Lake Placid Film Forum 2008
by Dick Healy
Mountain settings are popular sites for film forums, be it winter or summer.
Robert Redford’s famous yearly Sundance
film gathering in Utah of which a attended one winter while skiing Utah, is
a wonderful experience. Movie types and goof films attract crowds, and
there’s no lack of Hollywood notables when Sundance comes to town. Lake
Placid, New York, site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games will
present its film forum June 12-15 and, as those that have been there know,
Placid takes no backseat when it comes to mountain scenery. The Adirondack
Mountains are beautiful, pristine, and cover 6 million acres, making it the
largest wilderness part in the U. S.
The timing of a film forum in Lake Placid
takes place just as June’s warmer and longer days melt away the last of
winter’s snows. Streams and brooks gush swiftly down toward the upper Hudson
River, which eventually runs out into New York harbor to meet the Atlantic
Ocean.
The Lake Placid Forum has had, from its
beginning a few years back, a loyal following. The event also has seen good
a tough days from its inception. Difficult to present when sponsor money
becomes hard to obtain and things must to be toned down to work within a
tight budget. Through thick and thin, however, Lake Placid’s forum always
makes up in quality for what it might lack in quantity. A smaller venue to
be sure, but well put together in an ideal setting.
In past years, actors Cliff Robertson and
Debra Winger participated, as did writer Frank McCourt and director Martin
Scorsese who, as the Forum’s guest of honor one year, gave a memorable on
stage interview about his career.
According to Kathleen Carroll, Lake Placid
Film Forum artistic director, Academy Award –winning director of “ The
Silence of the Lambs,” Jonathan Demme will be this year’s guest of honor.
The forum’s program will include Demme’s latest documentary “ New Movies
From the Lower 9th Ward,” about the struggle of people in rebuilding their
lives and their neighborhoods following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
Two Pulitzer Prize winning writers,
Richard Russo and William Kennedy will teach a masters class on
screenwriting. Russo and Kennedy will take part in book signings at the Lake
Placid Center for the Arts at 12 p. m. on Saturday, June 14 presented by The
Bookstore Plus.
Lake Placid has an eclectic variety of
shops and fine dining establishments and the Olympic Regional Development
Authority (ORDA) has a shop in town for those visitors seeking Olympic pins
and such.
The towns lodging choices are many, though
on the weekend when its hosting the Film Forum, advanced booking is
recommended. One of the all times lodging favorites, with a great view of
the Olympic Ski Jumps, is Art Devlin’s Olympic Motor Inn on Main Street.
You can check out the Film Forum’s
web-site for more details (www.lakeplacidfilmforum.com)
or call 518-523-3456.
