Virginia Film Festival

2018 VFF Dates Announced and Call for Entries Opens

by JennyM on February 21, 2018

2018 Virginia Film Festival to Celebrate 31st Year from November 1-4; Festival Officials Announce Launch of 2018 Call for Entries

New Features for 2018 to Include “Commonwealth Awards” for Virginia Filmmakers and Inclusion of Virtual Reality Category in Call for Entries

Charlottesville, VA – February 21, 2017 – The Virginia Film Festival announced today that the 2018 VFF will take place from November 1-4.

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

Widely hailed as one of the nation’s leading regional film festivals, and one of the premiere arts events in the Mid-Atlantic Region, the Virginia Film Festival is coming off a highly successful year in 2017 that featured a robust program including a highly-acclaimed “Race in America “series, presented in partnership with James Madison’s Montpelier. The series included Oscar-winning special guests Spike Lee and Ezra Edelman, and the sold-out Paramount Theater premiere of the August 11 and 12 documentary Charlottesville: Our Streets by local filmmakers Brian Wimer and Jackson Landers. Other 2017 highlights included special guests William H. Macy, Trudie Styler, and Margot Lee Shetterly, and a some of the most highly-anticipated films of the year, including Academy Award nominees Mudbound, Call Me by Your Name, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Edith+Eddie, A Fantastic Woman, and Loveless.

“We are already hard at work building the program for the 2018 Festival, and look forward to continuing to earn our place among the finest regional festivals in the country by presenting a wide-ranging program of high profile films and exciting new discoveries,” said VFF Director and UVA Vice Provost for the Arts Jody Kielbasa. While specific programming plans will not be announced until early October, Kielbasa said the Festival does plan on continuing the “Race in America” series. “Race continues to be perhaps the most important issue of our time, and we look forward to continuing that conversation in this year’s VFF and beyond.”

Festival officials also announced that the 2018 Call for Entries is now open. Accepted films will be eligible for category-specific Audience and Programmer’s Awards.

The Virginia Film Festival has also announced some exciting news for Virginia filmmakers with the debut of the Commonwealth Award, which will carry a cash prize of $1,000 for Best Virginia Feature Film and $500 for Best Virginia Short Film.

Also this year, for the first time, the VFF will be including virtual reality films in its Call for Entries. Narrative, non-fiction, experimental, and animated virtual reality projects will be considered. There is no minimum or maximum running time, and all accepted films will be showcased at the Festival’s Virtual Reality Lab, located on the Downtown Mall.

All filmmakers can now make their submissions online. Once again this year, Virginia residents and students at Virginia schools are eligible to have their entry fees waived. The fees for non-Virginia filmmakers submitting by the regular deadline of Monday, June 11 will be $35 for features and $15 for shorts. Those submitting by the extended deadline of Monday, July 23 may do so for $50 for features and $25 for shorts. The fee for students outside of Virginia to submit a film is $10. Filmmakers will be notified regarding their entry status by October 1.

For complete submission guidelines, visit virginiafilmfestival.org/submit-a-film/. All questions should be submitted to vffsubmissions@virginia.edu.

For more information on the Virginia Film Festival, visit www.virginiafilmfestival.org.