Virginia Film Festival

My brother and I have always been interested in films and video production, so when I first found out about the Virginia Film Festival three years ago, I was excited to experience such an event.

The theme for the 21st annual Virginia Film Festival is “Aliens!“ but not necessarily in the sense you’d initially think, with many of the films pulling the sci-fi genre. While there are some sci-fi selections, the alien theme is more loosely based on feeling alienated, whether it’s emotionally, culturally or physically. The tagline for this year’s festival, “Immigrants! Outsiders! Exterterrestrials!“ helps define it a little bit better. Many of the films (at least the ones I’ve seen so far) explore how alienation comes about and how each individual finds ways of coping and working through it.

Richard Herskowitz, the artistic director of the festival, said that the emphasis on the festivals is the panel discussions. After seeing a movie, it’s great to hear the perspective of the people who were directly involved in creating the film. It also offers humor and personality of the individuals and some great insight on casting, vision and themes. This year they are able to have directors and other important people who couldn’t make the trek to Virginia, chime in via skype.

I ended up seeing Amores Perros and Burning Plain, which were written by (and one of them even directed by) Guillermo Arriaga. He tells his stories in a non-linear fashion, saying “when we tell stories, we never go linear, it’s not natural.“ As one of his literary inspirations, William Faulkner said, “Each story has a way to be told” and Arriaga “tries to find an organic structure for each of them.“ His attention to detail and the way he writes is very intriguing. Now I’m interested in seeing some of his other films, like Babel and 21 Grams.

I was also able to catch the animated flick Terra, Passengers with Anne Hathaway and David Morse and Lake City with local actress Sissy Spacek and Troy Garity. Each one very different but equally fascinating. Figuring out how to tackle all the choices of the film festival has been quite a task, but the trusty printed guide and the festival website, http://www.vafilm.com, are your best friends. The detailed descriptions help in picking your favorites - but remember to have a backup just in case your first choice gets sold out or you can’t make it to the various theatres in time.

Today is the last day of the festival, but there is still time to squeeze in a movie (or two) this afternoon!