Anthony Hopkins

The inimitable Anthony Hopkins to receive Virginia Film Award

Staff Report

With its theme of "Animal Attractions," the 13th annual Virginia Film Festival this year will honor actor Anthony Hopkins, whose role as the crafty cannibal, Hannibal Lecter, in "The Silence of the Lambs" blurred the boundary between man and beast.

The festival, set for Oct. 26 through Oct. 29, will explore medaia representations of animals as the reflections, antagonists, victims and superiors of humankind.

The award will be presented Oct. 28 to Hopkins, who has recently portrayed two unforgettable men-turned-cannibals. In Julie Taymor's 1999 film, he played "Titus," the general with a brutal taste for revenge in this film adaptation of Shakespeare's play. After the film screening Sat. evening, Hopkins will join critic Roger Ebert for a discussion of his acting career. Then Hopkins will introduce the late-night screening of "The Silence of the Lambs," for which he won an Academy Award in 1992, playing opposite Jodie Foster, whose character, Clarice Starling, was a Virginia alumna who attended the U.Va.-affiliated FBI academy. Hopkins is working on the sequel, "Hannibal," part of which was filmed in Richmond.

Based at U.Va., the festival designs its program to resemble a comprehensive course on a cultural theme, according to director Richard Herskowitz. Its many guests, including actors, directors and scholars from U.Va. and elsewhere, participate in panel discussions and interact with a broad audience of film enthusiasts.