Local cinephiles know that every October, Charlottesville’s Virginia Film Festival offers five days of riveting cinematic programming, from exclusive looks at upcoming releases to throwback screenings. However, they may be unaware that VAFF’s program continues well past its annual main event.
From January to August, VAFF’s Year Round program showcases films that are not a part of the festival’s official lineup, but still offer valuable artistic and social contributions. Summer releases, documentaries and foreign films are presented — each only once in the evening — throughout the eight months in the Violet Crown theater on the Downtown Mall. Free previews of A24’s newest films are also screened, with “Materialists,” “Eddington” and “The Legend of Ochi” exciting crowds in 2025.
Last year’s eight-month program featured 13 films in total across a variety of formats and genres. Charlottesville director Chris Farina’s documentary titled “A Bridge to Life” about an organization helping men dealing with life-threatening addiction issues was featured, as was Argentine surrealist film “Kill the Jockey” about a self-destructive horse racer.
VAFF Artistic Director Ilya Tovbis spoke to the importance of having a continuous program beyond the festival’s isolated week in October.
“Our mission is not to show great films and have great conversations for a five day period,” Tovbis said. “Our mission is really to use cinema … to have important discussions of the day, and to do that as much as possible, engage our community throughout the year.”
In 2026, the program began with “Magellan,” a Portuguese-language historical drama by Filipino director Lav Diaz that follows Ferdinand Magellan, the explorer who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the Earth by ocean. In February, “Immutable,” a documentary about students in the Washington Urban Debate League, will take center stage. The next films in the 2026 program have yet to be announced.
The Year Round lineup is determined by a variety of factors — a primary one being a film’s release date. The October program provides showings of films ready to be screened but awaiting their official release, meaning its selections can only be from a specific time window. Films with schedules falling outside of that interval can find the opportunity to reach moviegoers through a screening in the Year Round program.
Mainstream popularity can also affect a film’s placement, as the steep competition within VAFF’s five-day program can occasionally push large studio Oscar contenders ahead of smaller independent films such as “Immutable,” making the Year Round program an opportunity for smaller films to find their audience. In this regard, films featured outside of October may cater more directly to cinematic and narrative niches that may have been buried within the dozens of films presented in less than a week at VAFF.
Artistic niches, whether in content or style, are certainly rewarded in the Year Round program, as Tovbis said there have been many instances of moviegoers driving more than an hour to see specific films inaccessible elsewhere. For the January screening of “Magellan," he recalled a woman who drove 90 minutes into Charlottesville to see the film, as it was not on-screen at other venues.
“That always warms my heart a little bit, because we are bringing content and bringing films that would otherwise not be shown in our community,” Tovbis said.
Some of the most entertaining Year Round showings, exclusive to the program, have been paired screenings that combine new releases with older films. In 2025, Celine Song’s “Materialists” was shown a week after Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment,” released more than six decades prior in 1960, as Song said Wilder’s film served as inspiration for her romantic dramedy. Ari Aster’s “Eddington” was paired with Clint Eastwood’s 1992 film “Unforgiven,” bringing two thought-provoking Westerns together.
Tovbis said these pairings can help bridge generational gaps, especially in the case of “Materialists” and “The Apartment,” as they materialize the artistic dialogue occurring between works.
“As with art, or really any conversation, it doesn’t start and end when the movie starts and ends,” Tovbis said. “Any artist is always referring to art that’s come in generations before … And so it was a good opportunity to say, ‘Hey, we think people might still find interest in this.’”
The festival’s routine programming also grapples with sociopolitical movements, using both documentary and fiction films. While these themes are common in October’s main event, the Year Round program allows for a deeper exploration of such topics, as the more open selection window allows the curation team to assess how cultural issues are reflected or represented in their available films, and thus build a program that speaks to them in real time.
“We’re responsive to what’s out there,” Tovbis said. “We have the luxury of sitting back and saying, ‘Okay, what is current? What are people talking about?’ And that’s one of the really exciting parts for me … ongoing contemporary conversation from artists and film.”
VAFF’s Year Round program expands the artistic diversity present in their five-day showcase in October across almost eight months of cinematic programming, elevating unique stories and creating special experiences for all those who attend.
On Feb. 3, the program will continue with “Immutable” at the Violet Crown and ensuing films will be announced throughout the year. Those interested in Year Round screenings should visit the VAFF website and sign up for their email list, or simply purchase tickets for individual events.
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