Virginia Film Festival

VFF and Violet Crown Charlottesville Announce New Titles for Year-Round Film Series

by Sarah Cain on March 28, 2017

Virginia Film Festival And Violet Crown Charlottesville Announce  New Titles For Year-Round Film Series

Adrenaline Film Project To Move From Festival Weekend; Awards Ceremony And Screening Set For Paramount Theater On Saturday, October 21

Virginia Film Festival to Celebrate 30th Year from November 9-12

Charlottesville, VA – March 28, 2017 – The Virginia Film Festival has announced the next two films in its VFF at Violet Crown Series, a collaboration with Violet Crown Charlottesville to present a year-round, co-curated selection of films. The series will continue on April 25 with
 I, Olga Hepnarová; and on May 23 with The Teacher.

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

I, Olga Hepnarová takes a haunting look at the real-life story of a young, lesbian outsider whose mistreatment at the hands of her family and alienation from the world at large sends her over the edge of humanity and leads her to commit a horrendous crime at the age of only 22. The film, from director Petr Kazda and Tomás Weinreb, paints a portrait of the human being behind the mass murderer without glorifying or downplaying the terrible crime she committed. Using her own letters, the film takes audiences deep into Olga’s psyche and unveils her spiraling loneliness and alienation as it re-constructs the events that led up to the disastrous actions that made her the last woman to be executed in Czechoslovakia. This artful and stylish film aesthetically echoes the French New Wave, and premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best First Feature Film.

From the renowned Czech writer/director team of Petr Jarchovsky and Jan Hrebejk (Kawasaki’s Rose) comes The Teacher, a Slovak-language dramedy set in a 1983 in Bratislava, where a new middle school teacher is turning life upside down for parents and students. It slowly becomes clear that perhaps the pupils’ grades are related to how willing their parents are to help her with her errands, her housecleaning, and other random services. The teacher’s corrupted behavior and one of the students’ suicide attempt lead the school Principal call the students’ parents for an urgent meeting that will suddenly put the future of all the families at stake. They are asked to sign a petition to move Miss Drazdechova out of the school. The teacher’s high connections within the Communist Party makes everyone feel threatened, but at this point they have no choice but to make a decision: will they dare to go against Miss Drazdechova and stand up for what they believe in at any risk, or will they just remain silent and let things be? This darkly comedic drama premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and has been a critical and audience favorite of the international festival circuit.

All screenings in the series will start at 7:30 PM, and tickets will be available one month prior to the screening date at www.violetcrown.com.

Film Festival officials also announced that its popular Adrenaline Film Project, for the first time, will move outside of the Festival weekend. The 2017 Adrenaline Film Project marks the 14th anniversary of the VFF’s 72-hour filmmaking competition in which 10 to 12 teams of three filmmakers work closely with established film directors, screenwriters, producers, and actors in a comprehensive crash-course in authentic movie-making. The mentors work closely with the teams as they pitch, write, cast, shoot, edit, and present their short film to the public at a consistently sold-out screening and celebrate their achievements in a post-screening awards ceremony. The public screening will be held on Saturday, October 21 at The Paramount Theater.

“We are very excited about this move for Adrenaline as we think it will allow even more people to experience what has become for many audience members a highlight of the VFF,” said Jody Kielbasa, director of the Virginia Film Festival and vice provost for the arts at the University of Virginia. “After discussing it with Adrenaline co-founder and VFF board member Jeff Wadlow, we are excited that this move will do two important things: it will allow us as the VFF team to give Adrenaline the focused attention it deserves, and it will open up the opportunity for even more people to discover and enjoy what is a truly dynamic and unique entertainment event.”

The application process for the 2017 Adrenaline Film Project launches on Tuesday, August 29. There will be a kickoff event for the teams on Wednesday, October 18.

The Virginia Film Festival will celebrate its 30th year from November 9-12. For more information on the Violet Crown Series, Adrenaline Film Project, or the VFF in general, visit www.virginiafilmfestival.org.