John W. Barry • August 31, 2010

Actors Keanu Reeves, Danny Glover, Edie Falco and Ed Burns will attend the 11th Woodstock Film Festival, which runs Sept. 29-Oct. 3 and will screen movies featuring John Lennon, Robert De Niro, a circus elephant, war and politics.

Film festival organizers released the 2010 lineup today.

“It took a lot of time and a lot of work to put the program together,” Woodstock Film Festival Executive Director Meira Blaustein said. “We had a very high number of excellent film submissions and it was hard to make many difficult decisions. Ultimately, what we have here is a very diverse lineup of really strong, interesting and outstanding films.”

The festival attracts thousands to Woodstock for five days of screenings, panel discussions, concerts and parties. Events are also held in Rhinebeck, Rosendale, Kingston and, this year, Mount Tremper.

The film festival box office, at 13 Rock City Road, Woodstock, will open Friday. Tickets can also be purchased at www.woodstockfilmfestival.com.

Two political films featured this year are “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer,” a documentary about the former New York governor’s prostitution scandal; and “Gerrymandering,” about the manner in which politicians save their careers and oust others through the drawing of legislative districts.

The closing night film is “Stone,” starring Robert De Niro and Edward Norton. The festival’s “centerpiece” film is “Welcome to the Rileys,” starring James Gandolfini and Ulster County resident Melissa Leo.

“Lennon NYC” is a documentary that focuses on the late Beatle in his adopted city. And “Camp Victory, Afghanistan” looks at U.S. and Afghan military training.

Reeves will receive the festival’s first Honorary Excellence in Acting Award, and appear at a question-and-answer session following the new film, “Henry’s Crime.” Reeves stars in the film, which he also co-produced.

Reeves is receiving the acting award because of his committment to independent cinema and his versatility as an actor, Blaustein said. He appeared in “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” which was screened at last year’s Woodstock Film Festival.

Ulster County resident Vera Farmiga and James Caan are also in “Henry’s Crime,” and Farmiga will attend the question-and-answer session.

Glover will attend the question-and-answer session following the screening of “The Disappearance of McKinley Nolan,” for which he served as executive producer.

Burns will participate in a question-and-answer session following the screening of “Nice Guy Johnny,” a film in which he appears, and which he wrote, directed and produced. Burns will also take part in the New Distribution Paradigms panel discussion.

Actress Edie Falco, a recent Emmy winner for her performance on “Nurse Jackie,” will participate in the Actor’s Dialogue panel discussion.

The festival’s annual “Focus On Music” series will include world premiere documentaries on soul Advertisement singer and American legend Ray Charles and folk singer Phil Ochs; and the U.S. premiere of a documentary on eastern Kentucky banjo player, coal miner and construction worker Roscoe Holcomb,
directed by John Cohen, of New Lost City Rambler fame.

Concerts, a staple of past Woodstock Film Festivals, will include performances by Cohen, and Sussan Deyhim, a composer and performance artist who combines her voice with “technical wizardry.”

Justin Sane, the lead singer of Anti-Flag, will perform in conjunction with the screening of “Sounds Like a Revolution,” a movie about “the new wave of protest music sweeping America.” This film features interviews with David Crosby, Dutchess County resident Pete Seeger, Ani DiFranco, Sane and Henry Rollins.

“Don’t Quit Your Daydream” features a band, The Good Listeners, “as they embark on a last ditch, cross country, album-recording extravaganza to save their musical identity and hopefully their careers.”

Adrian Grenier of “Entourage” fame produced the film and will perform at the Bearsville Theater with The Good Listeners after it is screened on Sept. 30.

Other offerings include: