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April 6, 2006 — Let there be …projector light.
Following its record-breaking 2005 program on the theme
of “In/Justice,” the Virginia Film Festival
has chosen another illuminating theme for its nineteenth
annual event: “Revelations: Finding God at the
Movies.”
Hosted by the University of Virginia, the Virginia Film
Festival will take place Oct. 26-29, at venues
throughout Charlottesville. Designed as a four-day course
on a cultural theme in which the public is invited to enroll,
the Festival brings major talents to Charlottesville each
year (such as recent featured guests Vanessa Redgrave,
Sandra Bullock, and Paul Schrader). Over 70 films will
be screened and more than 80 guest artists and speakers
are expected to participate.
For the first time, Festival director Richard Herskowitz
will open the process of festival programming to the public
through a new online
blog called “Revelations of a Programmer.”
He is soliciting
recommendations
for film titles and guest artists and speakers, and will
respond to suggestions and share behind-the-scenes stories
as the program comes together.
“Revelations: Finding God at the Movies” will explore the
growing role of religion in the public sphere. Herskowitz
predicts, “The films we present will be reverent
and irreverent. We intend to feature works by filmmakers
who are addressing the growing tension between secular
and religious cultures worldwide. Discussions will explore
the growing popularity of religious themes in popular culture,
following the success of Passion of the Christ and The
Chronicles of Narnia. Finally, we plan to give special
attention to the rich tradition of spiritual cinema—films
by Scorsese, Tarkovsky, Bresson and others that do not
necessarily address religion, but aim to provoke a spiritual
experience in the viewer.”
The Festival will bring back, for the third year, the highly
successful “Adrenaline Film Project.”
Thirty student and community filmmakers will be launched
on a
three-day
filmmaking
blitz, culminating in a public screening at the Festival.
The Festival will also feature over a dozen new feature
film premiere selections screening
in advance of their national release. And, as always, filmgoers
can
expect
an extensive catalog of art exhibits, musical performances,
and gala parties related to the Festival theme.
Early confirmations include two new documentary premieres
by accomplished Charlottesville filmmakers. Paul Wagner’s
The God of a Second Chance explores the role of faith in
the lives of people confronting problems of poverty in
the inner city, and Kent and Brad Williamson’s The
Rebellion of Thought examines the role of the church in
a post-modern world.
For more information and for year-round announcements about
the Virginia Film Festival and Virginia Film Society, visit
the Web site.
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