Vermont
Vermont Is Getting a Brand-New Film Festival, Founded by Two Indie Film Luminaries
Later this month, the Green Mountain State will roll out the red carpet for the United States’ newest international film festival: The Vermont Film & Folk Festival, which will open in Manchester, Vermont on Thursday, May 23 with a full lineup of award-winning narrative features, documentaries, and shorts from around the world, including a spotlight on Vermont-made films.
Founded by a pair of indie film luminaries and recent Manchester transplants — MovieMaker Magazine founder Tim Rhys and Filmmaker Magazine co-founder Karol Martesko-Fenster — the festival will play home to screenings of more than 40 new and classic films, including rare 16mm screenings of some of Hollywood’s most beloved movies, including 70th anniversary screenings of “On the Waterfront” and “La Strada,” a 75th anniversary screening of James Cagney’s “White Heat,” and an 80th anniversary screening of “Double Indemnity, and more.
The festival will kick off at The Southern Vermont Arts Center with the opening night feature screening of festival circuit darling “Tokyo Cowboy” with director Marc Marriott in attendance, followed by an opening night party to include a performance from the Hartford, Connecticut-based band Gravity. In addition to the film screenings, the program will include afternoon happy hour cocktail parties for festival supporters and guests, and two seminars to be held at Burr and Burton Academy: “Producing the Independent Feature” and “Why Folklore is Integral to Vermont’s Character.” The festival will run May 23-26.
On a personal note, if you’re wondering about the kismet and coincidence of both Rhys and Martesko-Fenster moving to the same small Vermont town, imagine this writer’s shock when she walked into a brand-new bookstore during a recent visit to her own hometown, only to find Rhys behind the register (he owns the place, which is located next door to his wife’s darling preschool, truly a Vermont dream).
“When Karol and I discovered we had both moved from urban areas to the same small town, we talked about all the things we loved about Manchester, Vermont and the thing we both missed most of all —accessible cinema on the big screen,” said co-founder and festival director Rhys in an official statement. “We know we’re not alone, as Bennington County is home to an extremely dynamic, artistic population. We hope that folks will come out and support these films and filmmakers by attending the screenings this Memorial Day weekend. We’ve already gotten a nice response from the business community and we’re so excited to serve up what we’ve been cooking this past year.”
Rhys and Martesko-Fenster’s venture is also notable because Manchester lacks its own movie theater. The two-screen joint this writer grew up watching films in is now a Sherwin-Williams paint store. For Manchester denizens, like my own family, the closest theater is over half an hour away in Bennington, with the nearest multiplex located more than an hour away in Saratoga Springs, New York (yes, a whole other state away; yes, I’ve lived it).
According to the festival, its mission “is to serve the people of southern Vermont by creating an annual event that underscores the importance of story to who we are as a society with a shared set of values, while simultaneously discovering and nurturing new talent and shining a spotlight on some of the most talented storytellers of our time. Honoring and reveling in storytelling is VFFF’s primary role.”
Film awards will be given in the following categories by a jury to be announced: Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, The Equinox Award (Jury Award for Best of Fest), and the Green Mountain Award (Audience Award for Best of Fest). Venues for the festivities include the Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester Community Library, Burr & Burton Academy, and Rhys’ Wheelwrite Imaginarium Bookshop Arthouse, which will also be the location of the Filmmakers Lounge during the festival.
You can find out more about the festival, including its full schedule and how to purchase tickets and passes, on its official website. Check out the full lineup below, with all synopses provided by the festival.
FEATURE FILMS
TOKYO COWBOY
Directed by Marc Marriott
A Japanese businessman goes on an unwitting journey of self-discovery when he takes a company trip from Tokyo to a Montana cattle ranch.
ROWDY GIRL
Directed by Jason Goldman
Determined to make the planet a better place, former Texas cattle rancher Renee King-Sonnen transforms her husband’s beef operation into a farm animal sanctuary, encouraging other farmers to transition from animal agriculture to plant-based food production.
FULL CIRCLE
Directed by Josh Berman
Faced with a traumatic injury that leaves you permanently disabled; how would you reinvent yourself? Trevor Kennison’s life was forever altered by a broken back – for worse and for better, in equal measures.
ROBERT SHIELDS: MY LIFE AS A ROBOT
Directed by Mark Bonn
“No words” can describe him, literally. Robert Shields, one of the most unique performers of the century, performing for 2 Presidents a Queen while gaining the admiration of many of Hollywood’s greats-all of it done without saying a word.
