This year’s Virginia Film Festival, set for November 4-7, will not have a theme. New director Jody Kielbasa started with the festival five months before last year’s opening night, when the "Funny Business" had already been decided, and it’d been rumored that he wanted to do away with themed programming since he came in. Kielbasa says the new open format "allows us to look at film through a contemporary lens, and continually engage our audiences in contemporary issues and topics."
Last year was a strong first year for Kielbasa. According to the folks over at the fest, they brought out 19,000 film lovers, and ticket sales topped $71,000, an 87 percent increase over 2008. Some highlights included seeing Alan Ball give live "True Blood" commentary, Matthew Broderick talking to college students about what it’s like to be Ferris Bueller, and free crab dip and Heineken at the gala in the JPJ lobby.
The Virginia Film Society (the festival’s year-round programming) has also been working hard to ramp up their off-season presence in the community, with their Academy-sanctioned Oscar Night America celebration earlier this month, and regular screenings at the Paramount. Updates to come.
An interview with Kielbasa before last year’s fest.
