Virginia Film Festival

Waking Sleeping Beauty

In 1984, Walt Disney Animation Studios experienced a box office slump. Director Don Hahn offers a…

Wakefield

In Robin Swicord’s adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s short story, successful New York litigator and suburban man…

Unlocking the Cage

After 30 years of struggling with ineffective animal welfare laws, animal rights lawyer Steven Wise is…

A Tickle in the Heart

The Epstein Brothers–Max, Willie, and Julius–are legends in the world of klezmer music, a Jewish musical…

The Sweet Life

Preceded by the short film Sienna Burning (11 min.) Kenny and Lolita, each struggling with their…

Suntan

Kostis, an atypical middle-aged man, is the newly appointed doctor on a hedonistic Greek island. Unlike…

Staying Vertical

Leo, a filmmaker, is scouting for a wolf in the south of France when he is…

SPLit

Inanna, a young woman working as an actress by day and a stripper by night, enters…

Jeff Wadlow Presents a Sneak Preview of his new film: True Memoirs of an International Assassin

After his publisher markets his crime novel as a memoir, a novice author (Kevin James) finds…

Shepherds and Butchers

Nineteen-year-old Leon, a white prison guard in late 1980s South Africa, recklessly opens fire on a…

She Started It

This documentary offers the first ever behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to run a tech…

SEED: The Untold Story

Preceded by the short film Home is Where the Farm is (5 min.) Few things on…

Restoring Tomorrow

Throughout history, religious institutions have formed the bedrock of American communities, but today they are losing…

The Rebound

Preceded by the short film The Unrelenting Charlie Davies (18 min.) The Miami Heat Wheels, a…

Putuparri and the Rainmakers

This powerful documentary explores the complex indigenous and colonial history of Australia through the story of…

The Promise

North American Premiere Marking the first American trial to be televised nationwide, the murder convictions of…

Old Stone

Chinese taxi driver Lao Shi is thrown into a Kafkaesque nightmare where no charitable act goes…

NOT The Last Butterfly

The Butterfly Project is a grassroots arts and education initiative that memorializes the 1.5 million children…

The Million Dollar Duck

Winner of Best Documentary Feature at the Slamdance Film Festival, this film from director Brian Golden…

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise

The first feature-length documentary focusing on Maya Angelou, this film peers into her many lives as…

Macbeth Unhinged

Macbeth Unhinged is a modern interpretation of the classic Shakespeare play, set in the claustrophobic confines…

Lupe Under the Sun

Long estranged from his family in Mexico, migrant laborer Lupe feels stuck in the monotony of…

The Love Witch

Preceded by the short film Roadside Assistance (8 min.) This highly stylized and impeccably crafted drama-thriller…

London Town

Fifteen-year-old Shay lives in the suburbs of London in the 1970s, where the punk music scene…

Life, Animated

Preceded by the short film Titanic Boy (8 min.) Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams’ new…

Liberty & Slavery: The Paradox of America’s Founding Fathers

This documentary explores the ultimate paradox of Revolutionary America: slavery. Delving into the hypocrisies of the…

A Late Style of Fire: Larry Levis, American Poet

Larry Levis, one of the most influential and decorated poets of his time, suffered a fatal…

Landfill Harmonic

Built in the shadow of a massive landfill, the Paraguayan community of Cateura survives by selling…

James and the Giant Peach

James, orphaned after a rhinoceros kills his parents, has been sent to live with his two…

Into the Inferno

Iconic German director Werner Herzog and volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer travel to the world’s most treacherous volcanoes…

Hunter Gatherer

After three years in prison, Ashley Douglas moves back home with his mother in the hopes…

Hot Air

A young man attends the funeral of his biological father, a man he never knew, only…

Heaven’s Floor

Desperate for more meaning in her life, Julia sets out from Los Angeles on a photographic…

Good Work: Masters of the Building Arts

Directors Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner reunite for the first time since winning the Academy Award…

Girl Flu

Bird, a thoughtful twelve-year-old, must accept that she is developing into a woman whether she wants…

Fire at Sea

Each year hundreds of thousands of African immigrants journey to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa in…

Farewell Ferris Wheel

Over the past two centuries, the carnival has become a central component of American culture. Each…

Driftwood

In this intricately layered, dialogue-free exploration of isolation and captivity, a young woman washes ashore and…

Don’t Call Me Son

Pierre, a cross-dressing and eyeliner-wearing teenager, is stunned to discover that he was kidnapped from his…

Dead Slow Ahead

Dead Slow Ahead follows the journey of an enormous shipping freighter, Fair Lady, transporting wheat across…

Contemporary Color

This performance event, conceived by Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne, honors the artistry and athleticism…

Chronically Metropolitan

Fenton, a promising author, lost the love of Jessie when he published a thinly-veiled story about…

Boone

Three young goat farmers come to terms with the physical and emotional grit required to live…

Best and Most Beautiful Things

Michelle Smith, a precocious twenty-year-old woman, lives with her mother Julie in rural Maine. Michelle is…

Being 17

Preceded by the short film Reckless (9 min.) Being 17 is a moving exploration of adolescent…

Before the Fall

Set in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, an unexpected love story emerges in this modern take…

Beauty and the Beast

The first animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award, Beauty and the Beast celebrates…

The Anthropologist

Katie, a thirteen-year-old girl from Fairfax, Virginia, is carted around the globe by her mother, noted…

All the Way

All the Way offers a riveting look at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s tumultuous first year in…

The Alchemist Cookbook

Setting out on alchemic pursuits, young outcast Sean has isolated himself in a trailer in the…

After Coal

Preceded by the short film Through (5 min.) What happens after fossil fuels run out? After…

Adrenaline Film Project

The 13th annual Adrenaline Film Project has arrived! AFP is a 72-hour, highly-caffeinated filmmaking competition where…

Late Night Wrap Party

Before the credits roll on the 2016 Festival, meet us at the Late Night Wrap Party for…

Opening Night Gala

Join us for the start of the 29th annual Virginia Film Festival at the Opening Night Gala.…