Albany Film Festival returns to New York State Writers Institute at UAlbany

Two movie posters reading The Last Shot and Outta the Muck — PHOTOGRAPHER: - -

The Albany Film Festival is free and open to the public and will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday at the University at Albany. (photos provided)

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ALBANY – On Saturday, the NYS Writers Institute at the University at Albany will present the 3rd annual Albany Film Festival, a celebration of film and storytelling featuring a lineup of award-winning filmmakers, novelists, and screenwriters, film screenings and conversations, as well as a presentation of the Ironweed Awards and short film awards.

Schenectady-based director Prince Sprauve will be on hand for a screening and discussion of his short film “The Last Shot.”

The Albany Film Festival is free and open to the public and will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday at the University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave.

An online workshop titled “How to Find Support & Investors for Your Film” will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Ironweed Award for Exemplary Achievement in Film will be presented to actor Stephen Lang, most recently seen in the James Cameron “Avatar” films, and filmmakers James Schamus, Amy Carey Linton, and Keith Beauchamp. Ironweed Award winner Julie Dash (“Daughters of the Dust”) will not be able to attend and will receive her award in absentia.

The short film award winners will be announced at the closing ceremony after screenings of the Albany Film Festival’s Short Film Award finalists’ films.

The festival will include conversations with the Ironweed Award winners as well as authors Rick Moody and Joyce Carol Oates, who will discuss film adaptations of their novels “The Ice Storm” and “Blonde,” respectively, a panel discussion on censorship in cinema, a conversation on video-making and films by visual artists Sky Hopinka and Jeffrey Gibson, and more.

Feature-length screenings and discussions include the documentaries “Witness,” with producer/director Masood Haque; “The Chosen” with director Joseph Juhn; “Outta the Muck” with co-directors Bhawin Suchak and Ira McKinley; “The Inheritance” with director Ephraim Asili; the comedy “Good Egg” with director/writer and UAlbany alum Nicole Gomez-Fisher; and the psychological thriller “Follow Her” with director Sylvia Caminer and writer/actor Dani Baker.

Francis Ford Coppola launched the inaugural Albany Film Festival event in 2019 when he was presented with the first Ironweed Award for Exemplary Achievement in Film.

Events and guests are subject to change. For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit http://www.albanyfilmfestival.org or call 518-442-5620.