THE QUIETEST YEAR
Directed by Karen Atkins
Filmmaker Karen Atkins’ darkly quirky personal quest to curb noise pollution in her quaint Vermont village uncovers dire consequences for noise regulation, not only in her home state, but nationwide.
THE ARTIST AND THE ASTRONAUT
Directed by Bill Muench
A uniquely American couple’s captivating story during the pinnacle of American exploration and social change.
THE NINE LIVES OF BARBARA DANE
Directed by Maureen Gosling
Barbara Dane turns setbacks into opportunities, paving her own way with her art, participating in, and influencing international social justice and musical movements across nine decades.
DEMON MINERAL
Directed by Hadley Austin
A portrait of life in the radioactive desert on the Navajo Reservation, following a group of indigenous scientists, elders, and activists as they work to protect a vital living space on contaminated land.
CHAPERONE
Directed by Zoe Eisenberg
Alienated by friends and family for her lack of ambition, 29-year-old Misha finds a dangerous acceptance in a bright 18-year-old athlete who mistakes her for a fellow student.
THE ACCIDENT
Directed by Giuseppe Garau
After being fired, Marcella, a gentle-hearted mother going through separation, buys a tow truck, gets trapped deeper and deeper in a cynical and aggressive world until a terrible opportunity shines in front of her.
FALLEN DRIVE
Directed by Nick Cassidy and David Rice
On the night of their high school reunion, Charlie and her boyfriend Reese have come with plans to exact revenge on former classmate, Liam. The plan – to stage the same heinous crime he committed in high school, but this time collect the evidence to prove his guilt.
JUST GETTING BY
Directed by Bess O’Brien
A documentary film that explores the day-to-day challenges and incredible resiliency that low-income Vermonters bear witness to every day. The film sheds light on an often-hidden Vermont population persevering against all odds to feed and house themselves and their families.
AFRICAN GIANTS
Directed by Omar S. Kamara
Over a weekend visit in Los Angeles, two first-generation Sierra Leonean American brothers navigate the changing dynamics of brotherhood after a surprise announcement.
THE YORKIE WEREWOLF
Directed by Michael DiBiasio-Ornelas
A rebellious teen witch is turned into a tiny werewolf and thrown into the middle of a decades-old war between one small town’s creatures of the night – and the local mafia.
UNDERDOG
Directed by Tommy Hyde
A hardscrabble Vermont dairy farmer risks losing the only home he’s ever known to chase his dreams of dog mushing in Alaska. Meticulously captured over the course of a decade, UNDERDOG paints an intimate verité portrait of Doug Butler as he puts a curiously optimistic twist on the kinds of family farm tragedies that have marked American rural life.
COMMON GROUND
Directed by Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell
The solution of Regenerative farmers to bring soil health across the continent and beyond.
VERMONT-MADE FILMS
MOTHER’S HOUSE
Directed by Garret Harkawik
In the 1950s Mary Tarinelli’s mother had a vision while visiting a historic site purported to be the final home of the Virgin Mary. Tarinelli recounts the story and explains the unique ways in which her mother’s experience has shaped her life.
LIA: A BODYBUILDING STORY
Directed by Susan Weiss
The story of a female body builder, a woman with focus, determination, and the goal to participate in a pro tournament.
LOVE OF THE LAND
Directed by Travis Van Alstyne
A short, animated film based on the true and tragic story of Vermont farmer Romaine Tenney. His farm was in the construction path of Interstate 91 in the 1960s and the State of Vermont seized his land through eminent domain. 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of his passing.
STEVE’S CHAPEL
Directed by Gail Osherenko
The tale of one individual’s quest to establish a sanctuary wherein people can contemplate and rejoice in a world that has shed much of its ceremonial and profound significance.
THE THAW
Directed by Sarah Wisner and Sean Temple
In 19th century Vermont, a young woman’s parents drink sleeping tea in order to survive the harsh winter, but an early thaw leads to horrifying results.
SHORTS PROGRAM 1
SUBTEXT
Directed by Erin Brown Thomas
Two people on a first date mask and ignore their insecurities until an event forces them to say what they’re really thinking.
RIZOO
Directed by Azadeh Navai
To Rizzo, 8—who’s recently moved back from Tehran from California—the world is a magical place. But when she must take a class portrait, her world suddenly becomes very complicated. Does she wear the traditional head-scarf, which all girls over the age of 9 must wear—or not?
SCREWJOB
Directed by Sam Benjamin
On the night before she is set to be crowned World Champion, a talented but injury cursed pro wrestler finds out that plans have changed and that she will be forced to lose the match or will be fired from the company.
LEAF
Directed by Cash Cassidy
Young Portland, Maine-based band LEAF plays their biggest show yet at the Portland House of Music.
