2020 VAFF SET FOR OCTOBER 21-25

News & Press

by JennyM on February 12, 2020

2020 Virginia Film Festival Set for October 21-25

Festival Officials Announce Launch of 2020 Call for Entries

Charlottesville, VA – February 12, 2020 – The Virginia Film Festival announced today that the 33rd annual VAFF will take place from October 21-25, 2020.

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

The VAFF will, as it did last year, kick off on Wednesday evening with its Opening Night Film at The Paramount Theater and Opening Night Gala at The Jefferson Theater. The Festival will then begin its full schedule on Thursday and run through Sunday.

“We had great feedback from our audience last year about the expansion of the Festival to five days,” said Jody Kielbasa, director of the Virginia Film Festival and vice provost for the arts at the University of Virginia. “Our Wednesday evening opening night film and gala allows us to put a well-deserved spotlight for those events and then to kick off the Festival’s full schedule on Thursday, In addition, our move to October puts us in the best position to attract highly desirable films and guests, based on festival and release date calendars.”

Now in its 33rd year, the Virginia Film Festival is among the nation’s most acclaimed regional film festivals and one of the most highly-anticipated cultural events in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The VAFF is coming off the second straight year of presenting the eventual Academy Award-winner for Best Picture, including the recently-crowned Parasite (which earned four statuettes in all including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Bong Joon Ho, and Best International Feature); and last year’s Opening Night Film, Green Book. Overall, four VAFF films earned six Oscars this year including Marriage Story (Best Supporting Actress, Laura Dern), and Jojo Rabbit (Best Adapted Screenplay, Taika Waititi).

Other 2019 Virginia Film Festival films earning Academy Award nominations this year were Pain and Glory (Best Actor, Antonio Banderas, and Best International Feature); Harriet (Best Actress, Cynthia Erivo, and Best Song); The Two Popes, (Best Actor, Jonathan Pryce); The Cave (Best Feature Documentary); and St. Louis Superman (Best Documentary Short).

The VAFF Call for Entries is now open, said Program Manager Chandler Ferrebee. “The VAFF Call for Entries is open to any filmmaker in the world,” she said, “and allows us to share the work of artists who may be flying under the radar with films our audiences may not otherwise discover. They are an incredibly important part of our program and we are very excited about the submissions 2020 will bring.”

Accepted films will be eligible for category-specific Audience and Programmers Awards.

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 8 will be $35 for features and $15 for shorts submissions. Those submitting by the extended deadline of Monday, July 13 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 September 18.

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

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