THE STORY
The Vermont Film & Folklore Festival is a celebration of the art of storytelling.
Film is the universal contemporary medium which simulates experiences and communicates images, ideas, stories, and emotions through the use of moving images. Folklore is the traditional medium of poems, myths, legends, and tales shared by a group of people. "Folk" is a social group and "lore" means instruction. These now include things people make with words (verbal lore), things they make with their hands (material lore), and things they make with their actions (customary lore). Both film and folklore live and thrive within community.
Through film, writing, art, poetry and spoken word, VFFF's mission is to serve the people of southern Vermont by creating an annual event which underscores the importance of storytelling to illustrate who we are, to share our values, and to nurture community. Our festival aims to discover new voices and to shine a spotlight on some of the most talented storytellers of our time. Honoring and reveling in storytelling is VFFF's primary role; this festival will, for the first time, bring filmmakers together with traditional storytellers to showcase their shared lineage... from a spellbinding tale around a campfire to the IMAX thunderdome experience.
We’d love for you to join us!
“Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form.”
– Jean Luc Godard, Filmmaker
“On one of their first dates my father gifted my mother with a huge hardcover volume of The Complete Works of Shakespeare. On the inscription inside he wrote ‘Spontaneity is superb.’ I've always been a believer in the adage that there is no such thing as coincidence—that everything happens for a reason. And perhaps that's why, of all places in the world for two former rival publishers to end up (Karol founded Filmmaker Magazine and I founded MovieMaker Magazine within a few months of each other in 1992), we both randomly chose the small town of Manchester, Vermont to settle with our families... and that's where, toward the beginning of the pandemic, we met in person for the first time in 30 years, outside of a Jamaican food truck... again, totally randomly. But the serendipity of that meeting and the superb spontaneity of our conversation that day eventually proved to be providence, because we realized that, while southern Vermont had many things we loved, it lacked one thing we both considered essential to a region's ability to provide a high quality of life—a great film festival. So we decided to change that and collaborate to build The Vermont Film and Folklore Festival in order to capitalize on the region's deep tradition of storytelling and celebrate that tradition with the world.”
— Tim Rhys, VFFF Co-founder
THE TEAM
Ryan Spahr
Ryan Spahr is an accomplished artist & designer working in a variety of media, including marker, pen and ink, oil, pastel, and photography. Their work exhibits bold, expressive mark-making, exploration, and experimentation. Ryan was a professional tattoo artist for 20 years and loves to yo-yo. Ryan lives in Rupert, Vermont where they spend their free time with their family and collecting records.
Sterling Mahoney
Sterling Mahoney is the in-house graphic designer for Abramorama. She graduated from SUNY Purchase with a degree in graphic design but has spent her life up to that point working at movie theaters. In her free time Sterling is an artist, DIY crafter, movie-lover, nature enjoyer and cat enthusiast.
Bill Muench,
VFFF Technical Committee Chair
Bill is a documentary filmmaker whose feature The Artist & the Astronaut has won awards at numerous festivals and is currently screening around the country. For over a quarter of a century, Bill has been an integral part of Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vermont. Throughout his tenure, he taught a variety of subjects including Cinematography, Journalism, English, and AP Psychology. In addition to his teaching roles, Bill was deeply involved in extracurricular activities. He still coaches basketball, and during his leisure hours he often performs with the local band, DON’T LEAVE. Bill shares his life with Barbara Muench, who serves as a Special Educator at BBA, and takes pride in his role as a father to Weston and Taylor. His dedication and impact resonate deeply within both the academic and broader community.
Beth Schoenfeldt
Sponsor Liaison
Beth has been a friend and mentor to entrepreneurs around the world for more than 20 years, contributing to the launch of thousands of businesses. Beth has successfully launched four profitable businesses, culminating in her latest venture: FundedBuy. Due to her reputation as a cutting edge thinker and expert on starting and growing businesses, some of the world's top media have turned to Beth for her insights into the latest trends among entrepreneurs and startups. Beth has been featured in media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, TIME Magazine, Elle, the TODAY show, The Street, and MSNBC. In 2010 Beth received the Distinguished Alumnae Award presented by Columbia Business School and Columbia Women in Business. Beth, with help from her son Asher Stein, is proud to have contributed to the launch of VFFF and now to contribute in its second year as the festival's Sponsorship Liaison.
