As the month of October looms on the horizon, that can only mean one thing for the city of Charlottesville — the Virginia Film Festival is making its return. The 38th annual iteration of one of the eastern seaboard’s most reputable festivals draws cinephiles and industry professionals alike to Charlottesville. From Oct. 22 through Oct. 26, the festival will bring together more than 100 of the year’s best films for an incredible weekend celebrating the cinematic art.
The festival operates as a program of the University, so it is intentionally designed to intertwine and promote engagement with students on Grounds. From film screenings to guest lectures and mentoring programs, VAFF is truly a singular experience in Charlottesville that promotes direct interaction with the film industry. Jody Kielbasa, Vice Provost for the Arts and the Director of the Virginia Film Festival, said it is important to cover a wide breadth of films from filmmakers around the globe and reflect the community that exists at the University.
“We try to balance the film festival,” Kielbasa said, “We look for intersections across Grounds because we're a major research institution. We look for diversity in terms of where the films are made, the stories they tell, the people that they represent. All these things are really important to us.”
On Tuesday, some of the highlights of the festival were announced to the public, with the full schedule and lineup released Thursday. With reputable guests, hotly-anticipated premieres and engaging programming opportunities, the VAFF slate is as robust as it is diverse.
Screening on Oct. 22, the Festival’s Opening Night Premiere is “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the Bruce Springsteen biopic that follows the legendary singer-songwriter’s journey through making his iconic 1982 album, “Nebraska.” Starring Jeremy Allen White in the titular role, the film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in late August, with a theatrical release date of Oct. 24. Last year’s opening night film, “Anora,” went on to win five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, so “Springsteen” looks to be a worthy successor as the festival opener.
Some of the festival’s other big titles come fresh off of premieres on the global circuit. Guillermo del Toro’s long-anticipated adaptation of “Frankenstein” will make its way to Charlottesville on Oct. 25 as a Gala Screening, starring Oscar Isaac as Dr. Victor Frankenstein and an unprecedented role for Jacob Elordi as The Creature.
Also in the Gala Screening category is Chloé Zhao’s latest feature, “Hamnet,” which depicts the story that inspired William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and recently had successful runs at both the Toronto International and Telluride Film Festivals. “Hamnet” will be shown on Oct. 26.
One of the weekend’s most unique events is an early screening of “Jay Kelly” on Oct. 24, the newest film from Academy-Award-nominee Noah Baumbach. Starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler, the story follows a Hollywood film star traveling around Europe.
The film’s score was composed by Nicholas Britell, the maestro behind films such as “Moonlight” and television series like “Succession.” Britell will be at the premiere to accept the Achievement in Film Composition Award, as well as to play the piano live and participate in a conversation with Scott Feinberg, the Hollywood Reporter executive editor of awards coverage, which will be recorded live for the “Awards Chatter LIVE” podcast. Between the film, the discussion and the opportunity to hear Britell perform live, this is one event that festival-goers should not miss.
VAFF also features the works of directors hailing from around the world through film series such as “International Oscar Contenders,” “Korean Cinema” and “Middle Eastern and South Asian Cinema.” But they pay particular attention to Virginia-based filmmakers, with a category directed entirely to artists and films that hail from the Commonwealth.
Among this year’s crop of Virginia-based films is “Andy Kaufman is Me,” directed by Charlottesville-based director Clay Tweel, and “Pep Banned,” a film about the University of Virginia Pep Band directed by Bill Reifenberger and Chris Farina. These films are being shown on Oct. 23 and Oct. 26 respectively. The documentary “Shenandoah,” directed by Jeff Boedeker and Elizabeth Crowl, will also be making its world premiere at the festival on Oct. 26, highlighting the beauty and majesty of one of the country’s greatest landmarks.
The festival’s Closing Night Film is “Rental Family,” starring Academy-Award-winning actor Brendan Fraser in the role of an American actor in Tokyo, who is hired to play certain roles in strangers' families. The film is the second feature film by Japanese director Hikari and tells a story of connection and humanity through the development of real relationships between people from different worlds. Hikari will be awarded the Breakthrough Director Award at the screening on Oct. 26, which will be followed by a discussion with her about the film.
One of the most remarkable qualities of this year’s festival is the pedigree of storytellers whose films will screen in October. With new projects from Park Chan-wook, Joachim Trier, Richard Linklater and countless others — “No Other Choice” on Oct. 23, “Sentimental Value” on Oct. 24 and “Nouvelle Vague” on Oct. 26, respectively — VAFF asserts itself as an institution of cinematic excellence on the festival circuit. Ilya Tovbis, the VAFF Artistic Director, enticed film-lovers to the festival with the stacked slate of films and guests.
“For those who appreciate gripping storytelling, larger-than-life cinema, and master filmmakers plying their craft, we have an embarrassment of riches in store,” Tovbis said.
A relatively recent addition to the VAFF programming schedule is their slate of panels, which will take place Oct. 25. Panels include a conversation on screenwriting with VAFF’s 2025 Achievement in Screenwriting Awardees Jay Duplass and Michael Strassner, a dialogue on breaking into careers in the film industry and a discussion on the role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking.
Tickets go on sale to the general public at noon Friday at virginiafilmfestival.org. Tickets to all screenings are free for University students, and the panels are free, unticketed events. As the festival gets set to begin in just under one month, Kielbasa hopes that the University community takes full advantage of the opportunities VAFF has to offer.
“The panels and the opportunities that we offer to students to network with the extraordinary Hollywood industry artists is amazing, and I hope they take advantage of it,” he said.
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