Meira Blaustein, a co-founder of the Woodstock Film Festival, will step down as its executive director and head programmer at the end of the year, the organization said Wednesday.
Blaustein intends to remain involved as an adviser. The festival’s board is searching for her successor and expects to announce its next executive director in the coming months.
“Founding and running the Woodstock Film Festival for the past 26 years has been the honor of a lifetime,” Blaustein said in a statement. “What began as a dream jotted down at my kitchen table has grown into one of the most respected regional film festivals in the U.S., thanks to the countless filmmakers, industry and community members, supporters, staff, interns and volunteers who have been an essential part of this journey.”
Blaustein founded the festival in 2000 with her then-husband, the late Laurent Rejto. She had never visited Woodstock before the two began developing the idea, according to the organization.
The festival proceeded with its second annual program in 2001, nine days after the Sept. 11 attacks. During the coronavirus pandemic, it screened films online and at three regional drive-in theaters, including a pop-up location.
Under Blaustein’s leadership, the festival developed programs for emerging and established filmmakers and became a stop on the independent-film and awards-season circuit. It is now an Academy Award-qualifying festival in the live-action, animated, and documentary short-film categories.
The festival has also honored and hosted filmmakers and artists including cinematographer Haskell Wexler, composer Elmer Bernstein, and documentarian Leon Gast. Blaustein and Wexler established a cinematography award bearing his name.
“There would be no Woodstock Film Festival as we know it without Meira,” board Chairman Claude Dal Farra said in a statement. “What began as an idea at a kitchen table became, through her vision, passion and determination, an institution that has championed generations of independent filmmakers and become an integral part of the cultural life of the Hudson Valley.”
Before establishing the festival, Blaustein worked as a programmer for regional film festivals and directed, produced, and consulted on narrative films, documentaries, and screenplays.
The festival said operations and planning will proceed during the leadership transition. Its 27th annual edition will celebrate Blaustein’s tenure while featuring independent films, filmmaker conversations, educational programs, and other events.
“I step away with tremendous gratitude and with confidence that the Festival will continue to blossom and thrive,” Blaustein said. “I also leave with great hope for independent filmmaking itself.”
Noah Eckstein is the editor-in-chief of The Overlook. Send correspondence to noah@theoverlooknews.com.
