2000 Wrapup Report
Donors and Sponsors of the 2000 Virginia Film Festival
Guests and Programs
Films
The 13th Annual Virginia Film Festival, Animal Attractions, was a smash hit. A total of 10,015 viewers attended Festival programs, and ticket revenues exceeded last year's figures by over 40%. News of this year's festival blanketed the community and country like never before, thanks to the wide distribution of wire stories on Anthony Hopkins' award and enthusiastic and extensive regional media coverage. The Festival's idiosyncratic exploration of the theme of animals in cinema (focusing on human-animal hybrids, with a special emphasis on "cartoon critters") inspired many rich discussions. These prompted critic Peter Brunette, in his Film.Com coverage, to marvel "that the audiences for (Virginia Film Festival) films are the most intelligent I've seen at any festival, bar none, and the post-screening Q&A sessions often last longer than the films they're about." MORE

Women and Iranian Cinema
A three-day conference, Women and Iranian Cinema, will feature major figures in Iranian contemporary art, filmmaking, film criticism and scholarship Friday, March 30 through Sunday, April 1. Conference participants include the acclaimed media installation artist Shirin Neshat, who will premiere a new film with original music by Philip Glass. Other participants include film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum and film scholar Hamid Naficy. Two feature films will also premiere at Vinegar Hill Theatre from March 30 - April 5 as part of the conference: Marzieh Meshkinis The Day I Became A Woman, and Jafar Panahis The Circle. MORE

THIRTEENTH ANNUAL VIRGINIA FILM FESTIVAL TO FEATURE
"ANIMAL ATTRACTIONS"

- Anthony Hopkins to Receive Virginia Film Award -

The 13th annual Virginia Film Festival, scheduled for Thursday, October 26 through Sunday, October 29, 2000, will explore the theme of "Animal Attractions," featuring media representations of animals as the reflections, antagonists, victims and superiors of humankind :MORE

KIDS' ATTRACTIONS HIGHLIGHT ANIMAL ATTRACTIONS
A live presentation by animal handler Doug Sloan, featuring horse and camel animal actors, will take place outside Culbreth Theatre prior to the October 28 afternoon screening of Charlie Chaplin's The Circus. This event highlights an extensive program of films kids will love at this year's Virginia Film Festival :MORE

PREMIERES AT VIRGINIA FILM FESTIVAL TO INCLUDE
WORK-IN-PROGRESS BY BARRY LEVINSON AND NEW WORKS BY DIRECTORS JOHN HANCOCK AND MARK LEWIS
Screenwriter-actor Barry McEvoy will join producer Mark Johnson to pre-screen their work-in-progress, An Everlasting Piece, directed by Barry Levinson. This film joins an exciting selection of premieres at this year's Festival, including John Hancock's A Piece of Eden, Mark Lewis's The Natural History of the Chicken, Kelly Greene's Attack of the Bat Monsters, Dorjkhandyn Turmunkh's State of Dogs, and Kathy High's Animal Attraction :MORE

ANIMAL ART OF WILLIAM WEGMAN, CAROLEE SCHNEEMANN, SAM EASTERSON, AND OTHERS TO BE PRESENTED
Charlottesville, VA - The 13th annual Virginia Film Festival, scheduled for Thursday, October 26th through Sunday, October 29th, 2000, is proud to announce that Festival guest artists William Wegman and Carolee Schneeman will display photographic works at the Bayly Art Museum, located on the University of Virginia Grounds. This year's Film Festival has an unusually large number of visual artists, including Sam Easterson, Leah Gilliam, Beatrix Ost, and Animal Charm, whose experimental media art will be exhibited and demonstrated :MORE

The Virginia Film Festival is a program of the Department of Drama at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.