The Virginia Film Festival has announced the schedule for 2015, which will run from November 5-8. This marks the festival’s 27th year and the anticipation is a testament to the growth that Jody Kielbasa has forged since taking the executive role in 2010. The festival will again showcase contemporary films making the festival circuit and due for imminent release, as well as foreign features, shorts, local films, documentaries and a handful of classics. This year’s festival will include a few new venues, including The Violet Crown (which makes its debut in conjunction with the festival), The Southern Cafe and Music Hall and a partially renovated Vinegar Hill Theatre, returning after a two-year hiatus from the film festival.
Opening night begins with I Saw the Light, a film directed by Marc Abraham and starring Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen. It tells the story of iconic singer-songwriter Hank Williams, who revolutionized country music. Other highly anticipated feature films include The Lady in the Van starring Maggie Smith and Son of Saul, a Hungarian film that centers around the tale of a commando charged with burying the dead in concentration camps who discovers the corpse of his son.
“It’s not only the presence of directors and stars of films, but the opportunity for discussion with social activists, like Larry Kramer and Joel Salatin that distinguishes the Virginia Film Festival from other film festivals,” says Kielbasa.
This statement is reflected in the fact that locally produced and civil and social rights films are again a focus of the festival lineup; Sunday afternoon features a screening of Larry Kramer in Love and Anger and a panel with the distinguished playwright and LGBT activist later in the evening. The festival schedule also includes other promising films with a social message such as Polyface and Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution.
For a complete schedule, visit the Virginia Film Festival’s website. Tickets go on sale Oct. 2.