COMMON AS RED HAIR
Directed by Robbie Robertson
The aftermath of an emotional funeral causes a grieving father and mother to re-examine their early life decision to have gender normalization surgery performed on their intersex infant.
YOU CAN’T SHRINK LOVE
Directed by Veena Rao
An artist gives life to the memories of our most beloved companions.
SCAM
Directed by Julie Sharbutt
When a phone scammer makes one last late-night call, the woman on the other end gives her much more than she bargained for.
SHORTS PROGRAM 2
THE ABCs OF BOOK BANNING
Directed by Sheila Nevins, Trish Adlesic and Nazenet Habtezghi
Reveals the voices of the impacted parties of books banned from school districts, inspiring hope for the future through the profound insights of inquisitive youthful minds.
MATTRESS EXPRESS
Directed by Noah Morse
After twins Ben and Rosie botch their only chance to pull their childhood home out of foreclosure, their night spirals out of control.
TREE CROWN
Directed by Predrag Todorovic
Without narrative sandstone and wretched landmark, people of Western Serbia seem to have never existed. The only portraits and biographies were given to them only after they had died.
VESPA
Directed by Olivia Ramos
Luiza visits her estranged mother’s new home, inadvertently inheriting her role in a peculiar natural cycle.
DECIDING VOTE
Directed by Robert J. Lyons and Jeremy Workman
50 years ago, assemblyman George Michaels cast a single vote on New York’s abortion bill that changed the course of American history but destroyed his political career in the process.
Vermont
VTDigger joins forces with FRONTLINE to investigate the aftermath of Vermont’s severe flooding – VTDigger
FRONTLINE, PBS’s investigative documentary series produced at GBH in Boston, has selected VTDigger for a yearlong reporting partnership to examine the aftermath of Vermont’s severe flooding and the federal government’s shifting response to natural disasters.
Emma Cotton, who has served as VTDigger’s environmental reporter before becoming a senior editor, will lead the project’s reporting. Her work, as part of FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, will investigate how this extreme weather has affected our residents, housing situation, farms, businesses and landscape.
“Our goal will be to investigate why some Vermont communities are struggling to recover from the floods and how they could be better supported in getting back on their feet,” said Geeta Anand, VTDigger’s editor-in-chief. “We will do this in conversation with people in these communities so that our reporting is deeply informed by those most affected by the floods.”
VTDigger is one of seven newsrooms selected for FRONTLINE’s Journalism Initiative. Digger will team up with Blue Ridge Public Radio and The Texas Newsroom (the collaboration among NPR stations in the state), providing in-depth coverage of the impact and recovery efforts as we grapple with worsening weather and increased destruction.
“I’m so grateful to have FRONTLINE’s support, which enables us to dedicate a new level of resources to one of the most important stories in the state,” Cotton said. “I look forward to giving this story my complete attention over the next year, and I’m eager to connect with Vermonters across the state to understand how flooding has affected them and their communities.”
Vermont, long cast as a climate haven, is struggling to recover from back-to-back major flooding events, never mind prepare for the next ones. For each of the past three years, extreme flooding has taken place on the same day, July 10.
Small, rural towns, like those in southern Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom, have tiny, sometimes volunteer governments with limited capacity to plan for floods. Some of these towns are currently grappling with millions of dollars in debt — doubling their annual budgets in some instances.
“So many of us were personally affected by these floods — my road washed out two years in a row, and my former Montpelier business was destroyed in 2023,” said Sky Barsch, VTDigger’s CEO. “I know firsthand how vital it is to have deep, sustained reporting on what recovery entails. Under Geeta Anand’s leadership and with Emma Cotton’s excellent reporting, VTDigger is proud to partner with FRONTLINE to bring these stories to light.”
If flooding touched your home, business or town, please share your story (anonymous is OK) to help guide our reporting.
Vermont
A Civil War painting is unveiled at the Statehouse. Thank the social studies teacher who ‘found’ it. – VTDigger
This story by Tom McKone was first published in The Bridge on Nov. 6, 2025.
While doing research about the Civil War, Champlain Valley Union High School social studies teacher Tyler Alexander found an image of an 1872 painting by Julian Scott titled “The 4th Vermont Forming Under Fire,” which he hoped to include in a new book.
The problem was, at least initially, it appeared that no one in Vermont knew the painting even existed.
Internet searches were no help, and it was a few months before Alexander got his first good lead. Years ago, a Texas insurance company asked Vermont art historian Robert Titteron, who had written a book about Julian Scott, to appraise the value of the painting Alexander was seeking, and he still had the written communications. The last known owner was the University of Houston — and not only did the university still have the painting, it was about to auction it off.
