in-person and virtual film, panels, events programming), Meira starts the New Year weekend watching films submitted for the next Woodstock Film Festival in fall 2022.
“It’s all about the film,” she says with a chuckle, “make sure it’s a good film first and foremost. Where it will take us next is the journey, but the film must be a good one.” I also say it’s about passion. Passion for good independent film and good filmmaking. I look forward to hearing more about what is coming up. I’m never disappointed.
