The Vermont premiere of LOVE, GILDA, a film by Lisa D’Apolito about the life of comedian Gilda Radner, is scheduled for Gallery Walk Friday, August 3, at 6:30 p.m., at the Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St., Brattleboro, Vermont.  The screening is a benefit to support Kopkind/CID film retreats.  D’Apolito will be on hand for a Q&A after the screening.

D’Apolito, director and producer of LOVE, GILDA, originally shared the idea of the documentary with fellow Kopkind/CID filmmakers in 2014.  For the last 13 years, Susi Walsh, CID co-founder (1981) and executive director, has collaborated with Guilford resident John Scagliotti to offer film camp retreats on his farm.  Scagliotti is an Emmy Award-winning documentary producer and the creator of the public television series In the Life – the monthly hour-long program on news and culture about the gay community that ran on PBS from 1992-2012.

Returning to Kopkind/CID three years later, D’Apolito sought feedback on final edits before submission to the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.  In April, LOVE, GILDA opened the prestigious event.

Now in its 19th year, The Kopkind Colony and the Center for Independent Documentary (CID) will combine forces during the first week in August to provide filmmakers a place to workshop their films in progress. The Kopkind/CID Film Camp is held at Treefrog Farm in Guilford, a mountaintop haven that encourages filmmakers to engage in deep conversation, reflection and a chance to recharge from the intensity of independent filmmaking.

CID’s Walsh understands the power of the unique role that Kopkind/CID offers to independent filmmakers.  “Over 120 filmmakers have joined us up at Kopkind over the years, bringing their diverse and inspiring films to be workshopped in a truly supportive space with their peers. Filmmakers have formed lasting partnerships, networks and collaborations with their fellow campers—many of them coming back at different stages in their film.  And that was the case for Lisa.  She first came in 2014 when she was early on in the process—and then again last year as she was close to the end and wanting feedback on her edit.  We are proud to be ‘early and often’ supporters of so many great filmmakers!”

The Kopkind Colony is a living memorial to the late journalist and Guilford resident, Andrew Kopkind, based at Tree Frog Farm in Guilford, Vermont where Kopkind did much of his writing and where his archives are housed. He wrote on politics and culture with a matchless style and depth for national and international publications until his death, in 1994. The Kopkind Colony has been sponsoring public movies, lectures and performances in Guilford and Brattleboro since 1999.

In addition to his role at the Kopkind Colony, Scagliotti programs Vermont’s LGBTQ Short Film Festival CineSLAM, which takes place at the Latchis Theatre during June Pride.

Tickets for LOVE, GILDA are $12 and can be purchased on the Cine SLAM website:  http://cineslam.com. For more information, contact John Scagliotti, Kopkind Administrator:  stonewal@sover.net