Virginia Film Festival

The Eagle Huntress

Set against the breathtaking expanse of the Mongolian steppe, this documentary follows 13-year-old Aisholpan as she…

Bugs

Since the United Nations recommended edible insects as a resource to combat world hunger, insects as…

A Late Style of Fire: Larry Levis, American Poet

Larry Levis, one of the most influential and decorated poets of his time, suffered a fatal…

Unlocking the Cage

After 30 years of struggling with ineffective animal welfare laws, animal rights lawyer Steven Wise is…

After Coal

Preceded by the short film Through (5 min.) What happens after fossil fuels run out? After…

The Promise

North American Premiere Marking the first American trial to be televised nationwide, the murder convictions of…

Eva Hesse

Eva Hesse, one of America’s foremost post-war artists, pioneered the formation of sculptures using latex, fiberglass,…

Exile

A film about abandonment, Exile is an abstract telling of director Rithy Panh’s (The Missing Picture)…

Farewell Ferris Wheel

Over the past two centuries, the carnival has become a central component of American culture. Each…

Fire at Sea

Each year hundreds of thousands of African immigrants journey to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa in…

Good Work: Masters of the Building Arts

Directors Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner reunite for the first time since winning the Academy Award…

Land of Mine

As World War II comes to an end, a group of young German POWs in Denmark…

Landfill Harmonic

Built in the shadow of a massive landfill, the Paraguayan community of Cateura survives by selling…

Liberty & Slavery: The Paradox of America’s Founding Fathers

This documentary explores the ultimate paradox of Revolutionary America: slavery. Delving into the hypocrisies of the…

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise

The first feature-length documentary focusing on Maya Angelou, this film peers into her many lives as…

Memories from Gehenna

J.D. loads his rifle and drives through Grande-Synthe, France, in search of people with an immigrant…

Mifune: The Last Samurai

Toshiro Mifune was the most prominent actor of Japan’s Golden Age of Cinema in the 1950s…

NOT The Last Butterfly

The Butterfly Project is a grassroots arts and education initiative that memorializes the 1.5 million children…

Putuparri and the Rainmakers

This powerful documentary explores the complex indigenous and colonial history of Australia through the story of…

Restoring Tomorrow

Throughout history, religious institutions have formed the bedrock of American communities, but today they are losing…

SEED: The Untold Story

Preceded by the short film Home is Where the Farm is (5 min.) Few things on…

She Started It

This documentary offers the first ever behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to run a tech…

Shepherds and Butchers

Nineteen-year-old Leon, a white prison guard in late 1980s South Africa, recklessly opens fire on a…

The Anthropologist

Katie, a thirteen-year-old girl from Fairfax, Virginia, is carted around the globe by her mother, noted…

The Messengers

This documentary reveals the untold stories of the thousands of migrants who were unsuccessful in making…

Tower

On August 1, 1966, a sniper rode the elevator to the top floor of the iconic…

Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker

Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker reveals the instrumental role that Ella Baker, a friend and…

Loving

Loving celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel…

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

A grown man, barely able to walk or talk, appears suddenly in the town square of…

Anywhere But Here + Seeking Asylum

These two documentaries by local filmmakers explore race and inequality on both the local and global…

Lydia Moyer: Experimental Short Films

The personal and the political are interwoven with the magical and the traumatic in this program…