The 29th Annual Virginia Film Festival saw record attendance and an all-time high of 32,443 tickets sold.
The festival, which lasted from Nov. 3 to Nov. 6, included more than 130 films and short films, galas, presentations by filmmakers and a filmmaking competition called the “Adrenaline Film Project.”
The festival also hosted special guests, including renowned German director Werner Herzog, comedian Danny McBride, co-founder and co-president of Sony Picture Classics Michael Barker, actress Shirley MacLaine, Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Jody Kielbasa, the festival director and University vice provost for the arts, said the festival was “far and away the most successful one” in his eight-year tenure at the University.
Kielbasa said the festival has an important impact on the community and facilitates a discussion that is rarely had between the University and greater Charlottesville area.
“One thing where the festival becomes a valuable institution is that it’s sometimes intimidating for people to come back to Grounds and sit in lectures, because it may have been a while that someone has used their intellectual faculty at that level,” Kielbasa said. “I think films are more accessible in that way, and it’s a platform for sustaining a better dialogue in that regard. It’s an extension of the classroom into the theater space.”
Kielbasa said he was particularly proud of this year’s screening of the film “Loving” on the opening night of the festival. A discussion of the film’s implications with its director, producer and McAuliffe preceded its screening.
The festival also provided students the opportunity to intern and work on projects that went toward the organization of the event, which Kielbasa said “emphasizes team building, [and] shows them what it’s like to put on a major event that influences the community.”
Fourth-year College student Dallas Simms and second-year College student Sarah Ross were two interns who helped execute the Adrenaline Film Project competition.
“It is the job of the Adrenaline interns to do everything from booking venues for the competition to recruiting filmmakers to participate in AFP,” Ross said. “The two interns essentially take on a producer role and are responsible for making sure all aspects of the competition run smoothly.”
The competition involved students and professionals alike writing, producing and directing three to five minute films within a 72-hour period.
“We had three guest mentors come and serve on this panel who would have to greenlight all the ideas for 12 teams that we had this year,” Simms said. “The cool thing with the competition is that the winner is chosen by the audience, so when everybody comes into the screening they get a ballot and can vote for their favorite film.”
Each team had to incorporate the line “I’d love to, but I can’t” into their film, and use a teddy bear as a prop, a reference to guest Werner Herzog’s film “Grizzly Man.”
Adam Jones, a third-year College student and corporate development intern, said he received a lot of positive feedback from attendees.
“One thing that stood out in all those conversations was how welcoming and personalized everything seemed at this film festival compared to all the other ones they went to,” Jones said.
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