Stissing Center hosts the Pine Plains Festival of Shorts

For 15 years, Rhinebeck has welcomed Sinterklaas, a Dutch tradition celebrating community and togetherness with giant puppets, elaborate costumes and whimsical holiday cheer. Created by artistic visionary Jeanne Fleming, the event brings light to winter’s darkness.

This year, however, Sinterklaas is on hold as Fleming faces new financial challenges. SUNY New Paltz filmmakers documented what may be the Hudson Valley’s final celebration, at least for now. Their film screens Nov. 1 at Stissing Center as one of seven shorts in the Pine Plains Festival of Short Films.

Short films offer rich stories without the budgets or demands of features. Some explore a topic in minutes; others hint at something larger or offer glimpses into scripted worlds created by enterprising minds like the Presses.

The mother-daughter-father team of C. Fraser, Maeve and Darren Press wrote, acted in, produced and directed “Too Many Buddhas.” In less than 15 minutes, we meet and are quickly overwhelmed by a precociously anxious tween who’s dealing with some pretty big issues. Daughter Maeve stars as the girl, acting opposite comedian Maria Bamford, who plays her therapist. C. Fraser Press, Maeve’s mother, directed the film, while her father, Darren, produced and edited it.

“Burgers with the Heard,” a slice-of- life film by Stan Hirson, captures an evening gathering at local Chaseholm Farm.

Local filmmaker Matt Bartolomeo, who premiered his independent feature-length film “Dream” at Stissing Center two years ago, will show his scripted, award-winning short “The Misadventures of Jane and Phil.”

“The Blending of Bernie Williams” is an interview-style short by Hudson Valley reporter Jeanine Agnolet, known regionally as the News Lady. She sat down with Yankee legend and Millbrook Winery collaborator Bernie Williams to talk baseball and wine.

Things get a little more experimental when cinematographer Elias Hill teams up with dancer and choreographer Lola Buczkowski. Their film “Rock Party” is an experiment in nature-inspired stop-motion animation, a departure for both creators, who typically draw on movement and the natural world in their work.

“6 on Grove” is a short film created and co-written by Savannah Chambers and students from The Art Effect in Poughkeepsie. What might these young people have to say?

Finally, Michael Churton’s “Bound to Everest” takes viewers to the roof of the world, following a father and daughter in their attempt to reach the highest point on Earth. Though thousands have summited Everest, theirs is a uniquely harrowing tale full of danger and destruction.

Following the screenings, many of the filmmakers will join Justin Stangler, a former co-head writer of “The Late Show with David Letterman,” for an interview and Q&A.

For more information about the Pine Plains Festival of Shorts, visit thestissingcenter.org.