Virginia Film Festival

A collection of short films from talented Virginia filmmakers, ranging from inventive fictions to clear-eyed reckonings with the Commonwealth’s history.

Program followed by discussion with Jade Mangine (Life of the Party); Tanesha Hudson and Sarad Davenport (Due Process: The Martinsville 7 Story); Elizabeth Webb (Proximity Study); Jay Westley Pendarvis (1-15-41); Khaya Fraites and Charles Coleman (RIP, LOL); Jess Littman and Drew McCarter (Wired); and Jennings Rice (Next). Moderated by Joe Fab (VAFF).

Life of the Party (5 min.) In the wake of his wife Eleanor’s passing, grieving Walter’s attempts to hold a quiet, respectful service are thrown into chaos when a party bus arrives at the front steps of the funeral home.

Due Process:  Martinsville 7 Story (8 min.) Community activist and filmmaker Tanesha Hudson has returned with her second film, made in collaboration the team at 10th Collective. The film tells the tragic story of the Martinsville Seven, seven Black men who were accused of raping a white woman in 1949, expeditiously tried and convicted, and executed in 1951.

Proximity Study (Sight Lines) (6 min.) is an attempt to measure closeness despite temporal distance.

RIP, LOL (16 min.) NYU Student, Willow, goes back home to Richmond, Virginia with her best friend Jackie as her support system, to see her parents and ‘celebrate’ what would have been her older brother’s 26th birthday. RIP, LOL is an examination of grief and how loss affects an entire family.

Wired (9 min.) A lonely young woman is tormented by her increasingly close relationship with the digital world. When her concept of reality begins unravelling, she sets off in an attempt to unplug and detox.

Next (17 min.) What if dying was a little like going to the DMV?

1-15-41 (10 min.) After the tragedy of the UVA shooting on Nov 13, 2022, this films follows the grief process of a student on campus dealing with the loss of his friends.