Greg Hamilton
Head Programmer
Greg Hamilton is a Film Programmer/Event Manager based in Portland, Oregon, where he has hosted regional premieres, retrospectives and film revivals for the last 20 years. Last year, he served as film programmer and projectionist for the inaugural edition of VFFF. Greg serves as a creative consultant, talent curator, and film programmer for several film festivals and specializes in assembling original 16mm film programs that play in indie theaters across the United States. Greg produces events with the Montana International FF (MINT) and the Julien Dubuque FF (JDIFF). Greg served for six years as a board member at the world-famous Hollywood Theatre in Portland, directed the documentary Thou Shall Not Tailgate, and is currently leading a 16mm film preservation/exhibition project working with the Nyback Archive, one of the top private film archives in the nation.
Debbie Doherty
Debbie Doherty is a retired graphic designer and art director with experience in retail, retail buying, marketing, and management. She believes that the power of positive collaboration can achieve remarkable outcomes. Her corporate experience includes a history of successful deadline-oriented collaborations with corporate partners in the US and the UK, working in concert with outside vendors to achieve desired outcomes. In addition to her corporate achievements, she has volunteered on local Boards of Directors for the Northshire Day School, resulting in the new facility and Northshire Figure Skating Club at Riley Rink, coordinating lessons and incorporating hockey skaters to build a revenue stream while acting as creative director for several movie-themed ice shows. She is also a Paul Harris Fellow for fundraising efforts for the Rink and the Rotary Club of Manchester. Debbie has a BS in Graphic design, including a year of on-site study of Italian Renaissance art history based in Sienna, Italy. Debbie and her family reside in Manchester Center with their two dogs, and her husband is a manufacturer’s representative in the ski and bike industry and a Manchester Volunteer Fire Department Captain. In addition to their day jobs, her children continue the tradition of ice skating instruction, with her daughter, now the lead skating instructor, and her son, who has also taught skating and volunteered as an ice hockey coach.
Evelina Jarosz
Filmmaker Liaison
Evelina is a screenwriter and editor. She is a graduate of Humber College’s Film & Television program and works in various production and post-production roles on both TV and film.
Along with her own writing projects, she works as a script doctor for other screenwriters. With her keen attention to detail she enjoys assisting writers polish their screenplays prior to agent delivery.
Evelina is a lifelong film lover and appreciates every above and below-the-line responsibility that must successfully come together to create a work of cinematic art that resonates with audiences.
THE JURORS
Greg Hamilton
Greg Hamilton is a Film Programmer/Event Manager based in Portland, Oregon, where he has hosted regional premieres, retrospectives and film revivals for the last 20 years. Last year, he served as film programmer and projectionist for the inaugural edition of VFFF. Greg serves as a creative consultant, talent curator, and film programmer for several film festivals and specializes in assembling original 16mm film programs that play in indie theaters across the United States. Greg produces events with the Montana International FF (MINT) and the Julien Dubuque FF (JDIFF). Greg served for six years as a board member at the world-famous Hollywood Theatre in Portland, directed the documentary Thou Shall Not Tailgate, and is currently leading a 16mm film preservation/exhibition project working with the Nyback Archive, one of the top private film archives in the nation.
Cash Cassidy
Growing up in Maine with YouTube and digital cameras, Cash Cassidy has been making movies since day one. He taught himself to produce, direct, shoot, and edit by creating music videos and directing community television shows.
Cash relocated to Los Angeles after high school because that's what real filmmakers do, then he lived on a bus because real filmmakers don't have jobs. That bus became the setting of his latest feature film, Childish Things, for which he wore the hats of producer, writer, actor, cinematographer, editor, and colorist.
Now, at age 22, Cash is developing his third feature and serving as a jury member at his favorite film festival.
Jeanine Frost
Jeanine Frost is an award winning Vermont/Denmark based writer, director, actor and producer. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the American Film Institute, she continues to nurture her desire to craft fearless, authentic stories and characters in theater and film. Credits include her films Mors Dag, No More, Sloan Hearts Neckface, as well as roles in ACT 39, The Obelisk, Katharina In the Snow, Studio F…ing Bird, The Iron Curtain Trilogy etc. Jeanine is also an advocate for the Vermont film community through her work with The Vermont Production Collective, the mother of a precocious tween, a lover of black licorice and long morning walks in the woods.
Jacques Thelemaque
After attending both USC and UCLA, Jacques secured a 3-picture writing deal with Imagine Entertainment. In 1993, Jacques co-founded Filmmakers Alliance. As President, he built the grassroots collective into an important independent filmmaking community and resource organization with films screening at every major festival in the world. He’s overseen the production of hundreds of films and developed a wide range of innovative and dynamic filmmaking support programs.
