This year’s Virginia Film Festival, set for Oct. 21-25, will feature more than 100 films and appearances from Hollywood heavyweights like Nathan Lane, Jessica Lange, Tim Blake Nelson and Aaron Sorkin.
The festival, a program of the University of Virginia, is in its 39th year. Annually, it brings films not yet in theaters to Charlottesville, as well as a slew of actors, directors, producers and other film industry professionals for public events.
“This is the strongest lineup of films and guest artists that we’ve had in my 18 years here at the Virginia Film Festival,” said Jody Kielbasa, the festival’s executive director and UVA’s vice provost for the arts.
Jessica Lange and Nathan Lane are just two of the industry stars who will appear at the festival. (Contributed photos)
The festival opens with “The Debut,” directed by Jesse Eisenberg and starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, about a shy woman who loses herself in her role in a local musical. The lineup ranges from a documentary about an owl that escaped from a New York zoo, “Wild Inside,” to “The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd,” featuring Amanda Seyfried as a teacher who forms a bond with Scoot McNairy, an inmate on death row.
In addition to a host of new films, the festival will show a group of repertory films. “The Birdcage,” the 1996 comedy starring Lane and Robin Williams, will have a 30th anniversary screening. Lane will receive one of two Visionary Awards.
Lange will receive the other. She and Lane will be in conversation with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz during the festival. Two of Lange’s films, “Blue Sky” from 1994 and “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” will be shown.
Aaron Sorkin, top left, and Todd Black, bottom left, will be in conversation after a screening of their new film, “The Social Reckoning.” (Contributed photos)
“These are all such towering figures in entertainment, and beyond just the screen, on Broadway and television too,” Ilya Tovbis, the festival’s artistic director, said. “Both of them have won just about every award possible.”
They are far from the only industry names who will appear at the festival. Sorkin, whose new film, “The Social Reckoning” – a follow-up to “The Social Network” – is showing at the festival, will also be in conversation with producer Todd Black.
Black, known for films including “Fences,” “The Equalizer” series, and “The Pursuit of Happyness,” among other films, will receive the festival’s first Career Producer Honor. Later, audiences will get to see clips of Black’s forthcoming biopic, “Madden,” about legendary NFL football coach and broadcaster John Madden, during a talk with David O. Russell, who directed “American Hustle” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”
