ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The 3rd Annual Albany Film Festival will be held at the University of Albany at 1400 Washington Avenue on April 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Hosted by the NYS Writers Institute, the festival features a lineup of award-winning filmmakers, novelists, and screenwriters, feature-length film screenings and conversations, and a presentation of the Ironweed Awards and short film awards.

The Ironweed Award for Exemplary Achievement in Film will be presented to Stephen Lang, who most recently played the role of Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron’s Avatar films, and filmmakers James Schamus, Amy Carey Linton, and Keith Beauchamp. Award winner Julie Dash will not be able to attend.

The festival will include conversations with the Ironweed Award winners. Acclaimed authors Rick Moody and Joyce Carol Oates, will discuss film adaptations of their novels The Ice Storm and Blonde, respectively. There will also be a panel discussion on censorship in cinema, a conversation on video-making and films by visual artists Sky Hopinka and Jeffrey Gibson, and more.

All of the Short Film Award finalists’ films will be screened throughout the event. Winners will be announced at the closing ceremony.

“We are pleased that the Albany Film Festival provides a showcase for young, emerging talent,” said NYS Writers Institute Opalka Endowed Director Paul Grondahl. “It also creates a space for aspiring directors and audience members to interact with acclaimed filmmakers, screenwriters, and novelists whose work has been adapted for the screen.”