Virginia Film Festival

SATURDAY NIGHT – Special Award Screening

A re-imagination of the 90 minutes leading up of the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. 

ANORA

A exotic dancer gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she marries the son of an oligarch.

THE LAST SHOWGIRL

Pamela Anderson shines as a Las Vegas showgirl facing the closure of her long-running revue.

THE FIRE INSIDE

Claressa Shields’s inspirational journey to becoming the first American boxer to win multiple Olympic golds.

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR

After years of being out of touch, two friends meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.

UNSTOPPABLE

The inspiring story of wrestler Anthony Robles, who, born without a leg, still became a champion.

A REAL PAIN

Two cousins (Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour across Poland to confront their family history.

THE PIANO LESSON

A battle over a prized heirloom piano unleashes haunting truths about how the past is perceived.

PAVEMENTS

This highly innovative docudrama follows 90s indie band Pavement.

NIGHTBITCH

A woman (Amy Adams) slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood.

MEMOIR OF A SNAIL

A snail-collecting, melancholic misfit learns how to find confidence within herself.

EMILIA PÉREZ

Four remarkable women from Mexico pursue happiness in this audacious musical fever dream.

BLITZ

A young boy undertakes a perilous journey to reunite with his mother (Saoirse Ronan) during the WWII bombing of London.

BIRD

12-year-old Bailey and her single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan) invent ways to get by in North Kent.

American Symphony

In 2022, the Grammy and Oscar-winning jazz and contemporary recording artist Jon Batiste faced a pivotal…

Origin

U.S. Premiere Isabel Wilkerson, a pioneering African-American journalist and the first to receive a Pulitzer Prize,…

May December

In preparation for her upcoming acting role, Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), a rising celebrity, deeply involves herself…

Dream Scenario

Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) is a directionless family man and middling professor, troubled by the ordinary,…

War Pony

Caméra D'Or, Cannes Film Festival  War Pony follows two Oglala Lakota men as they come of…

Maestro

Written, directed, and starring Bradley Cooper, Maestro is a deep and fascinating look inside the mind…

Rustin

Bayard Rustin, architect of the 1963 March on Washington, was one of America's great activists, organizers,…

The Holdovers

Most American children spend winter break at home with their families, but at Barton Academy, an…

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project

US Grand Jury Prize, Documentary | Sundance Film Festival One of America's greatest living poets, Nikki…

American Fiction

People's Choice Award Winner, Toronto International Film Festival Thelonious “Monk'' Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is a down…

Women Talking

After several newly uncovered counts of sexual abuse rock a tight-knit, isolated Mennonite community, a group…

Empire of Light

CLOSING FILM Academy Award-winning Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, 1917) presents a love letter to the…

Devotion

Set in the Korean War, Devotion captures the tale of the U.S. Navy's first Black aviator, Jesse…

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

OPENING NIGHT FILM Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is the thrilling, star-studded standalone sequel to…

2022 Opening Night Gala

21+ Event Join us for the start of the Virginia Film Festival at the Opening Night…

Stay Awake

Ethan and Derek are two brothers who are on the cusp of adulthood, yet leaving home…

My Father’s Dragon

FAMILY CENTERPIECE SCREENING Based on the beloved 1948 Newberry Award-winning children’s book, My Father’s Dragon is…

Tekahionwake, Pauline

E. Pauline Johnson was a powerful wordsmith who traveled the North American continent sometimes in vaudeville-esque…

Scream

A year after her mother’s death, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campell) and her friends are terrorized by…

Little Shop of Horrors

Florist Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) has his life completely upended when he finds a mysterious plant…

Dracula

Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) has just arrived in London with his thralls, bent on hunting down…

The Addams Family

Gomez Addams (Raul Julia), the patriarch of the Addams family, is thrilled when his estranged brother…

Spencer

During her Christmas holidays with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, Princess…

The French Dispatch at Morven

The latest in a series of idyllic, fantastical pieces by Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch takes us to…

The Harder They Fall

When outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) discovers that Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), the man who murdered…

The French Dispatch

The latest in a series of idyllic, fantastical pieces by Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch takes…

C’mon C’mon

Preceded by the short film Blush. When Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix), a burnt out radio journalist, is left…

The Power of the Dog

Phil and George Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons) are two of the wealthiest ranchers in…

The Report

Daniel J. Jones, a Senate staffer, is assigned the harrowing task of leading an investigation into…

Western Stars

This music-fueled documentary offers audiences the opportunity to see Bruce Springsteen perform all 13 songs from…

Marriage Story

Charlie and Nicole’s already strained marriage is further tested when Nicole secures a coveted acting role…

The Two Popes

One of the most shocking twists in modern Catholic Church history occurred in 2013 with the…

The Muppet Movie

Motivated to make his big break in Hollywood, Kermit the Frog decides to travel across America,…

Motherless Brooklyn

In 1950s New York City, four former orphans make up The Minna Men, a makeshift private…

Just Mercy

Bryan Stevenson, a young lawyer in Monroeville, Alabama, has dedicated himself to a case involving Walter…

Harriet

Based on the extraordinary life of Harriet Tubman, this film chronicles the American hero’s escape from…

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead with Ethan Hawke

Needing some quick cash, brothers Andy and Hank set up the perfect crime to rob their…

2019 Late Night Wrap Party

21+ Event Before the credits roll on the 2019 Festival, join us at the Late Night…

2019 Opening Night Gala

21+ Event Join us for the start of the Virginia Film Festival at the Opening Night…

A Tribute to Christoph Waltz

Christoph Waltz is best known for his work with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. Waltz wowed critics and…

If Beale Street Could Talk

In the film adaptation of the James Baldwin novel, Academy Award winning director Barry Jenkins depicts…

Widows

In present day Chicago, Veronica finds herself newly widowed. In addition to this misfortune, she must…

The Front Runner

Gary Hart, the charming U.S Senator from Colorado, was considered the frontrunner for the 1988 Democratic…

The Favourite

In early 18th century Britain, Queen Anne’s (Olivia Colman) gout renders her too weak to rule,…

Late Night Wrap Party

21+ Event Before the credits roll on the 2018 Festival, join us at the Late Night…

Opening Night Gala

21+ Event Join us for the start of the Virginia Film Festival at the Opening Night…

Roma

As a maid caring for four school-aged children in the middle-class Roma district of Mexico City…

Green Book

When Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), a bouncer from an Italian American neighborhood in the Bronx, is…

Charlottesville

Produced by University of Virginia Center for Politics and the Community Idea Stations, this documentary revisits the…