Virginia Film Festival Experience!

The Virginia Film Festival was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my time as a film major. The festival was so well organized and the people were amazing. It took place in Charlottesville, VA, and I was able to stay there for 3 days. In that time, I was able to attend 10 screenings and the Opening Night Gala. The films included everything from feature length narratives and documentaries to shorts blocks to undergraduate films. My favorite screening was Krystal which was directed by William H. Macy. It had such a heartfelt, yet surprisingly funny story with great acting by the entire cast. After the screening, they had a Q&A with William H. Macy (director), Nick Robinson (lead actor), and Rachel Winter (producer). It was so cool to see such famous faces and hear what the process was like throughout all stages of production. Another screening that really stuck with me was called Charlottesville: Our Streets which was a feature length documentary on the events that recently happened in Charlottesville. It included footage of the riots and protests and first hand accounts of what happened. It showed how horrible that day was and how the community was affected by it. Afterwards they had a Q&A with the filmmakers and subjects, and it was heartbreaking to watch. There was not a dry eye in the room. It was just mind blowing to have walked the streets of this town knowing the events that happened right where we were standing. I had no words.
Overall this festival experience was one for the books. I saw a ton of great films and met a lot of cool people. I also got to experience this amazing little town that I had no idea even existed until it was on the news. I would love to go back one day.

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