When fur flies

Described as a gross-out comedy, Sasquatch Sunset follows a family of Bigfoots for a year, documenting their wild behavior including poop flinging and a psychedelic trip that results from eating wild berries. Behind the furry costumes and makeup lurk accomplished actors including Riley Keogh and Jesse Eisenberg, in performances that tell a story that turns […]

Keeping it short

Three days of screenings, competitions, and talks take place across Charlottesville as filmmakers from around the globe present their work at the Indie Short Film Festival. The fest grew out of the Indie Short Film Series, established locally by writer, director, and event marketing guru Ty Cooper in 2019. After touring to other markets, Cooper […]

Secret garden

When it comes to Impressionist painting, gardens are a hot subject, and Claude Monet is widely regarded as one of the movements’ premier painters. The film Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse showcases an extensive exhibition from London’s Royal Academy of Art that is centered around the beauty of the garden expressed by Impressionist, […]

Master vs. apprentice

Longtime Albemarle County resident Jack Fisk ranks among movie-making’s greatest production designers. His current Academy Award nomination for Best Production Design for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is well-deserved. Another frontrunner in the category, Ruth De Jong, is nominated for her work on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. De Jong’s cinematic path to designing acclaimed […]

Jump shots

Seeing is sometimes unbelievable at the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour short film screenings. Take to the mountains, the sea, and uncharted terrain as you ride along with the outdoor action, defying gravity from your seat while enjoying soaring moves and dizzying views. The event benefits the Shenandoah National Park Trust. $25, times […]

Pick: Women in Film

The Indie Short Film Series returns with the Women in Film edition, bringing a new slate of stellar flicks to the big screen. This installment features up to seven domestic and international shorts, written or directed by women from a variety of genres. Stick around after the credits for a panel discussion with the filmmakers […]

Pick: Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Celebrate the beauty and wonder of the natural world at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. With Representation Matters as a theme, this year’s lineup features films that spotlight underrepresented voices in the environmental and wilderness communities. Learn about the importance of the ancestral lands surrounding the general Nch’i-Wàna area from the short film Land […]

PICK: Like Water For Chocolate

Hot chocolate: Food nourishes the magical realism in the 1992 international sensation Like Water For Chocolate. When Tita is forbidden from marrying her true love Pedro due to her place in the family lineage, he marries her older sister. Tita becomes a cook, and channels her undying passion for her brother-in-law into meals with special […]

Great loss

Capturing mental degeneration on screen is no easy task. Last year’s Relic did an excellent job of depicting the crushing effects of dementia on a family but, like so many films, it shied away from the interior life of the person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The Father takes a much closer look at both the […]

High tension cinema: What to stream while you wait it out

The spread of COVID-19 across the globe has left no part of our lives untouched, not the least of which is our viewing habits. Streaming services have gone from content delivery platforms to public services as we discover that self-quarantining can result in lots of time to finally whittle down our watchlists. Everyone’s viewing needs […]