The 1997 Virginia Film Festival, which ran from October 30 - November 2, was a remarkable success. Attendance at screenings jumped 20%, from 7367 in 1996 to 9110 in 1997. The total number of people who attended Festival events, including screenings, galas, and free panels was 10,410, an increase of 1254 over 1996. Student participation continued to grow, rising by 30% to 2200 admissions.
There were fifteen sold-out programs, nearly doubling the eight sell-outs of 1996. The range of programs drawing capacity crowds is a remarkable testament to the diversity of interests among Festival audiences: Long Day's Journey Into Night, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Windhorse, The Big One, Blade Runner, Home Fries, Cool Hand Luke, Intruder in the Dust, Pousse Café, The Exterminating Angel, Ways of Being Caged (Shorts Program), Can't You Hear the Wind Howl?, Red Hollywood, Hide and Seek, and Frank Pierson's Shot-by-Shot Workshop.
The Festival was filled with unforgettable memories: director John Berry's spontaneous and deeply moved response to Red Hollywood, a film that traces the legacy of his community of blacklisted filmmakers; Michael Moore's speeding up his Q&A session after midnight by taking and giving questions and answers of five words or less; waiters dressed as cops serving hors d'oeuvres to several ex-cons at the Bayly gala; a capacity crowd listening to Larry Flynt and a stage full of lawyers from both sides of his famous case after People vs. Larry Flynt; Jason Robards' moving recollections of Fredric March, Colleen Dewhurst, and other actors he reveres. The powerful media installations by Beth B and Deep Dish TV anchored the intense discussions on the imprisonment boom that took place all over town. The Festival was as memorable for participants as it was for audiences, drawing considerable praise from visiting filmmakers for efficient organization, hospitality, and, especially, a quality of audience response that far surpassed their other Festival experiences.
Feature Films Balcony, The Big One, The Blade Runner Calling the Ghosts Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? Clockwork Orange, A Cool Hand Luke Empty Mirror, The Escape from Alcatraz Every Little Thing Exterminating Angel, The Great Escape, The He Ran All the Way Hide and Seek Home Fries I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang Iceman Cometh, The Intruder in the Dust Keeper, The King of Hearts Lilies Long Day's Journey Into Night One Night Stand People vs. Larry Flynt, The Pousse Café Public Housing Red Hollywood Still Breathing Tamango The Last Graduation Tightrope Two Small Bodies Waco: The Rules of Engagement Windhorse Woman in the Dunes
Short Films and Videos Adventurer, The American Chain Gang Amnesia Angry Boy Aunt Magg and Me B/Side Big House Bunny Black Box Black Kites Chekhov's Gun Convict 13 Debutantes, The Doing Time Fallen Angels Forgotten Voices I Know What You Mean In the Street Lady with the White Hat, The My ABC Nobody Gets Hurt Out of Sight, Out of Mind Pano Arte Procedure 769 Rainbow Man: John 3:16, The Rhapsody in Orange Seaside Shock Asylum Smoked South Central Los Angeles: Inside Voices Standing on the Edge Watching Stop It Taylor's Campaign They Shoot Pigeons, Don't They? Tramp Tramp Tramp Un Chant d'Amour Under Lock and Key Visible Cities
Art Exhibitions A Holy Experiment (Bayly) (Un) Chained: Visions of Freedom and Unfreedom (Bayly) Public Shelter: Interactive Media Exhibit (Clemons) Deep Dish TV (Gallery Neo) Art of Leonard Peltier (Gallery Neo) "What is the Crime" (Gallery Neo) Caged/Uncaged: A Group Show (McGuffey)
Gala Events Bayly Opening Night Reception Pousse Café Cocktail Party Windhorse Benefit Reception A New Decade, A New Millennium: Closing Night Gala
Featured Guests B, Beth Berry, John Brewster, Joe Burres, Bruni Byrge, Duane Child, Abigail Cooper, Camille Dawadolma, Dadon Deneen, David Friedrich, Su Gerbner, George Gilligan, Vince Griego, Vangie Halleck, DeeDee Hamilton, Anthony Fife Hamilton-Little, Dominic Hollis, Brenda Honig, Noel Johnson, Mark Jones, Martin Kaufmann, Dubi King, Denny Loader, Jayne Lynn, Julie Mayer, Peter McClenny, Rita Moore, Michael Napoli, James Paczulla, Jutta Persinger, Marshall Powers, Wayne Pierson, Frank Reid, Daphne Reid, Tim Robards, Jason Stratton, Richard Strick, Joseph Tuggle, Richard Verducci, Pat Wagner, Paul Walters, Ellen Wheeler, Art Winter, Susan Zahm, Barbara Zimmerman, Debbie
Prison Activists Allison, Kay Robb, Ed Wootton, Jim Garvey, Makeda Apple, Sherrie Islam, Lateef
Visiting Scholars Blother, Joseph (Michigan) Gaines, Jane (Duke) Gerbner. George (Temple/Penn) Kovel, Joel (Bard) Paletz, David (Duke) Ruff, James (JMU)+ Sprich, Robert (Bentley) Stith, Randy (Virginia Tech) Wye, Melissa (Radford)
U.Va. Faculty Barton, Craig (Architecture) Bonnie, Richard (Law) Brinkley, Ned (German) Butler, Reginald (History) Chapel, Bob (Drama) Collins, Rich (Urban Envmt. Planning) Cox, Maurice (Architecture) Davie, Sharon (Women's Center) Edmundson, Mark (English) Frick, John (Drama) Gaston, Paul (History) Grissom, Doug (Drama) Hole, Grace (History) Jeffries, John (Law) Kelly, Colleen (Drama) Korte, Walter (Drama/English) Lane, Ann (Women's Studies) Lichtenstein, Nelson (History) Mark, Earl (Architecture) Mayes, Bernard (Media Studies) Quicke, Andrew (Regent) Rickenbacker, Shawn (Architecture) Voris, Renate (German) Waldman, Peter (Architecture) Wilson, Michiko (Asian Languages) Sheras, Peter (Education) Cornell, Dewey (Education)
Other Speakers Raphael Shargel Heather Love Josh Wheeler Alan L. Isaacman David O. Carson Jeffrey Daichman Thomas V. Marino W.T. Lewis Todd Norwood Peter Bielagus Andrew Wyndham