Hudson Film Festival
2023
Screenings at 2pm and 7pm
We are proud to announce our participation in the inaugural Hudson Film Festival, an exciting new effort to show diverse, excellent work in moving images in the Hudson Valley (here’s a recent Times Union piece about it!). We’ll host two screenings – two features and two shorts – on Saturday, August 12th. You can also catch screenings at two other fantastic venues in town – Hudson Hall on Friday and Time & Space Limited on Sunday. Should be a wonderful weekend!
More info on our two films below:
Going Varsity in Mariachi
By: Alejandra Vasquez & Sam Osborne
Featured Short: A Snowflake into the Night
Doors 1pm / / Screening begins at 2pm
In a South Texas high school auditorium, trumpets ring out, thick guitarrón strings thrum, and violin bow hairs snap and swing wildly through the air. This is the world of competitive scholastic mariachi. This energetic documentary captures the highs and lows of Edinburg North High School’s Mariachi Oro as a green team strives for the state championship. With tough love, finely tuned empathy, and a fiery passion for the music, coach Abel Acuña guides the varsity band through a steep competition season and a fraught year in their adolescent lives. Team captains Abby, Marlena, and Bella prove the value of the skills taught in the band room as they navigate life’s challenges on and off the stage with grace, immutable work ethic, and total charm.Filmmakers Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn transport their audience to this symphonically, aesthetically, and emotionally vibrant world. A directorial debut for Vasquez and sophomore effort for Osborn, Going Varsity in Mariachi is a testament to their ability to explore identity, cultural roots, and pressing social issues with a nuance that foregrounds frankness, boldness, and joy.
Perpetrator
Featured Short: The Big Yard Inside the Teeny Weeny Pocket
Doors at 6pm / / Screening begins at 7pm
Jonny is tough, fearless and forthright. She picks locks with ease and seems to be able to take care of herself pretty well. She also slips rent money into her single father’s pocket. Their relationship is fragile and yet strangely symbiotic. Feeling overstretched, her father decides to send Jonny to live with a distant aunt. But even in the care of the strict Hildie, the teenager cannot seem to find peace. On her 18th birthday, Jonny is given a cake baked according to a magical family recipe which triggers a radical metamorphosis. At her new school, the constant killing spree-emergency drills create a tense atmosphere and soon five girls go missing. Inexplicably fascinated by their disappearance, Jonny sets out to look for clues and a blood-soaked coming-of-age story takes its course.Jennifer Reeder’s new feature-length film is a dark, queer-feminist genre mix of body horror, gore and mystery. As in her earlier works, she looks at the world predominantly through the eyes of her young protagonists who, armed with biting humor and an unbroken sense of justice, manage to wrest moments of light-heartedness and solidarity from the twisted world of adults.
About Hudson Film Festival:
Hudson Film Festival in Hudson, NY, serves as a platform to champion and showcase global and local underrepresented films, filmmakers, artisans and talent. The festival will directly contribute to the greater mission of launching the Hudson Valley Film Institute to provide educational opportunities for burgeoning artists in the region and year-long community based film and arts programming.