In 2005, he was named Chief Community Officer of the festival submission/filmmaker support site, Withoutabox.com.
In 2004, Jacques and partner Liam Finn formed FA Productions, of which they are Co-Presidents. Jacques has produced several feature films including "Shock Television", "The Dogwalker", "Within", "Midnight Movie" and "The Revenant" and is a co-producer on Brooklyn Reptyle’s "Audie and the Wolf". He also produced a national ad spot for Coke Zero.
His writer-director filmography includes the feature film "The Dogwalker" (Los Angeles Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Best First Feature - Cinequest Film Festival), as well as the shorts "My Last Day On Earth" (Seattle International Film Festival. Ashland Independent Film Festival), "Transaction" (Sundance Film Festival, winner of the Grand Prix du Jury Award in the Labo Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival), "Infidelity In Equal Parts" (Sundance Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival), "Egg" (Mill Valley Film Festival, Best Comedy Short - Cinequest Film Festival, Jury Award for Best Short – Methodfest) and "Love Without Socks" (AFI International Film Festival). Jacques has recently completed three new feature film scripts, "Rust", "Hurricane Jane" and "Connection". He’s also completed the pilot to a limited series called “Monday”. He's also written over 50 short scripts for 3rd Page, a short format writing/filmmaking collective.
Jacques also self-distributed his feature film "The Dogwalker" in 2006 as well as worked on the distribution team for "America So Beautiful" in 2004.
Jacques has hosted many seminars and workshops and served as a guest lecturer or invited speaker for many film schools, film organizations and film festivals. Jacques has also been a board member, programmer and juror at numerous film festivals. He was an Associate Programmer for the Los Angeles Film Festival from 2011 until it’s end in 2018. He is currently building a new short film streaming platform called BURP, which will launch beta phase in early 2025.
THE FOUNDERS
Tim Rhys
Vermont Film & Folklore Festival Director Tim Rhys is a writer and producer who founded MovieMaker, the international magazine for independent filmmakers which he published for three decades. He also founded the MovieMaker Institute, which for many years brought acclaimed educational seminars to cities around the world, and MovieMaker Production Services, a program which continues to help North American feature film producers bring their projects to fruition by fostering partnerships and arranging creative financing opportunities.
During his long career as an entertainment journalist Tim has served as a juror or panelist at scores of film festivals including Hawaii International, New Orleans, New Hampshire, Mammoth Lakes, Leipzig, Oporto, and many others.
For seven years he served on the board of Portland's historic Hollywood Theatre, where he was instrumental in saving Movie Madness, a beloved Oregon institution.
Tim received a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications from The University of Maine and subsequently studied film production at The Vancouver Film School and cultural journalism and photography at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies before launching MovieMaker and operating offices in Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles.
These days Tim lives with his artist and educator wife Jessica, their sons Torin and Roan, and assorted animals in a colonial saltbox farmhouse which has been in his family for almost 250 years. In his spare time he writes poetry, studies Italian, and operates The Wheelwrite Imaginarium Bookshop and Arthouse in Manchester Center, Vermont.
Karol Martesko-Fenster
Karol is an Austrian-born American entrepreneur and media industry innovator with broad motion picture, Internet, digital, broadcast, publishing, and event backgrounds. He has produced over three dozen award-winning films and his career spans multiple decades including pioneering leadership in the American independent film sector.Karol is CEO of Abramorama, Founder of Thought Engine and Innovation & Strategy Officer of the non-profit Theorem Media. Karol was the President of Film for Michael Cohl’s S2BN Entertainment, EVP of Film & Animation at Babel Networks, President/Publisher of Silicon Alley Reporter, and Head of Film at Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures. While at Palm, he led operations and brand positioning for the RES Media Group unit, including its digital film festival RESFEST, the world’s original digital arts and entertainment festival, which in its 10th year (’06) was a global touring event spanning 6 continents, 19 countries and 40 cities worldwide.
Karol has produced over 25 television and satellite broadcast music programs, multiple Webby Award-winning projects and he co-founded Filmmaker Magazine, RES Magazine and several media content enterprises, including conditionone, and IndieWire.com.
Current and former boards include Columbia University’s Global Thought (CGT) and Digital Storytelling Lab (DSL), The Wall Street Theater, Rightster, Bella Gaia, The Film Collaborative, Rising Tide Studios, and the Hamptons International Film Festival, LA Independent Film Festival, and Kitzbuehel Film Festival. Karol has lived in over 20 cities internationally and received a B.A. from SUNY Purchase and an M.F.A. from Columbia University with a concentration in entertainment law, theater management and film production.