Virginia Film Festival

Age of Bryce

*Screens as part of the WE CAN RELATE TO THAT Short Film Package* Smothered by an…

Aggie

Art collector and American Philanthropist Agnes “Aggie” Gund has received international recognition for her dedication to…

Aleksi

After returning home from college to live with her parents, 28-year-old Aleksi struggles to fight off…

Alice

Charlottesville filmmaker Eduardo Montes-Bradley sits down with composer, conductor, and teacher of choral music, Alice Parker,…

Alienated

*Screens as part of the OUT OF THIS WORLD Short Film Package* An animated film about…

All In: The Fight for Democracy

In 2018, Stacey Abrams became the first Black woman to run for governor in a major…

Allan Ellen

*Screens as part of the OUT OF THIS WORLD Short Film Package* Allan and Ellen are…

Anna

*Screens as part of the WE CAN RELATE TO THAT Short Film Package* Living in Eastern…

Army of Lovers in the Holy Land

Army of Lovers in the Holy Land begins thirty years after launching the queer disco-pop band Army…

The Beekeeper

*This short film screens before FREELAND* A beekeeper on the island of Anglesey faces losing her…

Before

*Screens as part of the OUT OF THIS WORLD Short Film Package* BEFORE follows a group…

Bird’s Eye

*Screens as part of the WE CAN RELATE TO THAT Short Film Package* When the perfect…

Bori

Bori, an 11-year-old girl who lives in a sea village, is the only hearing family member.…

Boys State

Every summer, a thousand Texas high school senior boys gather for a week-long program for an…

Buck

*This short film screens before PVT CHAT* Caught in the throes of a depressive fugue, young…

But I Wanted to be a Cowboy

*Screens as part of the VIRGINIA STUDENT SHORTS BLOCK Film Package* A teenaged kid dreams of being…

Call Center Blues

*This short film screens before HAMTRAMCK, USA* A character-driven, cinematic tale of deportation, migration, displacement and…

Classified

*Screens as part of the OUT OF THIS WORLD Short Film Package* Will Gibbons is hired…

Coded Bias

Director Shalini Kantayya explores two major questions at the forefront of modern society: What does it…

Dinner in America

This off-the-wall, daring comedy follows an unconventional couple, Simon and Patty, as they embark on a…

Eeb Allay Ooo!

This first feature film from Indian director Prateek Vats follows the absurd, and at times outright…

Electric Jesus

In this wistful coming-of-age music-comedy Erik’s dreams come true when he's asked to run sound for…

The Evening Hour

Cole Freeman maintains an uneasy equilibrium in his declining Appalachian mining town, working as a health…

Filmfarsi

“Filmfarsi”, a term jokingly coined by critics referring to the rowdy and melodramatic genre films made…

The First and Last King of Haiti

*This short film screens before THERE IS NO EVIL* In 1807, the country of Haiti was split into…

The First.

*Screens as part of the VIRGINIA STUDENT SHORTS BLOCK Film Package* Abrar, a young Muslim American woman…

Fish & Men

With over 90% of American seafood imported from other countries, most consumers are blissfully ignorant of…

Freeland

Devi is a fiercely independent woman in her 60’s whose toughness, ingenuity, and boundless energy have…

Gather

An indigenous chef embarks on an ambitious project to reclaim ancient foodways on the Apache reservation.…

The Giverny Document (Single Channel)

Through audacious formal experimentation, filmmaker and artist Ja’Tovia Gary unleashes an arsenal of techniques and materials,…

God $ Green: An Unholy Alliance

*This short film screens before FISH & MEN* God $ Green: An Unholy Alliance uncovers decades of religious…

Good Ol Girl

GOOD OL GIRL follows three young Texas cowgirls tasked with carrying on their families’ legacies amidst…

GraceLand

*This short film screens before ELECTRIC JESUS* Anna Camp stars as a southern mom whose life…

Hamtramck, USA

Hamtramck, Michigan is a city built by immigrants. Once a town that was 90% Polish, Hamtramck…

HBCU Storytellers: Confederate Monuments – Heritage or Hatred?

