Virginia Film Festival

Featuring both serious and lighthearted narrative shorts, these films tell the stories of misfits. From a tape lover to a taxidermist, a foul-mouthed Hamilton reenactor to a shy kitchen worker, this package of films is an ode to those who march to beat of their own drum.

Taping Treller
2015. USA. 5 min. Director: Ian D’Amelia.

A mockumentary about a fascinating individual — Quest Treller. Sit back and enjoy as he draws you into his fascination (dare I say obsession?) with tape!

Memory
2017. Kosovo. 19 min. Director: Ilirjan Himaj. Featuring: Xhevat Qorraj, Igballe Qena, Selman Lokaj.

Elder Syla goes out of the house to buy a gift toy for his grandson. Because of Alzheimer disease, facing a cold winter and heavy snow, he fails to remember way back home.

Mickey’s Pets
2017. USA. 13 min. Director: Ashley S. Brandon.

With a trusty peacock in tow a young taxidermist must overcome her insecurities to win first place at the U.S. National Taxidermy Championships.

Lockdown
2016. USA. 15 min. Director: Max Sokoloff. Featuring: Colin Ford, Dylan Riley Snyder.

When high school misfit Julian wears a suit to picture day, he incurs merciless bullying from his peers. His day takes an even darker turn when the school goes into lockdown due to an active shooter in the building.

Observatory Blues
2017. USA. 20 min. Director: Eric Paschal Johnson, Conor Dooley. Featuring: Tom Schiller, Amy Sedaris, Ana Fabrega, Jo Firestone, Casey Jost.

Fernando Music, a handless writer of erotic science-fiction, inadvertently predicts, in precise detail, our discovery of extraterrestrial life. This is the story of an expanding universe, in which all things grow apart, and in which Fernando still has no hands.

The Desert Left Behind
2016. Germany. 29 min. Director: Jan Buttler. Featuring: Christina Kraft, Cornelia Werner, Ckemens Kahlke, Marco Witthorf.

Luise takes on a position as kitchen staff at a boarding house for school groups in the Mecklenburg lakes region. Although both she and her colleague Maria are met with genuine interest and friendship by everyone, Luise remains shy, closed off and unreceptive to any attempts at intimacy.

A Man Full of Trouble
2017. USA. 20 min. Director: Michael Johnston. Featuring: Keith Conallen, Corinna Burns, Dito Van Reigersberg.

This is a comedy about a foul-mouthed and contentious Alexander Hamilton reenactor in Philadelphia. Nicholas Crane (Hamilton) is continually at odds with the city, its tourists, and most importantly, Thomas Jefferson