UVA drama professor Walter Korte Jr., 72, was arrested August 2 and charged with two counts of possessing child pornography. He is currently being held in Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail without bond.
During his 46-year career, Korte served as the director of film within the Drama Department and has been recognized as an authority on Luchino Visconti films and the Italian cinema.
Korte was the the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Milan, a program that provides funding for those who wish to advance their research and university teaching. Korte also advised the Virginia Film Festival for many years since it began in 1988, but has not been involved with the festival for at least the past eight years, says UVA spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn.
“When I was the director of the Virginia Film Festival, I’d often hear from people who were UVA alums in the film industry say that Walter’s classes and teaching had inspired them,” says Richard Herskowitz, now director of Cinema Pacific at the University of Oregon. “He lived and breathed film.”
According to Herskowitz, Korte’s office was filled to the brim with film books that there was hardly a place to sit. “He was considered a well respected man and very knowledgeable,” says Herskowitz.
According to UVA’s student syllabus, Korte had plans to teach two classes for the 2016 fall semester: Cinema As An Art Form and History of Film I.
Korte has been placed on administrative leave by the university and his professor profile has been removed from the Media Studies department web page.
Updated 4:22pm that Korte is not currently involved with the Virginia Film Festival.