Glimmerglass Film Days to Present 25 Films, Talks, Food & More

Glimmerglass Film Days will present 25 feature films, two short film programs, filmmaker talks, food and film pairings, an art exhibit, guided walks, trivia, recommended books, and more in Cooperstown, November 9-13. Events will be held at multiple Cooperstown locations, including the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Fenimore Art Museum.

The films, united by the theme "Messengers," were selected by Margaret "Peggy" Parsons, founder and artistic director of Glimmerglass Film Days, and Film Days programmers Joey Katz and Xander Moffat.

Parsons, who founded the film program at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, said the films this year offer "lots of joy and delight, as well as a bit of disorientation and questioning. A successful festival should be the right combination of enjoyment, education, surprise, and perplexity."

Film Days programmer Joey Katz added, "You'll see stories from people both real and fictional that are leading the way to create change in their communities and on a global scale by speaking their minds, staying true to their message, and inspiring others to spread awareness and create a better world."

The Opening Film, The Arc of Oblivion (Ian Cheney, 2023), will be shown at the Grandstand Theater at the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday, November 9 at 5:30 pm. Set against the backdrop of the filmmaker's quest to preserve his memories by building an ark in a field in Maine, the film illuminates the strange world of archives, memory, and what we choose to save. A question-and-answer session with director Ian Cheney, an Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker, will follow the film.

On Friday, November 10, 32 Sounds (Sam Green, 2023) will be shown at the Grandstand Theater at the Hall of Fame, followed by a discussion with composer Annea Lockwood, who is featured in the film. 32 Sounds is an immersive feature film that explores the elemental phenomenon of sound and its power to profoundly shape our perception of the world around us. Other films that will be shown at the Hall of Fame include Kash Kash (Lea Najjar, 2022), The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future (Francisca Alegria, 2022), and Wild Port of Europe (Willem Berents, 2022).

Filmmakers and Guests

In addition to Ian Cheney and Annea Lockwood, filmmakers and guests attending Film Days include Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman, directors of Town Destroyer (2022); Stacey Tenenbaum with her documentary Scrap (2022); and Cooperstown native Peter Coccoma, with his narrative short Giro Prepares for Death (2023), which is part of the Shorts+Cake program.

Filmmakers Peter Hutchison and Lucas Sabean will discuss their film The Cure for Hate: Bearing Witness to Auschwitz (2023). Also attending is Tony McAleer, a former holocaust denier who has since become an anti-hate advocate and founder of the activist group Life After Hate. The film documents McAleer's profoundly personal journey of atonement to Auschwitz/Birkenau.

Robin Frohardt will present her film Plastic Bag Store (2021). Her art project of the same name premiered in Times Square in 2020 and has toured around the country. Peter Rutkoff, founding member of the Department of American Studies at Kenyon College, will lead the discussion of the film Let There Be Light (John Huston, 1946). Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton specialize in silent film music for voice, percussion, and keyboard. They will provide live accompaniment to the classic silent film Safety Last! (Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923). Jane Steuerwald is the executive director of the Thomas Edison Media Arts Consortium-Thomas Edison Film Festival (TEFF). She selected TEFF films that reflect the Film Days theme of Messengers.

Events and Art

"Film Days is known for its film and food pairings, and this year we have some delicious menus that complement the films," says Ellen Pope, executive director of Otsego 2000. Film Days is a program of Otsego 2000, an environmental and preservation advocacy nonprofit founded in 1981.

On November 10, just prior to the film The Art of Eating: The Life of M.F.K. Fisher (2023), there will be a dinner buffet inspired by Fisher's writing. She is celebrated for elevating cooking from a domestic chore to a critical study of what it means to be human. On November 11, there will be a Taste of Lebanon Buffet after the film Kash Kash (2022), a compelling documentary about Beirut and the indomitable spirit of those who call it home. A Sunday Brunch will be offered on November 12 along with a discussion led by Peter Rutkoff on the 1946 John Huston documentary Let There Be Light. Later that day, hors d'oeuvres will be served during the screening of Scrap (2022). In addition, at the Smithy, there will be Film Days parties on November 9 and 13.

The companion art exhibit, Future Memory, will be on view at the Smithy during Film Days. Curated by Sydney Waller, the exhibit features works by Megan Adams Irving, Ava Fedorov, Ashley Norwood Cooper. There will be informal meet the artists coffees on November 10 and November 12. To give attendees a chance to enjoy the outdoors, there will be free guided walks by the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society, the Otsego County Conservation Association, Otsego 2000, the Otsego Land Trust, and the Susquehanna Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club. Joey Katz will host Film Days Trivia at the Cooperstown Beverage Exchange on November 12, before the screening of The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. For those looking to pick up books related to this year's films, the Green Toad Bookstore will have a pop-up shop in the Fenimore Museum during Film Days.

Tickets, Passes and Free Films

Most film tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. A Take Five Pass includes five film tickets for $35, a 30% savings off the door price. Tickets to food events range from $15-$40. Tickets can be purchased at glimmerglassfilmdays.org or in person at the Cooperstown Farmers' Market on October 28 and November 4 from 9 am - 2pm. The film festival is offering several free films: Fashion Reimagined on November 9, Stewart Udall and the Politics of Beauty on November 10 and Wolfwalkers on November 11. Reserve a free ticket online at glimmerglassfilmdays.org.

"The free films and walks are a way for us to invite more of the community to join us at Film Days," says Pope. "We want to encourage more people to experience Film Days as we come together to watch and discuss compelling independent films from the United States and around the world." She said she is especially looking forward to the film about M.F.K. Fisher, as the food writer has long been a favorite of hers.