Upcoming Shows
- Sunday September 29th 02:00PM - Borscht Belt Museum
- Blews and the Abstract Truth
- Join us for a sneak preview of the documentry film "Blews and the Abstract Truth". The film explores the complicated but enduring partnership between Blacks and Jews in the music industry. Meet and greet reception with the producers and director following the film.
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- Friday November 1st 07:00PM - Shadowland Stages
- THE CATKSILLS
- Documentary/2024Director Lex GillespieAn award-winning documentary film on the meteoric rise, historic glory days, and bittersweet fall of the Borscht Belt. Former waiters, tummlers, and dance instructors reminisce about the family-run resorts and bungalows that established a cultural standard whose legacy continues to this day.Conversation with director Lex Gillespie and Peter Alan Chester
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- Saturday November 2nd 10:00AM - Shadowland Stages
- CATSKILL HONEYMOON
- Drama and Musical Comedy/1950Dir. Josef Berne 96 minA Yiddish-American musical revue on film, Catskill Honeymoon offers a fictional 50th wedding anniversary story to showcase authentic performers of vaudeville comedy and musical acts in English and Yiddish, once mainstays in Borscht Belt resorts. Much of the film was shot at Young’s Gap Hotel in the Catskills. In English and Yiddish (with occasional subtitles.)Conversation with Yiddish film historian Eve Sicular and Jay Blotcher
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- Saturday November 2nd 12:30PM - Shadowland Stages
- SWEET LORRAINE
- Comedy-Drama/1987Dir. Steve Gomer 91 minThe Lorraine, a famed Catskills family destination, is run-down, losing money, and nearing the end of its days. Molly, granddaughter of the resort’s matriarch, comes to The Lorraine to escape her parents’ bitter divorce, but becomes part of the resort’s extended family. Shot on location at The Heiden in South Fallsburg. Co-starring iconic Borscht Belt comedian Freddie Roman.Conversation with director Steve Gomer, production designer David Gropman, art director Karen Schulz and Jay Blotcher
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- Saturday November 2nd 03:00PM - Shadowland Stages
- THE LAST LAUGH
- Documentary/2016Dir. Ferne Pearlstein 89 minThe Holocaust would seem off-limits topic for comedy. But is it? This daring documentary examines this moral conundrum, offering fresh insights into these questions, through interviews with influential comedians and thinkers ranging from Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Judy Gold, Gilbert Gottfried, author Shalom Auslander, Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, and Auschwitz survivor Renee Firestone.Conversation with director Ferne Pearlstein
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- Saturday November 2nd 05:30PM - Shadowland Stages
- A WALK ON THE MOON
- Romantic Comedy-Drama/1999Dir. Tony Goldwyn 1 hr, 46 minA Jewish wife and mother dares to challenge her cozy but narrow life during a summer vacation to a Catskills bungalow colony. Her conflict unfolds against the backdrop of two watershed events in the summer of 1969: the Woodstock festival in Sullivan County and the United States’ historic landing on the moon.Conversation with costume designer Jess Goldstein and Jay Blotcher
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- Saturday November 2nd 08:00PM - Shadowland Stages
- TAKING WOODSTOCK
- Comedy-Drama/2009Dir. Ang Lee 120 minElliot Tiber, a struggling Greenwich Village interior designer, moves back upstate to help his parents manage their run-down Catskills motel. The bank is about to foreclose, but Elliot hopes for a miracle. Then he meets promoters looking to plan a huge music festival – to be called Woodstock – just down the road. They move into the motel, changing the Tiber family’s fortune – and Elliot’s life. Inspired by the memoir by Elliot Tiber.Conversation with director Ang Lee, production designer David Gropman and Jay Blotcher
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- Sunday November 3rd 12:00PM - Shadowland Stages
- DREW FRIEDMAN: THE VERMEER OF THE BORSCHT BELT
- Documentary/2024Director Kevin DoughertyProlific artist Drew Friedman has chronicled a strange, alternate universe populated by forgotten Hollywood stars, old Jewish comedians, and liver-spotted elevator operators. This irreverent in-depth documentary traces Friedman's evolution from underground comics to the cover of The New Yorker. Featuring interviews with Gilbert Gottfried, Patton Oswalt, Richard Kind, and Mike Judge.Conversation with director Kevin Dougherty, Drew Friedman and Jay Blotcher
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- Sunday November 3rd 02:00PM - Shadowland Stages
- THE DANCING MAN: PEG LEG BATES
- Documentary/1993Director David DavidsonThe remarkable story of Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates, the famous one-legged black tap dancer and Catskill resort owner, who provided a vacation retreat for Blacks still burdened by segregation and Jim Crow laws. Archival film clips and interviews with Ruth Brown, Percy Sutton, Chuck Green, Buster Brown and tap greats Honi Coles and Gregory Hines.Conversation with director David Davidson
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- Sunday November 3rd 04:00PM - Shadowland Stages
- SUCH A NICE GROUP OF SHORTS
- A screening of shorts submitted to the fest, Highlighted by the 1993 documentary Let's Fall in Love: A Singles Weekend at the Concord Hotel by director Constance Marks.Before there was on-line dating, thousands of singles would flock to the Concord Hotel’s famed matchmaker weekends in the Catskill Mountains. The director attended one such weekend event the early 1990s, and interviewed unattached people as they mixed and mingled in hopes of meeting their happily-ever-after mate.Conversations with filmmakers, including Constance Marks with Melody GilbertFollowed by a shorts awards ceremony
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- Sunday November 3rd 10:00PM - Shadowland Stages
- WELCOME TO KUTSHER’S: THE LAST CATSKILLS RESORT
- Documentary/2012Directors: Caroline Laskow and Ian RosenbergKutsher's Country Club was the last surviving Jewish resort in the Catskills, family-owned and operated for over 100 years. This film brings to life how Kutsher’s thrived, especially in the areas of cuisine, comedy and sports. This award-winning documentary captures a last glimpse of a bygone world as it slowly disappears.Conversation with a member of the Kutsher family and Peter Alan Chester
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- Sunday November 3rd 10:00PM - Shadowland Stages
- Film Festival Placeholder
- Join us for an unforgettable weekend celebrating the rich cultural legacy of the Catskills through the magic of cinema. Experience our curated lineup of films that explore themes related to the Borscht Belt resort era. Engage in lively post-screening discussions with filmmakers, actors, and experts. Connect with fellow enthusiasts and relive cherished memories in the historic Shadowland Stages theatre in Ellenville.Let the power of cinema transport you to a time when the Catskills were the ultimate summer escape. Our thoughtfully curated selection spans 75 years of cinema history, featuring films unseen for decades alongside exciting new discoveries from 2024. These works will make you laugh, cry, and reminisce about the golden age of the Borscht Belt Resort Era. Whether you grew up spending summers in "the Mountains" or you’re new to Borscht Belt culture, you'll find something to love at our festival! The Borscht Belt Film Fest is presented by the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum. The museum is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Borscht Belt resort era, and celebrating its history as a refuge from bigotry, the cradle of stand-up comedy and a cultural catalyst that left deep imprints on America. Thank you!
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