The Virginia Film Festival is hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 in Charlottesville, held usually in late October/ early November.

Themes

The Virginia Film Festival has historically had a different theme each year. Past themes include:

• 1990 - "Music & The Movies"
• 1991 - "Movie Made In America"
• 1992 - "The Reel South & Other Worlds"
• 1993 - "Film Noir
  Film noir
  Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
  
  "
• 1994 - "Love & Other Obsessions"
• 1995 - "U.S. & Them"
• 1996 - "Wild Spaces, Endangered Places"
• 1997 - "Caged!"
• 1998 - "Cool"
• 1999 - "Techno Visions"
• 2000 - "Animal Attractions"
• 2001 - "Masquerades"
• 2002 - "Wet"
• 2003 - "$$$"
• 2004 - "Speed"
• 2005 - "In/Justice"
• 2006 - "Revelations"
• 2007 - "Kin Flicks"
• 2008 - "Aliens!"
• 2009 - "Funny Business"

The 2010 Festival has announced its intention to leave the themed approach in favour of more flexible programming.

Guests & Speakers

Each year, there are almost 100 speakers & guests. Past speakers & guests have included Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...

, Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...

, Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall

Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....

, Jon Voight

Jon Voight

Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....

, Matthew Broderick

Matthew Broderick

Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...

, James Stewart

James Stewart (actor)

James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...

, Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...

, Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...

, Alan Ball

Alan Ball

Alan Ball may refer to:* Alan Ball , American screenwriter and director* Alan Ball, Jr. , English footballer and manager* Alan Ball, Sr. , English footballer and manager...

, Gena Rowlands

Gena Rowlands

Gena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...

, Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...

, Norman Jewison

Norman Jewison

Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...

, & John Waters

John Waters (filmmaker)

John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...

.

Films

There are almost 60 films featured every year. The 2010 Festival will take place 4 - 7 November, 2010.

External links

• The Official Virginia Film Festival Web Site