Contact: Victoria Joyce (804)-361-1259
Final Program Additions
October 19, 1998
With an already stellar lineup of guests (including Rip Torn, Arthur Penn, Roger Ebert, and David Amram) and advance ticket sales over four times ahead of last year, the Virginia Film Festival announces its final program additions:
William and Susanna Styron to present Shadrach
A daughter's interpretation of her father's words
1 p.m. at the Culbreth Theatre,
Sunday, November 1, 1998
Some things just run in the family, like the talent to tell a great story. Proof of this is evident in the work of Susanna Styron, who will bring her debut feature, Shadrach, adapted from the short story by her father, the renowned author William Styron, to the Virginia Film Festival, Sunday November 1 at 1 p.m. at the Culbreth Theatre.
Originally published as a short story in Esquire magazine, Shadrach follows the odyssey of a 99-year-old ex-slave who wishes to be buried in the place of his birth, a plantation in the Tidewater area of Virginia. His return to Virginia sparks a confrontation with the plantation owner's descendants, played by Harvey Keitel and Andie MacDowell.
The screening of Shadrach will be followed by a panel discussion on the film, featuring the Styrons. William Styron is a past festival participant and his earlier appearance, discussing his Confessions of Nat Turner, is still remembered as one of the Virginia Film Festival's finest moments.
Lead actor Paul Rodriguez to join director Tom Musca
at Virginia premiere of Melting Pot
7 p.m. at the Regal Downtown Theater
Saturday, October 31, 1998
Celebrated comedian Paul Rodriguez will join Tom Musca (the screenwriter-producer of Stand and Deliver) for the Virginia premiere of Musca's debut feature as a director, Melting Pot. Rodriguez stars as a Latino candidate in a multiracial City Council race in LA in Musca's comedy-drama, which also costars CCH Pounder and Cliff Robertson.
Paul Rodriguez was born in Mexico and moved to the US with his family as a child, working as a fruit picker and settling in California. In 1979, he began performing at the Comedy Store in L.A. In 1984, he made his feature acting debut in D.C. Cab and, the next year, his TV acting debut starring as Paul 'Pablo' Rivera on the ABC sitcom "a.k.a Pablo." A variety of successful endeavors as TV producer, host, and actor followed, and then an impressive role in Cheech Marin's underrated Born in East L.A. In 1994, Rodriguez both starred and directed in A Million to Juan, a good-natured comedy about an immigrant in East L.A. who receives a million dollars out of the blue. His performance in Melting Pot is now certain to enhance his reputation as an actor of considerable range.
Appropriately, the discussion with Musca and Rodriguez about this film on a City Council race will be moderated by Maurice Cox, member of Charlottesville's City Council.
Making Lincs with Tim and Daphne Maxwell Reid
11 a.m. at Newcomb Theater
Saturday, October 31, 1998
Charlottesville-based actor-producer Tim Reid and his wife, actress Daphne Maxwell Reid, will take us behind the scenes of their new Showtime TV series Linc's, with a special free screening and discussion of the two-part episode "March on Washington." With an intoxicating blend of sex, politics and race relations, all set in a popular Washington D.C. watering hole, Linc's is a powerful cocktail that deals candidly with adult issues from an African-American perspective.
"March on Washington," which aired as a two-part episode earlier this year, highlights the tensions between old friends whose views of politics have diverged over the years. Bar owner Russell "Linc" Lincoln is now a Republican who enjoys serving a wide variety of patrons, while his old buddy, played by guest star Gregory Hines, is a former Black Panther and still a radical activist. Helping to roil the waters are some of the bar's regulars including Pam Grier who plays a headstrong liberal, and Georg Stanford Brown, a lobbyist who counts Big Tobacco among his clients.
The brainchild of Tim Reid (WKRP in Cincinnati; Sister, Sister; Snoops; Frank's Place), Linc's is the first series to be shot at Reid's New Millennium Studios in Petersburg, Virginia.
Living Out Loud to make regional premiere
10 p.m. at the Culbreth Theatre,
Saturday, October 31, 1998
Written and directed by Richard LaGravenese (screenwriter of Beloved, The Horse Whisperer, The Fisher King, and Bridges of Madison County), New Line's Living Out Loud is the story of people coping with the sudden and surprising changes that life can deal out just when you thought things should be going smoothly. The film's heroine, played by Holly Hunter, finds herself abandoned by her husband and taking a fresh look at her building's elevator operator, played by Danny DeVito.
In keeping with this festival's Cool theme, Living Out Loud has a distinctive beat provided by Queen Latifah, who moves away from her traditional rap to perform two jazz numbers in the role of a singer who befriends Holly Hunter's character.
For Immediate Release