1993 Theme: Film Noir

Festival Tribute: Following a welcome at the Festival Benefit Reception, Robert Mitchum introduced Out of the Past. After the screening, he answered questions from the audience about his work. The Festival also featured Farewell, My Lovely, to celebrate Mitchum's essential and central position in the film noir canon with his final, true noir, starring role.

Premiere: During the 1992 presidential election, filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus went behind the scenes of the Clinton campaign to capture history in the making. The Festival presented a premiere of The War Room. Following the screening, senior presidential advisor George Stephanopoulos joined the filmmakers and others to discuss the making of this documentary.

Workshop-related screening: Step-by-step, shot-by-shot, critic Roger Ebert shared with the audience his views and knowledge of Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard over a three-day/two hour seminar.

Regional Premieres:

Bentley Mitchum, actor and grandson of Robert Mitchum, introduced and share his insider's views on Ruby in Paradise, winner of the Grand Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival.

Writer/Director John Dahl introduced his personal version of film noir, Red Rock West. Following the screening, John Dahl commented on the influence of classic American film noir on his work.

Fine Line Features executive Sarah Eaton presented and discussed Gus Van Sant's new film, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.

Screenwriter and co-producer Hilary Henkin came to present and discuss her newest work, Romeo is Bleeding.

East Coast Premiere: Filmakers Allie Light and Irving Saraf introduced their newest film, Dialogues with Madwomen, and then participated in an open discussion following the screening.

East Coast Sneak Preview: Producer Peter McCarthy was there to introduce this special Festival screening of his film, Floundering.

Virginia Premiere: Tess Gallagher, distinguished poet and Raymond Carver's widow was present to introduce and discuss Robert Altman's Short Cuts.

Tess Gallagher and author Ann Beattie also led a discussion revolving around the translation of Carver's stories into the film Short Cuts.

A talk with...: In collaboration with the Virginia Services Association (VPSA), the Festival hosted independant producer Mark Johnson, a U.Va. alumni and partner of Oscar-winning Barry Levinson on several films (The Natural, Young Sherlock Holmes, Good Morning Vietnam, Rainman...)

A visit with...:

. . . the director: Director Edward Dmytrik discussed his work and answered questions following the screening of Murder, My Sweet.

. . . the writer: Screenwriter Donald Westlake was present to discuss his work of adaptation on The Grifters made after Jim Thompson's novel.

. . . the cinematographer: Cinematographer John A. Alonzo discussed his work following the screening of Chinatown.

Preservation work: Festival's participants were given the rather unique opportunity to enjoy The Maltese Falcon, with all its luster and brilliance. David Francis, Chief of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting & Recorded Sound division of the Library of Congress presented the film.

Featured Artist: As part of the Festival's examination of the fine art of noir, author Richard Price came to read excerpts of his latest murder mystery, Clockers.

Featured exhibition: Marlene Dietrich's glamorous and knowing fatalism melded with her weary beauty to lend a sensuous edge to classic noir films, such as Orson Welles'Touch of Evil. The Univerity of Virginia's Bayly Art Museum, in the exhibition dedicated to the actress, "Dark Angel: Images of Marlene Dietrich in the Cinema", captured this image in a series of portraits and stills.

Open Dicussions:

Noir Into Culture: Jeanine Basinger (Chair of the film studies program at Wesleyan University), popular screenwriter Larry Gross, film critic Owen Gleiberman, and writer/director John Dahl led a discussion on American film noir oan on the influence of the noir style and sensibility on contemporary filmmaking.

Classic Films Featured (among others):

	Gilda (Dir.: Charles Vidor, 1946)
	Kiss of Death (Dir.: Henry Hathaway, 1947)
	They Live By Night (Dir.: Nicholas Ray, 1949)
	In a Lonely Place (Dir.: Nicholas Ray, 1950)
	The Honeymoon Killers (Dir.: Leonard Kastle, 1969)
	The Long Goodbye (Dir.: Robert Altman, 1973)
	The American Friend (Dir.: Wim Wenders, 1977)
	Body Heat (Dir.: Lawrence Kasdan, 1981)