Meira Blaustein, Co-Founder, Executive Director, and Head Programmer of The Woodstock Film Festival Stepping Down After 26 Years

Exclusive: The festival's board of directors will launch a search for Blaustein's successor.

Meira Blaustein, the co-founder, executive director, and head programmer of The Woodstock Film Festival, announced Wednesday that she has chosen to step down from her leadership role at the end of 2026. She intends to remain involved with the festival in an advisory role.

Since co-founding the festival in 2000, Blaustein has helped shape the Woodstock Film Festival into one of North America’s leading independent film festivals. Under her leadership, the festival has become known for championing emerging filmmakers and celebrating established artists, while welcoming talent, industry professionals, and audiences from around the world to its events.

For more than two decades, Blaustein guided the festival through some of its most challenging moments. In 2001, the festival went forward just nine days after the 9/11 attacks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival adapted again, presenting films at three regional drive-ins, including a pop-up, as well as online.

Over the years, Blaustein welcomed celebrated artists and emerging talents alike into the Woodstock Film Festival community. Oscar-winning filmmakers such as cinematographer Haskell Wexler, composer Elmer Bernstein, and documentarian Leon Gast were among the distinguished artists who became closely associated with the festival, with Blaustein and Wexler establishing a cinematography award together that bears his name.

Having never been to Woodstock before the idea of the festival was first hatched, Blaustein, along with her then-husband, the late Laurent Rejto, created a film festival without any funds or fame. Twenty-six years later, Blaustein leaves behind a strong organization that has become an important destination on the independent film and awards-season calendar.

“Founding and running the Woodstock Film Festival for the past 26 years has been the honor of a lifetime,” stated Blaustein. “What began as a dream jotted down at my kitchen table has grown into one of the most respected regional film festivals in the U.S., thanks to the countless filmmakers, industry and community members, supporters, staff, interns and volunteers who have been an essential part of this journey. I step away with tremendous gratitude and with confidence that the Festival will continue to blossom and thrive. I also leave with great hope for independent filmmaking itself. There will always be meaningful stories to tell, people compelled to tell them, and audiences eager to experience them. Long live independent cinema.”

The Board of Directors expressed its gratitude for Blaustein’s dedication and lasting contributions to the organization.

“There would be no Woodstock Film Festival as we know it without Meira,” said Claude Dal Farra, chair of the Board of Directors of Woodstock Film Festival. “What began as an idea at a kitchen table became, through her vision, passion and determination, an institution that has championed generations of independent filmmakers and become an integral part of the cultural life of the Hudson Valley. Meira gave this Festival not only her leadership, but her heart. On behalf of the Board, I want to thank her for an extraordinary 26 years and for the remarkable legacy she has created. Our responsibility now is to honor that legacy by ensuring that the Festival she built continues to evolve, thrive and champion bold independent voices for generations to come.”

Blaustein has been running the annual Woodstock Film Festival, as well as its numerous year-round initiatives, since its inception. Prior to launching the festival, Blaustein worked as a film programmer for a number of regional film festivals and was a filmmaker in her own right, having directed, produced, and consulted on numerous feature narrative films, feature documentaries, and screenplays in various stages.

The 27th Annual Woodstock Film Festival will celebrate Blaustein’s legacy while continuing its tradition of showcasing independent films, conversations with filmmakers, educational programs, and special events.

The Board is actively engaged in the process of selecting the festival’s next executive director and is focused on ensuring a smooth transition ahead of the 28th Annual Woodstock Film Festival. It expects to announce new leadership in the coming months.