News & Press

2025 Virginia Film Festival Set for October 22-26 

by Katie Kenny on January 28, 2025

VAFF Also Announces Launch of Call for Entries 

Charlottesville, VA – January 29, 2025 – The Virginia Film Festival announced today that the 38th annual VAFF will take place from October 22-26, 2025. 

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

“We are excited to return this year from October 22-26 following an extraordinary 2024 VAFF in which films presented during the Festival and in our year-round program received 34 Academy Award nominations across 17 categories – including Best Picture nominees Anora, Emilia Pérez, and I’m Still Here,” said VAFF Executive Director Jody Kielbasa. “These nominations are representative of the outstanding program put together by our Artistic Director Ilya Tovbis, and of the growing profile of our festival throughout the industry. We are also proud to have welcomed an outstanding lineup of special guests headlined by Mikey Madison, a nominee for Best Actress for her role in Anora; alongside Golden Globe winning actor, writer, and filmmaker Matthew Modine; and Saturday Night star Lamorne Morris. We are hard at work planning for the 2025 VAFF and we are so excited to bring the community together around the power of film once again in October.” 

“The Virginia Film Festival is coming off one of its most impactful years to date, setting us up to continue our rich tradition of community engagement around cinema for the 2025 season,” said VAFF Artistic Director Ilya Tovbis. “A core strength of the film program is its breadth and range—we are especially pleased that all five of this year’s Oscar nominees for Best International Feature were presented at the VAFF, headlining a robust lineup of independent, documentary, and visionary films, both from the US and abroad. The 2024 VAFF also saw a major expansion of our education initiatives, with nearly 500 local students participating in filmmaker classroom visits and mentorship sessions with the launch of our Connection Point program—one that is poised to grow significantly in 2025.” 

The Academy Award-nominated films from the 2024 VAFF program and year-round program  included Emilia Pérez, which led the way with 13 nominations in all including a Best Director nod for Jacques Audiard; Best Actress (Karla Sofía Gascón); Best Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldaña); Best Picture; as well as International Feature, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, Original Score, and Original Songs – “Mi Camino” and “El Mal”. In addition to its Best Picture and Best Actress nods, Anora also earned nominations including for Sean Baker (Best Director); Yuri Borisov (Best Supporting Actor); Original Screenplay; and Film Editing. 

Additional VAFF films receiving nominations were Sing Sing for Best Actor (Colman Domingo), Adapted Screenplay Original Score; and Original Song – “Like a Bird”; I’m Still Here for Best Picture, International Feature, and Best Actress (Fernanda Torres); A Real Pain for Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Kieran Culkin); Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat for Documentary Feature; Flow for Animated Feature and International Feature; Memoir of a Snail for Animated Feature; and A Different Man for Makeup and Hairstyling. 

VAFF also announced that it has launched its annual Call for Entries inviting filmmakers to submit their work for consideration for the 2025 Festival. Once again, all Virginia residents and students at Virginia schools are eligible to have their entry fees waived. Students outside of Virginia can submit a film in any category with a 75% discount. The Early Bird deadline for submissions is May 6, 2025, and the Regular submission deadline is July 1, 2025. 

Filmmakers will be notified of their entry status by September 10. For complete submission information, visit virginiafilmfestival.org/submit-a-film. All questions should be addressed to vaffsubmissions@virginia.edu.  

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