The 10th Annual Peekskill Film Festival, presented by The Field Library, opens Friday, June 27, at 6 p.m. as the red carpet rolls out to welcome filmmakers and fans at Peekskill’s premier showplace, the 1,000-plus seat Paramount Hudson Valley Theater, at 1008 Brown Street.
A full day of films is on tap for Saturday, June 28, from 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Tickets are $15 Friday, $25 Saturday, or $35 for a full festival weekend pass to both days of festival activities. That includes more than 50 films, filmmaker Q+As, world premieres, and after-parties. On Sunday, June 29, at 8 p.m., at Pugsley Park in downtown Peekskill, there is a special showing of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, starring Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman), who was born in Peekskill.
A portion of the festival proceeds will be allocated to support the cultural programming of The Field Library, strengthening the festival’s connection with the Peekskill community.
Sponsors of the festival include The Field Library trustees Karen Kelley, Catalina Fortino and Alan Most. Business sponsors include Orange Bank and Trust, College Connection. For more information, including sponsor updates, visit peekskillfilmfestival.org.
The festival’s selection committee is Carol Bash, a producer and documentarian with over 20 years of experience; Christopher Fox, programming director and filmmaker; and John Morgan, organizer and programmer. The trio will announce their choices for award-worthy films at the close of the festival. The selection committee is expected to increase in number in 2026.
The festival has identified the following films as “Top Tier” entries for the 2025 festival.
Sally, Get the Potatoes
Screening Opening Night
A little girl’s innocence is shattered when she takes an unexpected ride in her wealthy family’s rolling laundry cart and learns their secrets.
Director
Danicah Waldo is a writer, director, and producer based out of New York City. She got her 10,000 hours directing and producing narrative short films starring kids for the Applause New York YouTube channel, which now sits at 1.5 million subscribers and 1 billion views. Sally, Get the Potatoes is her personal debut narrative short film as a writer and director.
Director Statement
My film is an exploration of the grey area in between adolescence and adulthood. The moments where adults try to get it right, and always ultimately fail. The choices that children will forever blame their parents for, no matter the context. The isolation of innocence, and the isolation of knowledge.
Festival Comments
Very slick short film. Possibly one of the best shorts we’ve had the pleasure to screen. We are excited to be screening this opening night for our audience.
Discarded T-Shirts
Screening Opening Night
A quirky, comedic essay film, the journey of searching for love is humorously paralleled with the process of sorting through an overflowing closet of old T-shirt.
Director
Ethan Knecht is an educator and personal essay filmmaker based in Pleasantville, NY, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. His films, often exploring personal narratives and human connection, have been showcased at prestigious festivals including Rooftop Films, The Hudson Valley Film Festival, Peekskill Film Festival, YoFi Festival, Northside Film Festival, and the Atlanta Underground Film Festival.
Director Statement
As both an educator and a filmmaker, I’ve always been fascinated by the way we shape our identities and the stories we tell about ourselves. My film was born out of this fascination, exploring how the process of shedding old personas and relationships mirrors the search for love and self-acceptance.
Festival Comments
Ethan’s style of social commentary meets observation is something that resides in each of our subconscious that brings laughs to our souls. We are proud and excited to screen his latest film opening night.
Apostasy Blues
Opening Night Feature
After a cult leader “raptures” alone with his followers’ donation money, two cult members reenter the secular world to embark on a manhunt for their swindler from rural Ohio to New York City.
Director
Peter Pavlakis is a Brooklyn-based Cinematographer and Director. He has a BFA in film directing from The School of Visual Arts in New York City. He started his career shooting documentary projects for NGOs in Kenya, Uganda, and Somalia, then he moved back to New York to focus on narrative and commercial work.
Director Statement
Millennials (of which I am one) are the least religious generation in American history. And we’re wondering what to replace religion with. So many depictions of cult members ridicule them or make them seem crazy, but I think the impulses that make someone join a cult are deeply human and in all of us.
Festival Comments
A bold, offbeat indie that follows two disillusioned cult members on a gritty quest to track down the charismatic leader who conned them all. Very well shot and produced, with a stylish visual flair and refreshingly unpredictable storytelling. We look forward to featuring this film as our opening night highlight.
Against The Current
Saturday, June 28, Block D 3-4 pm
The re-emergence of the Hudson River is one of the great environmental stories of our time, and it could not have happened without folk music’s accompanying emotional energy. Set alongside a canoe journey with musicians in late summer 2024, this is a story of music and a river.
Director
Ross Ferrier is an award-winning filmmaker based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the director of Analog Film Co, a Scottish film production house which specializes in documentary and brand film. Ferrier’s documentary work covers a wide variety of subject matter but is unified by a firm grounding in authentic stories of people and place.
Director Statement
We think that our film tells a story, in part history, in part river, in part people, in big part HOPE. Boy do we collectively need some hope. And the truth is that when you get out there, on the river or on the mountain, sharing music or stories, there is plenty of it out there.
Festival Comments
Against the Current captures one of the great environmental stories of our time with heartfelt music and powerful storytelling. A moving tribute to the resilience of both nature and community.
Sweet Boys
Saturday, 6/28, Block F 6-7:30 pm
A love letter to youth, East Harlem and the kids I knew growing up. Inspired by a poem and the spirit of the early 2000s, we follow two friends go down different paths.
Director
Natasha Rivera is a Nuyorican Writer/Director and Producer dedicated to developing complex characters and disrupting the mainstream narrative. A self-titled “Harry Potter Kid” and musical theatre nerd, Natasha thrives in the worlds of magical realism, coming- of-age stories and a touch for the fantastical.
Director Statement
I’m from the ‘hood. East Harlem, early ‘90s, projects and roach-infested tenement buildings, to be exact. More often than not, I saw around me lost potential, complacency, the effects of heavy policing and governmental redlining. While I’m the right person to share this story, there are many like me where I’m from who can identify with the universality of this struggle.
Festival Comments
This film absolutely rocks! Natasha has been a longtime friend of the festival, and it’s incredible to watch her evolve into such a powerful filmmaker. We’re super proud to be screening Sweet Boys Saturday night, don’t miss it!
The Babysitter Murders: Timing’s Off
Saturday, June 28, 8-10:15pm
A babysitter experiencing time distortions sees a news report of her own murder.
Director
Orin Black
Bio not available
Statement not available
Festival Comments
As a Sci-Fi thriller fan and filmmaker myself, don’t tell anyone but this is hands down my favorite film of the festival. (Chris Fox)
Carry The Darkness
Saturday, June 28, Closing Feature 8-10:15pm
In 1993, Travis Baldwin is a misunderstood metalhead teenager amidst a world steeped in the Satanic panic. Lured by a mysterious entity that begins wreaking havoc, can Travis protect himself and his friends while being blamed for the atrocities surrounding him? Besides a few friends and a newcomer detective, the town eagerly accuses Travis while remaining blind to the true evil in their midst.
Director
Douglas Forrester is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker/film geek from Maryland holding an MFA in Digital Filmmaking from Stony Brook Southampton + Killer Films. This is his feature-length debut. He says filmmaking is inherently an exercise in empathy; seeking not just to express oneself but to engage with the experiences of others.
Director Statement
How do young people reckon with the labels placed upon them by a society fraught with dogmatic echo chambers? My film is a coming-of-age supernatural thriller that is as much inspired by the fiction of the 1990s (The X-Files, Twin Peaks, The Fugitive) as it is the nonfiction (Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills).
Festival Comments
A boldly ambitious indie feature set against unforgettable locations. We’re thrilled to present its New York State premiere.
