The 24th Annual Virginia Film Festival is upon us! To get you even more excited than we know you already are, we decided to find out first-hand what makes The Virginia Film Festival the wonderful event that it is. With its emphasis on the local, The Virginia Film Festival is the perfect way for all you C’villians to get involved and check out some GREAT Charlottesville offerings.
Cville Niche had the opportunity to hear from a few affiliates of the Film Festival. From an independent filmmaker to those directly involved with the production of the festival, we present to you a behind-the-scenes look at the Virginia Film Festival.
{Independent filmmaker}
What got you interested in the film festival?
We attended our first Virginia Film Festival in 1988, before we even moved to Charlottesville. Over the years, our films have shown at Sundance, Telluride, Toronto, Rotterdam, etc. but we’ve had more films…five of them, I think… shown at the Virginia Film Festival than any other festival. And no other festival is more fun because this is our hometown where we can share what we’ve created with friends and family.
The lineup for this year’s special guests looks pretty exciting. Talk a little about the choices for this festival.
We can’t wait to watch Badlands with Charlottesville’s own Sissy Spacek and Jack Fisk in the theater! A great film by a great director, and the production that brought Sissy and Jack together.
What are your thoughts on the Digital Media Gallery’s outdoor projections?
The outdoor projections are a great idea. They’ll bring the festival to the attention of everyone in town and on grounds, and create a great vibe around town. Plus, it’s a way to promote experimental film/video that often gets shunted to the back of a museum.
What do you expect from the local filmmakers this year?
There are locally produced feature docs and short films that I hope to catch.
In the wake of last year’s Parking Lot Movie, World Peace and Vintage, we’re really witnessing a renaissance of local filmmaking.
Is there a venue you think lends itself well to the festival?
Hard to beat a big cinema crowd at the Paramount.
Is there one film that is a can’t-miss kind of film?
We’re excited about Albert Nobbs. It’s directed by Rodrigo Garcia. We loved his Nine Lives, which showed at the Paramount in the 2007 festival.
What screenings or guests from past festivals stand out to you?
Robert Mitchum
What sets the Virginia Film Festival apart from other festivals you have attended?
Because it’s our hometown, of course, and because it attracts smart people on stage and in the audience.
What’s a word of advice you would give to a first time festival-goer so that they may get the most out of what is offered?
Don’t fret about catching every big-name film….many of them will eventually be in theaters. Instead, follow your hunches to discover films you wouldn’t otherwise be able to see on a big screen.
What’s your all-time favorite movie and why?
Godfather
What’s your favorite thing about Charlottesville?
Colleen Trentham
{Event and Guest Coordinator and Development Assistant for the Virginia Film Festival}
What got you interested in the film festival?
As a UVA student, I attended every Festival I could. When I graduated this May, I heard about an opportunity to work here and jumped at the chance to be a part of this exciting, local, film event.
The lineup for this year’s special guests looks pretty exciting. Talk a little about the choices for this festival.
This year, we have a really great spread of guests from rising star Mia Wasikowska to Hollywood heavyweight Oliver Stone.The Festival has always done a great job of bringing not only a critical look at the production of film but also a dynamic look at the ideas film explores. Film can be studied from a technical standpoint or from a more literary, cultural studies standpoint. I feel that film is best explored when those two ways of looking at it combine.
What are your thoughts on the Digital Media Gallery’s outdoor projections?
I love it. It’s a great way to bring the Festival out into the streets where people can really interact with it.
What do you expect from the local filmmakers this year?
Nothing but the best! Part of the reason why the Festival works so well in Charlottesville is because we have a rich artistic and film-centric community.
What’s the atmosphere been like in preparation for the festival? What do you get out of the festival by working with it that you don’t get just by attending?
Here in the office, its almost surreal. Most of the staff has been working for so long to make this year’s Festival the absolute best it can be. Now, with November 3-6 right around the corner, its hard to believe the planning is about to turn into reality.
