The University of Virginia‘s Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts sponsors the Virginia Film Festival, which is now in its 34th year. This year, more than 85 films will be screened at various venues around UVA’s Grounds and Charlottesville, including a drive-in theatre at Morven Farm.
The Paramount Theater, Violet Crown Theater, and Culbreth Theater, as well as drive-in movies at Morven Farm, will host the 2021 Virginia Film Festival.
More than 50 movies, special events, tributes, and conversations will take place during the festival, which runs until Sunday.
VPM is proud to be a part of the 34th annual Virginia Film Festival, which runs from October 27 to October 31. The celebrated festival comes to Charlottesville this year with a totally in-person schedule that includes several COVID-19 precautions.
The featured documentaries, which were both created in the aftermath of rallies against institutional racism in the summer of 2020, look at the upheavals through the lenses of history and art. The films will be presented at The Culbreth Theater, where they first aired on television earlier this year.
All COVID-19 mitigation measures have been implemented, according to festival director Jody Kielbasa, and organizers are looking forward to seeing everyone again.
Viewers can see more than 85 films during the weekend, including numerous debuts, including one significant motion picture on Wednesday.
Guests of Honour & Films
For the festival, a diverse group of performers and filmmakers will descend on Charlottesville, including:
Martha Plimpton, an Emmy Award winner, will attend the Virginia Film Festival for a tribute event and a showing of her new film, “Mass,” which chronicles a private conversation between two sets of parents as they try to go ahead years after a terrible catastrophe tore their families apart.
The Virginia Film Festival will honor Jeremy O. Harris with the American Perspectives Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema in 2021. Harris is a playwright and actor who just co-wrote A24’s 2021 feature “Zola,” which will be screened at the festival.
“Dopesick,” a new Hulu limited series, is written and executive produced by Danny Strong. Strong created and produced the HBO films “Recount” (2008) and “Game Change” (2012), both of which won awards. He’s a prolific writer, director, and producer, with credits including “The Butler” (2013), “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part I and Part II” (2014; 2015), and “Rebel in the Rye,” his directorial debut in 2017. The FOX drama “Empire” had Strong as a co-creator and executive producer.
A 25th Anniversary tribute to In the Heat of the Night and Sidney Poitier; Distinguished Filmmaker presentations to Robert Altman, John Sayles, Emile de Antonio, and Arthur Penn; and Roger Ebert’s “shot by shot” workshops on classics like Vertigo, Sunset Boulevard, and The Third Man were just a few of the notable screenings. A preview showing of Mother & Child with actress Cherry Jones and director Rodrigo Garcia, as well as a live producer’s commentary of the show True Blood with creator Alan Ball, have been memorable premiere events.
Virginia Film Festival’s History
The Virginia Festival of American Film (later renamed The Virginia Film Festival) was founded in October 1988 with support from the state’s Department of Economic Development and adoption by the University of Virginia. The goal was to promote economic development in Virginia by stimulating film production and enhancing tourism, as well as to combine the creative interests and crafts of the American film industry with the academic resources of a nationally rated university.
