Virginia Film Festival

VFF Announces 2015 Family Day Events and YFA Changes

by JennyM on September 10, 2015

VFF Announces 2015 Family Day Events. 

Festival To Present Program of Pixar Short Films and 20^th Anniversary Screening of Babe Along With Series of Interactive Arts Workshops Featuring
U.Va. and Community Arts Professionals

New Partnership Announced with Light House Studio to Enhance Young Filmmakers Academy Program with In-School Workshops by Light House Mentors

Family Day to be Held Saturday, November 7 on the Betsy and John Casteen Arts Grounds at the University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA – September 10, 2015 – The Virginia Film Festival has announced plans for its annual Family Day festivities, held Saturday, November 7 on the Betsy and John Casteen Arts Grounds at the University of Virginia.

The Virginia Film Festival, scheduled for November 5-8, is presented by the University of Virginia and the Office of Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts.

Part of the Festival’s Outreach & Education Program, the VFF’s Family Day is an annual highlight that features family-friendly screenings, interactive arts workshops led by U.Va. and local arts professionals, and screenings of films made by as many as 600 local students in the VFF’s Young Filmmakers Academy.

All Family Day events are free and open to the public!

This year’s screenings will begin at 10:00 AM in the Culbreth Theatre with a program of Pixar Short Films, followed by the return of the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia’s Musical Instrument Petting Zoo, a chance for youngsters to see, touch, and hear a variety of instruments in the Helms Theatre. And while we are on the subject of zoos…the Festival has announced that it will present a free, 20^th anniversary screening of the classic family film Babe at the Culbreth Theatre at 1:00 PM.

Between screenings, families can explore an outdoor interactive arts festival, featuring demonstrations, activities, performances, and more. Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection will be on site with a hands-on flipbook animation activity, and the Fralin Museum of Art will screen student films from their Early Visions workshop. For more information on the events planned for the 2015 VFF Family Day, visit virginiafilmfestival.org/familyday/.

Hundreds of local students will once again get their turns in the VFF spotlight this year, thanks to the popular Young Filmmakers Academy (YFA). Designed to engage students in authentic film production, YFA works with local schools to create teams that write, edit, and produce films built around a common challenge. For more information on this year’s challenge, “Silver Screens, & Silver Linings,” visit virginiafilmfestival.org/yfa/.

This year, VFF officials are proud to announce a new partnership with Light House Studio that will bring Light House mentors into the classrooms at participating schools and offering workshops on various aspects of the filmmaking process. “Light House Studio does an extraordinary job of sharing the magic of filmmaking with young people in our community,” said VFF Director and U.Va. Vice Provost for the Arts Jody Kielbasa, “and we couldn’t be happier to be partnering with them to make our acclaimed YFA program even better.”

For more information on Light House Studio, visit lighthousestudio.org.

Also returning this year are the Family Day Arts Workshops, a series of events throughout the day that allow young people to learn from and interact with leading arts professionals from the University and its surrounding community. All Arts Workshops will be free and open to the public, but require advance registration. This year’s workshops will include:

• Make-up Effects by Light House Studio
• Speak Shakespeare Like a Pro! by Kate Burke, U.Va. Drama
• What’s That Sound? Music in Movies – How the Tune Sets the Tone by Dave “Professor Be Bop” Rogers, WTJU 91.1
• What Do You See When You See Me? On-Camera Workshop by Jon Emm, The Actor’s Training Studio with Jon Emm
• Auditioning for the Camera by Mendy St. Ours, Live Arts
• Where Will You Go? Creative Theatre Workshop  by Les Rorick, U.Va. Drama
• Story Building: Out of the Box Thinking for Storytellers by Cady Garey, U.Va. Drama

For a complete schedule and registration information for this year’s workshops, visit virginiafilmfestival.org/workshops/

Family Day is part of the Virginia Film Festival’s acclaimed Community Outreach & Education Program, which also includes annual School Screenings that draw up to 1,000 local and regional students; the ACTION! The VFF’s High School Director Competition; the Adrenaline Film Project; and the Digital Media Gallery, which features experimental works by U.Va. and local high school students, presented at Charlottesville’s  Second Street Gallery.

The VFF’s Outreach and Education Program is generously supported by the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band in the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF) and The Sarah Lahr Educational Fund. Family Day is supported by the Office of Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts, Charlottesville Newsplex, and Lite Rock Z95.1. ACTION! The VFF’s High School Director Competition is presented by the Virginia Film Office.

The full schedule for the 2015 Virginia Film Festival will be announced on September 29. For more information, visit virginiafilmfestival.org.

The 2015 Virginia Film Festival is generously supported by the following Premiere Sponsors: The AV Company, The Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, Virginia Film Office, Violet Crown, and Wells Fargo.