Is there a venue you think lends itself well to the festival?
Every venue we have fits who we are as a Festival. Culbreth is right in the center of the Arts Grounds at UVA. Nau Auditorium is in the new South Lawn, a great addition to the Academical Village. Regal Cinemas and Vinegar Hill are perfectly placed in the top of the Downtown Mall, right by our Festival Headquarters at Main Street Arena. And the Paramount Theater is the absolute perfect place to show off our Turner Classic Movies and Library of Congress series. Its a beautiful classic movie palace playing beautiful classic movies!
Is there one film that is a can’t-miss kind of film?
Hmm… that’s a hard one. It depends on who you are, what you like, etc. We’ve got potential Oscar nominees, classic films, engaging and challenging documentaries… To be honest, I wish I could see every one of them. Not simply because they are good films but because of what the Festival adds to the movie-watching experience. There is an energy in every theater during the Festival. You are watching a film not just on your laptop or home TV, but on a big screen. The discussions and introductions add interesting context and move the film out of the screen and into real life. Really, each film changes into a unique experience when it plays at the Festival.
What screenings or guests from past festivals stand out to you?
I will always remember seeing Alan Ball here at the Festival. He talked through an episode of True Blood, which added another layer to an already great show. Then he talked about American Beauty, a film that changed my perception of what film could be.
What sets the Virginia Film Festival apart from other festivals you have attended?
It has it all. It isn’t just documentaries, it isn’t just previews of potential Oscar winners, it isn’t just classics, it isn’t just local – it’s all of the above.
What’s a word of advice you would give to a first time festival-goer so that they may get the most out of what is offered?
Sit down with a calendar, print off the schedule, and fit in as much as you can. See one of every kind of film- a classic, a new release, a documentary, a locally made film. See as much as you can because it only comes once a year!
What’s your favorite thing about Charlottesville?
I love everything about Charlottesville. I love the focus on local, the fact that it feels like a real community. I love that blogs like this can exist and thrive here!
Josh Wheeler
{Director, The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression}
The lineup for this year’s special guests looks pretty exciting. Talk a little about the choices for this festival.
The Thomas Jefferson Center is sponsoring a session with Larry Flynt who, whether you love him or hate him, has been at the center of a number of important free speech legal battles. I love the fact this event is scheduled on Friday, the same night as the interview of Oliver Stone, someone who also is no stranger to controversy because of the ideas he has expressed. Friday night of the festival could be dubbed “First Amendment Night.”
What’s your all-time favorite movie?
At the moment, Dr. Strangelove, but that changes on a weekly basis.
Fritz Repich
Photograph by Virginia Wine
{Mountfair Vineyards- Winery Supporter}
What got you interested in the film festival?
Besides a strong personal interest in enjoying fine films. The Virginia Film Festival brings together a wonderful cultural meld of artistic films, fine cuisine and local wines within the Charlottesville setting. Year over year the Film Festival has up-leveled Charlottesville’s cultural scene helping to promote it as a weekend destination on regional and now national level. As a member of the local winery trade (Mountfair Vineyards) I couldn’t ask for a better venue to help promote our wines, our area and all it has to offer.
What’s the atmosphere been like in preparation for the festival? What do you get out of the festival by working with it that you don’t get just by attending?
Over the years I’ve been helping Jody and the VA Film Festival with facilitating support from the local wine industry. The Virginia Film Festival is much like our local wine industry, It always exciting to be part of something early that continues to grow and is now on the the verge of breaking out on a national level.
Is there a venue you think lends itself well to the festival?
Charlottesville is the venue. In its entirety it provides the perfect setting for a first class film festival allowing us to showcase all of what our area has to offer.
Is there one film that is a can’t-miss kind of film?
Looking forward to Cafeteria Man and El Bulli. Cafeteria Man.. organized community action well directed and El Bulli..where passion and fine cuisine collide.
Posted on November 2, 2011 by Rachel Robinson
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