Aspen Film has announced special guest programmers for its 2016–2017 season and they are all women.
Rachel Chanoff has been named Director of Programming for the 38th annual Aspen Filmfest, Jane Schoettle will serve as Director of Programming for the 25th Aspen Film Academy Screenings, and Kathleen McInnis was named Director of Programming for the 26th Annual Aspen Shortsfest.
“We’re ecstatic about the stellar quality of our programming directors for the 2016–17 season,” said Aspen Film Executive Director John Thew. “We can’t wait to see the creativity and artistic flair that Rachel, Jane and Kathleen bring to our unique cinematic events.”
Aspen Filmfest runs from September 21–25, 2016. The Aspen Film Academy Screenings run December 21, 2016- January 1, 2017. And Aspen Shortsfest runs from April 5–9, 2017. The full lineup for Aspen Filmfest will be announced on August 30. Tickets go on sale September 2.
Bios of Chanoff, Schoettle, and McInnis are below, courtesy of Aspen Film.
Rachel Chanoff has been working in performing arts and film for 35 years and is founder and director of The Office performing arts + film, a New York City programming, consulting, and production company. She is curator of Performing Arts and Film for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), director of programming of the CenterSeries at the ’62 Center for Theater and Dance at Williams College, consultant to the Feature Film and Theater programs for the Sundance Institute and to the RAWI screenwriters lab in Jordan, curator of the New York Jewish Film Festival and the Margaret Mead Film Festival, and artistic director of the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival. Chanoff is also proud to serve on the board of the 52nd Street Project and Working Films.
Jane Schoettle is an international programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, responsible for programming films from Australia, New Zealand, and Israel, as well as American independent cinema. She has served as a jury member for Narrative Features at SXSW in Austin and has served on numerous international festival juries including the Jerusalem International Film Lab and events in Scandinavia, Europe, South America and South Asia. Schoettle has participated in numerous film residency programs, most recently for the South Australian Film Corporation at the Adelaide Film Festival and for Screen Australia held in Sydney. Also known as a script consultant for private film-related clients, she frequently appears on-camera or in print as a film expert.
Kathleen McInnis is an international film festival programmer with over 25 years of experience. Currently a Short Cuts programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival, she previously served as festival director for the Slamdance Film Festival and Palm Springs ShortFest and lead programmer for the Seattle International Film Festival, among other programming posts. Recently a panelist for the UK Film Council at the Cannes Film Festival, McInnis has served on festival juries worldwide and, through her company See-Through Films, consults filmmakers at such worldwide festivals and markets as Toronto, Sundance, Berlin and San Sebastian. Teaching festival strategies at UCLA School of Film, Television and Theater, she is a regular guest lecturer at Brooklyn College and USC.
