Movie premiere offers lots of local interest

MILLERTON — Dust off those old hippie clothes; Hollywood will be heading to Millerton next Thursday evening as The Millerton Moviehouse will be hosting two advance screenings for the upcoming Ang Lee film, “Taking Woodstock.â€

The film is a comedy/drama revolving around Elliot Tiber, whose family owned a motel in Bethel, New York which the 1969 festival’s organizers used as a home base for the event. The concert itself was held in Bethel. The screenplay is based on Tiber’s autobiography of the same name, and written by Academy Award nominee James Schamus (“Brokeback Mountain,†“The Ice Stormâ€). Lee is the Academy Award-winning director of “Brokeback Mountain,†“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,†and many other films.

“The film has a lot of local connections,†explained Carol Sadlon, co-owner of The Moviehouse with her husband, Robert. Parts of the movie were filmed at Lone Pine Farm in Millerton and in nearby Columbia County. Two of the festival’s four main organizers, John Roberts and Joel Rosenman, were Salisbury residents. And finally, Mamie Gummer, an actress in the film and daughter of Meryl Streep, is a resident of Salisbury as well.

“People had been asking me about [the film],†explained Sadlon. “So we spoke to Focus Films [the distributor] to see if we could get permission to screen the film early. They were very gracious.â€

All proceeds from the premiere will be donated to the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, an organization serving residents of Columbia County and northeastern Dutchess County, Berkshire County, Mass., and northwest Litchfield County, Conn. The advance screenings will specifically benefit three of the foundation’s area funds: the Fund for Columbia County, the Northeast Dutchess Fund and the Northwest Corner Fund.

Additionally, Woodstock Ventures LC has donated an original and authenticated 1969 “Woodstock: Three Days of Peace and Music†poster as well as an early event poster from Walkill, New York, the town that turned down having the festival in their community. The two collectibles will be auctioned off by John Harney, Sr. of Harney & Sons Fine Teas.

Premiere screenings will be held on Thursday, Aug. 27, at 6:30 and 9 p.m. The auction and party, including food and wine from Little Gates & Co. Wine Merchants, raffle prizes, posters, T-shirts, books, CDs and surprise guests, will be held between the showings in the theater’s art gallery.

This is the first major premiere that The Moviehouse has held, according to Sadlon.

“We’re very excited about doing it,†she added. “I haven’t seen [the film] yet, but some of my friends have, and they say Ang Lee did not let us down.â€

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at The Moviehouse box office or on its Web site at themoviehouse.net. Guests are encouraged to get into the spirit of Woodstock by wearing denim, tie-dye, velvet and fringe to the screenings.

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