Films will include cutting-edge features alongside 40 finalists from the “Your Shorts Are Showing” short film competition. Winners of the 2020 Virtual Shorts Competition, who were unable to be screened live last year, will also be shown along with a wide variety of other events.

The weekend begins on Thursday, Oct. 21 with screenings of the short film finalists at the Lake Placid Center of the Arts followed by the 20th Anniversary Celebration at the High Peaks Resort with music by the Mike Saulpaugh Jazz Trio. The annual Festival Sneak Peaks Trailer Party, featuring trailers from the full-feature line up, will be shown as well as a screening of Lake Placid filmmaker, Lucky Cerruti’s film “Freak,” with local cast and crew, complete with an appearance by, and photo ops with the film’s locally famed “Artie.”

Friday night will feature the Gala Tribute dinner celebrating award-nominated producer and director, Raoul Peck to the stage for A Conversation with Raoul Peck, hosted by Jeffrey Brown, the Arts and Entertainment Correspondent for the PBS Newshour. Peck is well-known and praised for his works, “I am Not Your Negro” (Netflix) and the newly released “Exterminate all the Brutes” (HBO).

Seminars for professionals and aspiring filmmakers alike will happen all weekend long covering topics spanning financing with Tom Malloy to Re-Thinking Film Distribution in the Post Pandemic Landscape and Film Law Basics with Steven Beer. Fest-goers can also attend a Women in Comedy panel discussion and a seminar on Maximizing Your Film Festival, which LPFF Director Gary Smith says, “will give participants an understanding of how best to use a film festival experience.”

Saturday and Sunday will bring more screenings of shorts films, a continuation of the feature-length films, the opening of the filmmaker’s and VIP lounge and more seminars and panel discussions. The top 10 “Your Shorts Are Showing” countdown will take place on Sunday.

“The Lake Placid Film Festival is proud of this 20th anniversary event,” Smith said. “We’re proud to celebrate the community of film industry amateurs, professionals and movie buffs with award-winning shorts, cutting-edge feature-length films, educational seminars, mixers, receptions, tributes and more — all wrapped up in this magical and beautiful village of Lake Placid, New York.”

For a full schedule and information on festival passes, visit AdirondackFilm.org.