The Greenwich Village Film Festival Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary

By Richard Eric Weigle

LEFT TO RIGHT: Richard Eric Weigle, NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher, and Michael Anastasio at a previous year’s festival. Photo by Valerie Tarranova.

Ten years ago two Italian filmmakers living in New York, Alessia Gatti and Antonio Padovan, realized that there was no film festival in Greenwich Village, a section of New York known around the world for its creativity, diversity, tolerance and its Bohemian atmosphere. How could that be? After all, Mark Twain, Herman Melville, Edgar Allen Poe, Willa Cather, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, Montgomery Clift, Eva Marie Saint, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Andy Warhol and dozens more had lived here over the years. Greenwich Village was known for its quaint tree-lined streets, artists’ lofts, its café society and coffee houses, famous acting and dance studios, art house cinemas and social activism. I knew there were film festivals in Tribeca, Chelsea, The East Village, and many other parts of New York, so why hadn’t I thought of this? Why did it take two foreign filmmakers to notice a void and actually fill it?

At that time, I had lived on Grove Street for 40 years, and was a film producer of mostly documentaries about Broadway. So my husband, producer Michael Anastasio, and I called our director, the late Rick McKay, and told him that we had to submit a film and enter this festival. That first year the festival took place at the Players Theater on MacDougal Street and was a one-night-only event. To our delight, our short film entitled Greenwich Village: A World Apart won. It was a glorious night and meeting Alessia and Antonio were two of the highlights.

Although we enjoyed the festival, we knew that with all of our connections in Greenwich Village, we could help the founders take this small festival to the next level. As president of The Grove Street Block Association, I knew many of the business owners and local politicians and soon found out that there were dozens of people who also wanted to keep Greenwich Village a creative space and keep its name synonymous with the arts, individuality, and activism. So with the help of politicians, Erik Bottcher and Deborah Glick, community leaders such as Kathy Donaldson, and restaurant owners including Jody Williams, Rita Sodi, Emmett Burke and Joey Campanaro, we were able to move the festival first to The Greenwich House Music School, then to The IFC Theater on 6th Avenue and finally to The Quad Cinema on West 13th Street. We are currently an International Short Film Festival with films being submitted from all over the world. The Festival now has almost two dozen local sponsors who also believe in preserving Greenwich Village’s legacy. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child or in this case, a film festival.

This year we will be presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award on opening night, November 11, to our oldest living Academy Award Winner, Eva Marie Saint, who turned 100 years old in July. Although she will not be able to attend in person, we will be showing a short film showcasing her 75 year career with clips from some of her most iconic films including On The Waterfront and North By Northwest. It is only fitting that on our 10th Anniversary, we honor her because she actually lived in Greenwich Village in the late 40s and early 50s on Sheridan Square and later with her new husband, director Jeffrey Hayden, at 26 West 9th Street. She was living there when she won the Oscar for her first film On The Waterfront opposite Marlon Brando who also won that night. Soon Hollywood beckoned and Eva Marie and her husband reluctantly left their beloved Greenwich Village and moved to California. I have been fortunate to know her for over 50 years and to be her official archivist and producer of three of her documentaries.

So if you too want to preserve The Village’s reputation for creativity and excellence in the arts, join us and help celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Greenwich Village Film Festival from November 11-14 at The Quad Cinema at 34 W. 13th Street from 7-9:30 p.m. You will get to see a sampling of short narrative films, documentaries and animated films. Tickets are on sale at Greenwichvillagefilmfestival.com or take your chances at the door.