The Virginia Film Festival celebrates its 29th year.
Loving, 2016.
From Nov. 3-6, Charlottesville will transform from a college town to the film capital of the mid-Atlantic. The Virginia Film Festival will attract around 35,000 people from across the state and beyond to see well over 100 new and classic films.
The festival opens Thursday at 7:00 p.m. with the historical drama Loving, about Richard and Mildred Loving and their landmark 1967 Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, which ended the state’s ban on interracial marriage. After, there will be a discussion with director Jeff Nichols, actress Ruth Negga who plays the part of Mildred Loving, and Bernie Cohen, the ACLU attorney who argued the case in front of the Supreme Court. “It’s an honor to screen this film,” says festival director Jody Kielbasa. “To have the director and the star on hand, and to have that kind of discussion is really important.”
Movie star and native Shirley MacLaine will be on hand as well, for Friday’s “A Salute to Shirley MacLaine.” Born in Richmond, the Academy Award-winner has had a film career spanning over 50 years. According to Kielbasa, “It’s a great opportunity to welcome her back, celebrate her career, and throw a spotlight on the talents of people who have lived in the Commonwealth.”
For moviegoers with children, check out the 3:00 p.m. Saturday screening of Beauty and the Beast during Family Day. This Disney classic will have a unique wrinkle. Before the film was completed, a work-in-progress version, interspersed with pencil sketches, debuted at the New York Film Festival 25 years ago. It has not been shown since. Until now.
For a full schedule of films and events, and to purchase tickets, visit VirginiaFilmFestival.org