Alexander quickly contacted David Schutz, the Vermont State Curator, who immediately contacted Vermont historians Howard Coffin and Kevin Graffagnino. With less than a week before the auction, there was no way to secure state money, so Coffin and Graffagnino asked Vermont Country Store owner Lyman Orton, who owns the largest private collection of Vermont art, for help.
Orton won the bidding for the painting and agreed to lend it to the state for display in the Statehouse’s Cedar Creek Room, which already had four other Civil War paintings by Scott, including “The First Vermont Brigade at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Oct. 19th 1864,” a 10-by-20-foot mural commissioned by the legislature and unveiled in 1874.
Skip forward 151 years, to Oct. 29, 2025, and an unveiling that brought Alexander, Orton, Coffin, Schutz, Graffagnino, a uniformed contingent from Vermont’s Civil War Hemlocks, and scores of other Vermonters to the Cedar Creek Room.
Alexander read a vivid description of the battle from one of the letters in his book, Coffin described the battle portrayed in the painting, Orton talked about his affinity for Vermont art, and Schutz reminded everyone that the Statehouse opened only two years before the Civil War started, and was, in a sense, baptized by that event.
A native of Johnson, Vermont, 15-year-old Scott joined the war as a drummer and fifer. He made camp and battle sketches during the war, and after it, he became a trained artist. Not only is his newly discovered painting on display at the Statehouse — it is also on the cover of Alexander’s new book, “If I Can Get Home This Fall: A Story of Love, Loss, and a Cause in the Civil War” (University of Nebraska Press 2025).
Vermont
Northern Lights to dazzle skies across these US states tonight – from Washington to Vermont to Maine | Today News
Over 20 states in the United States may be treated to a dazzling display of the Northern Lights tonight (November 11–12). Notably, the Northern Lights occur when solar winds collide with Earth’s atmosphere, producing shifting patterns of light. These displays often feature a mix of colours, including green, pink, red, and purple.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are expected to strike Earth late on Monday, potentially triggering strong (G3) geomagnetic storm conditions. A third and even more powerful CME is also forecast to follow.
This third burst, caused by a massive X5.1-class solar flare — the most powerful recorded so far in 2025 — is predicted to reach Earth at around 7 a.m. EST (12:00 GMT) on 12 November.
In response, NOAA has issued a G4 geomagnetic storm watch, suggesting the potential for widespread auroras visible much farther south than usual. While cloudy skies obscured the view for many last week, weather conditions this time are expected to be more favourable.
Which US states could see the Northern Lights tonight?
If you’re wondering, “from where can I see the northern lights?” NOAA’s latest aurora forecast map has the answer. According to the agency, the Northern Lights could be visible across at least 21 US states.
States expected to catch a glimpse of the aurora include Alaska, North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, South Dakota, Idaho, Vermont, Washington, New Hampshire, Wyoming, New York, Iowa, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.
This means that even residents in parts of the Midwest and Northeast could enjoy the stunning display if skies remain clear.
When is the best time to watch the aurora borealis in the US?
NOAA’s three-day geomagnetic storm forecast suggests that heightened activity will continue through the night. The best viewing times are expected to be:
4 p.m. – 10 p.m. EST (2100–0300 GMT): Minor (G1) to moderate (G2) storm levels possible
10 p.m. – 1 a.m. EST (0300–0600 GMT): Strong (G3) geomagnetic storm levels possible
During these peak hours, the Northern Lights could appear as glowing ribbons, arcs, or soft clouds of colour drifting across the northern horizon.
How can you improve your chances of seeing the Northern Lights?
Even if you’re not in an ideal location, a few simple techniques recommended by space.com can help you spot or photograph the aurora more easily:
Find a dark spot facing north: Move as far away from city lights as possible and look toward the northern horizon for the best chance of seeing the aurora borealis.
Use your phone camera: Your camera sensor can often detect faint auroras before your eyes do. Try scanning the sky through your camera to locate the right direction.
Let your eyes adjust: Spend at least 30 minutes in darkness to develop night vision.
Dress warmly: Temperatures can drop quickly at night, and aurora watching often involves standing outdoors for long periods.
Be patient: The Northern Lights can appear suddenly, so staying out a little longer might make all the difference.
Which apps can help track aurora activity?
To stay updated in real time, space.com recommends downloading a Northern Lights forecast app that provides alerts based on your location, such as My Aurora Forecast & Alerts or Space Weather Live, both available on iOS and Android.
These apps can notify you when the aurora visibility index spikes in your area — ensuring you don’t miss the show when it begins.
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