Virginia Film Festival

VIRGINIA FILM FESTIVAL TO CONTINUE YEAR-ROUND VAFF AT VIOLET CROWN SERIES WITH FREE SCREENINGS OF TWO HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FILMS FROM A24 

by John Kelly on May 14, 2024

Janet Planet, A Powerful Coming-of-Age Film Debut From Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Annie Baker, Set for May 30 

Sing Sing, Starring Colman Domingo As a Wrongfully Convicted Inmate In a Story About Resilience, Humanity, and the Transformative Power of Art, Set for June 25 

Charlottesville, VA – Tuesday, May 14, 2024 – The Virginia Film Festival continues its 2024 VAFF at Violet Crown Series this spring with free screenings of a pair of highly-anticipated films from popular distributor A24 (Everything Everywhere All at Once; Moonlight). 

The 2024 VAFF at Violet Crown Series is presented by Ting Internet.  

On Thursday, May 30 at 7:00 PM, the Festival will present Janet Planet, a powerful 1990’s coming-of-age story that marks the film debut of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker. 

In rural Western Massachusetts, 11-year-old Lacy spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the attention of her mother, Janet. As the months pass, three visitors enter their orbit, all captivated by Janet and her spellbinding nature. In her solitary moments, Lacy inhabits an inner world so extraordinarily detailed that it begins to seep into the outside world. Baker captures a child’s experience of time passing, and the ineffability of a daughter falling out of love with her mother, in this singularly sublime film debut called “luminous,” and a “perfect coming-of-age movie” by Alissa Wilkinson of Vox. 

On Tuesday, June 25 at 7:00 PM, audiences will have a chance to see an advanced screening of the highly anticipated film Sing Sing.  

Starring Academy Award-nominee Colman Domingo and featuring an outstanding ensemble cast (many of whom are formerly incarcerated actors), the film is a rare look at the human side of the American prison and a celebration of the transformative power of art. Divine G (Colman Domingo), imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group with other incarcerated men. When a wary outsider joins the group, the men decide to stage their first original comedy, This stirring true story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art, stars an unforgettable ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors, and was recently hailed by Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com as “A redemptive portrait of theater’s power to heal, emancipate, and rebel. “ 

Both screenings will be free-to-attend, with RSVP (space allowing). Reservations can be made at virginiafilmfestival.org/year-round-events.  

The Virginia Film Festival is a program of the University of Virginia, with support from the Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts.  

The 37th annual Virginia Film Festival will take place from October 30-November 3 in Charlottesville. For more information, visit virginiafilmfestival.org.  

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