The Daily Progress
Film fest director awarded
May 29, 2007
Brian McNeill
The director of the Virginia Film Festival was named the Charlottesville region’s 2007 Tourism Person of the Year on Tuesday.
Richard Herskowitz, who has organized the Festival since 1994, received the honour from the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau for his vision and leadership in making the festival a source of community pride, business growth and national attention.
The Daily Progress
Virginia Film Festival gets $75,000 grant
Oct. 25, 2007
The Virginia Film Festival will get a $75,000 grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The festival, one of only two festivals chosen for the grant, will receive the funds over a three year period to develop long-term community outreach projects.
The grant will allow the festival to offer programs targeting younger audiences, minority audiences and the wider community, as well as making it possible for the festival to hire a community outreach coordinator to oversee the new initiatives.
C-Ville Weekly
Animated sounds: Brendan Canty performs live soundtracks at the Film Fest
Oct. 30, 2007
John Ruscher
Feedback’s face lit up when we saw Brendan Canty’s name on the list of this year’s festival guests. We’ve seen Canty as drummer of renowned DC rockers Fugazi, but since the band went on hiatus in 2002, Canty has focused mainly on film-related endeavours. Canty combined his musical talents with his film prowess by composing scores for a number of films and other projects, including Sundance Channel’s documentary The Hill.
When Canty comes to the film festival at the end of the week, he’ll display his more spontaneous abilities by helping provide live accompaniment for the animated films of Brent Green.
The Hook
Stars, screenings, & survival: 20 years of the Virginia Film Festival
Nov. 1, 2007
Lisa Provence
We take it for granted every fall that Charlottesville will be awash in cinema, and like clockwork, this year the 20th Virginia Film Festival opens November 1.
But that wasn’t always the case and for much of its history, the year-to-year survival of the festival was far from a sure thing.
Worries plagued the enterprise at the beginning. Chief among them: how does a university without a major film studies program come to host a film festival, and could it – or should it – continue to draw the star-studded line-up it produced its first year?
The Daily Progress
Filmmakers: It’s rough for women
Nov. 4, 2007
Kate Harmon
Women filmmakers have to be aggressive, but that doesn’t mean they have to be hustlers.
At least that’s Su Friedrich’s opinion and she’s been directing for more than 30 years.
Friedrich was one of four female filmmakers speaking on a Virginia Film Festival “Women in Film” panel Saturday afternoon.
Statistically, the number of women filmmakers has risen over the years, but it’s still problematic because it’s more difficult for them to get funding and support, Friedrich said.
She said female filmmakers do not consciously set out to make feminist films, but it’s unavoidable. Friedrich just finished a documentary about coffee. She said she didn’t want to make the film with a feminist viewpoint, but the theme runs through everything she does.
“We carry our gender, ethnicity and class with us 24-7,” she said.
Culpeper Star
‘Autism’ as a human experience: Producer with local roots triumphs at film festival
Nov. 9, 2007
Allison Brophy Champion
Like the disorder for which it is named, AUTISM: the Musical is an up and down experience. Richly humourous and relatable, it is exhausting and emotional at the same time.
The brainchild of financier turned producer Perrin Chiles, who grew up in Culpeper, AUTISM follows five autistic children from California through six months of play practice, culminating with a final extraordinary show.
Its big screen presence last week at the Virginia Film Festival was one of its final showings before HBO begins airing the movie next spring.
The Weekly Standard
Talk About Movies: Watching and listening at the Virginia Film Festival
Nov. 26, 2007
Sonny Bunch
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Virginia Film Festival pulled off its usual trick of mixing classics and new releases to create a film going experience at which any cinephile can find something to enjoy.
An impressive array of filmmakers make the trek to engage with audiences both old and new. Tamara Jenkins, writer/ director of this year’s Oscar-buzzy The Savages was on hand to present her picture. Stewart Stern, the screenwriter behind Rebel Without a Cause, was also on hand to conduct a shot-by-shot workshop on that 1955 classic.
The News-Gazette, Lexington
Families, ‘Normal’ And Otherwise: Virginia Film Festival Once Again Tackles Serious Issues
Jan. 18, 2008
Claudia Schwab
The shot-by-shot workshop I could fit in featured 85-year-old Stewart Stern, screenwriter for the 1955 classic “Rebel Without a Cause” starring James Dean. Because his comments were so illuminating and audience questions so abundant,we only made it through a small percentage of the film but listening to a living legend like Stern was worth it.
