Virginia Film Festival

2019 VAFF at Violet Crown Series Announced

by JennyM on January 30, 2019

VAFF and Violet Crown Charlottesville Announce 2019 Year-Round Film Series

VAFF at the Violet Crown Features Series of One-Time-Only Screenings, Beginning with Hale County This Morning, This Evening on Tuesday, February 19

Additional Screenings to Include The Highwaymen, 20th Annual Animation Show of Shows and ¡Las Sandinistas!

 Charlottesville, VA – January 30, 2019 – The Virginia Film Festival has announced the return of the VAFF at Violet Crown Series, a collaboration with Violet Crown Charlottesville that features a year-round, co-curated selection of films. This year’s series will begin on February 19 with the acclaimed documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening.

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.

Additional dates and titles announced for the series include The Highwaymen on March 19: Animation Show of Shows on April 16; and ¡Las Sandinistas! on May 21. The series will continue on June 18 and July 16 with screenings to be determined. All screenings will start at 7:30 PM, and tickets will be available one month prior to the screening date at violetcrown.com.

The 2019 Oscar-nominated, directorial debut of award-winning photographer RaMell Ross, Hale County This Morning, This Evening is a refreshingly direct approach to documentary filmmaking that fills in the gaps between individual black male icons. The film follows Daniel Collins and Quincy Bryant, two young African American men from rural Hale County, Alabama, over the course of five years. Collins attends college in search of new opportunities while Bryant becomes a father to an energetic son in this open-ended and poetic film that allows audiences to share the patiently-observed interstices of their lives, from the mundane to the monumental, birth and death, the quotidian and the sublime. These moments represent not only these lives but provide windows into the region’s deep culture and at the complex ways the African American community’s collective image is integrated into America’s visual imagination.

The Highwaymen, directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, Saving Mr. Banks), follows the untold story of the legendary detectives who brought down Bonnie and Clyde. When the full force of the FBI and the latest forensic technology aren’t enough to capture the nation’s most notorious criminals, two former Texas Rangers, (Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson) must rely on their gut instincts and old school skills to get the job done. The screening will be followed by a discussion with director John Lee Hancock.

The 20th Annual Animation Show of Shows will feature 15 thought-provoking, poignant, and very funny animated shorts from around the world. This year’s works explore the universality of shared ideals, as well as the diverse challenges we all face. Among the program highlights is the very funny computer animation The Green Bird, winner of the 2018 Gold Student Academy Award International Animation, which harks back to the classic cartoons of the mid-20th Century. Oscar-winning director John Kahrs’ Age of Sail, the latest in Google’s series of Spotlight Stories, chronicles the adventures of an old sailor who rescues a teenaged girl after she falls overboard. One Small Step, Bobby Pontillas and Andrew Chesworth’s inspiring story of a Chinese-American girl’s dream of being an astronaut, centers on her evolving relationship with her father. The beautifully-designed Weekends, by Trevor Jimenez, explores the complex emotional landscape of a young boy and his recently divorced parents as he shuttles between their very different homes and lives.

¡Las Sandinistas! reveals the untold stories of Nicaraguan women warriors and social revolutionaries who shattered barriers to lead combat and social reform during Nicaragua’s 1979 Sandinista Revolution, and the ensuing US-backed Contra War, and documents their leadership in the continuing struggle for justice today. Director Jenny Murray reveals a magical moment in world history when thousands of female rebel fighters transformed society’s definition of womanhood and leadership. Nicaraguan women from every social class fought on the front lines on an unprecedented scale in the Sandinista rebel army, and after the defeat of the brutal Somoza dictatorship, these same women pioneered groundbreaking nationwide medical, social, and education programs. Today, as the current Sandinista government is erasing these women’s stories of heroism, social reform, and military accomplishments from history books, these same women are fighting to reclaim history – and are once again leading inspiring popular movements for equality and democracy.

The Virginia Film Festival will celebrate its 32nd year this fall with dates and details coming soon! For more information on the VAFF, visit www.virginiafilmfestival.org.