''Woodstock Revisited'' is a 2009 documentary film by David McDonald that tells the story of how the countercultural movement associated with The Woodstock Festival came into being. While the

Woodstock Festival Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

did not end up happening in the town for which it was named, Woodstock, New York, it wouldn't have transpired had it not been for a series of historical events in Woodstock that influenced the rise of the American counterculture.

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

moved to Woodstock in 1964, and The Band following Dylan to town. A series of concerts on a field outside of Woodstock in 1966, 1967, and 1968 called The Woodstock Soundouts featured many of the same artists later to be involved with the larger-scale Woodstock Festival. In the years prior to the Woodstock Festival, musicians such as

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

The Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band ...

, and

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

all were residents of Woodstock. The historical line McDonald draws between the events of the sixties and those that happened long before that show that the Woodstock Festival wasn't a historical anomaly, but instead the culmination of a hundred years worth of developments, beginning with Thoreau’s sojourn at Walden Pond, the mysticism of The Catskill Mountain Painters, and the two arts colonies,

Byrdcliffe Colony The Byrdcliffe Colony, also called the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony or Byrdcliffe Historic District, was founded in 1902 near Woodstock, New York by Jane Byrd McCall and Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead and colleagues, Bolton Brown (artist) and Hervey White ...

and The Maverick, which christened the town’s reputation as a colony of the arts. McDonald’s lyrical segments on Byrdcliffe and The Maverick kick off the film and frame the events and characters that would come later in a historical context. Byrdcliffe was founded in 1902 by Ralph Whitehead, an industrialist’s son who came from England to create a back-to-the land paradise in Woodstock devoted to the arts and creativity. The Maverick was an offshoot of Byrdcliffe founded by Herve(y) White, and became known for their wild outdoor festivals of the teens and 20s which had a huge influence on the various Woodstock Festivals that were to come later. ''Woodstock Revisited'' has appeared in several festivals around the world and was mentioned in a 2009 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and The ''Woodstock Times''.The ''Woodstock Times'' 11 Jun. 200
"Probing the Mysteries; Filmmaker McDonald talks about processes and displays conclusions."
/ref> Beginning in the fall of 2009, McDonald lined up a slate of film screenings in and around the New York area. David McDonald later filmed a TV pilot for a series called ''The Mystery of Creativity'', about the connections between creativity and spirituality.

References

External links

Official website
{{Woodstock American documentary films Woodstock Festival Documentary films about music festivals