*This short film screens before THE REUNITED STATES* HBCU students explore the question of Confederate monuments…

Heard

To many Americans, issues regarding public housing and urban poverty often remain out of sight and…

Identity Crisis

*Screens as part of the OUT OF THIS WORLD Short Film Package* A cyborg named Scott…

Inhale

*Screens as part of the WE CAN RELATE TO THAT Short Film Package* INHALE documents the…

Jamaica y Tamarindo

The jamaica flower and tamarind are iconic ingredients in Mexico, but their history comes from a…

January 13th, Richmond Va

*Screens as part of the VIRGINIA STUDENT SHORTS BLOCK Film Package* *This short film also screens before FEELS…

The Judge – Character, Cases, Courage

After presiding over several historically significant cases during his nearly 31 years of service on the…

Jumbo

Jeanne is a shy young woman who works the graveyard shift as a janitor at an…

The Killing of Two Lovers

After agreeing to separate from his wife Nikki, David frantically tries to keep his family of…

The Koi And The Frog

*Screens as part of the VIRGINIA STUDENT SHORTS BLOCK Film Package* A friendly rivalry between a Koi…

Lago Gatún

Lago Gatún (2021) is a journey traveling south to north through the Panama Canal. Introduction by…

Lapsis

In a parallel present, delivery man Ray Tincelli struggles to support himself and his ailing younger…

The Last Out

Three young Cuban baseball players, Happy, Carlos, and Victor have spent the past year training long…

The Legacy Sessions

*Screens as part of the FOUR LONG-ISH Short Film Package* Darby, a loner high school student…

Lifeline

Mark Rothko acknowledged him as a “myth-maker.” Clement Greenberg called him “a highly influential maverick and…

Light House Studio Shorts Package

Once again this year, the VAFF is proud to showcase the work of the students at…

Lipstick and Leather

*Screens as part of the FOUR LONG-ISH Short Film Package* In a buttoned-up city like DC,…

Lolo Boy

*Screens as part of the VIRGINIA STUDENT SHORTS BLOCK Film Package* This story follows the life of…

Lucky Chan-Sil

Chan-Sil, a film producer, finds herself abruptly unemployed after the film director's sudden death she's spent…

Maradona’s Legs

*This short film screens before THE LAST OUT* During the 1990 World Cup, two young Palestinian…

Memoirs

*Screens as part of the OUT OF THIS WORLD Short Film Package* When a couple plays…

Meow, Meredith

*Screens as part of the WE CAN RELATE TO THAT Short Film Package* MEOW, MEREDITH is…

Moneybag Head

*This short film screens before JUMBO* Dennis, a lonely sad sack with an unfortunate cranial deformity,…

Monsoon

At just eight years old, Kit and his family were forced to flee Saigon during the…

My Brother’s Keeper

*Screens as part of the FOUR LONG-ISH Short Film Package* A former Guantánamo detainee and his…

Myopia

*Screens as part of the VIRGINIA STUDENT SHORTS BLOCK Film Package* This film employs the act of…

Nasir

In the town Tamil Nadu exists Coimbatore, a small Muslim community lives alongside the Hindu population.…

Negra

At the age of seven, Filmmaker Medhin Tewolde Serrano recounts her first experience of being called…

Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story

After three decades as the colorful bandleader of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, legendary trumpet…

New Order

A lavish wedding between the indecently wealthy is thrust into turmoil when an uprising of class…

Night of the Kings

Following a pickpocketing charge, authorities send a young man to the Maca correctional facility in the…

The Offensive

Why are so many civilians angry?The Offensive looks for answers in the stories of the people…

One of These Days

In a small southern town, twenty people compete to win a brand new pickup truck, a…

Onward Adeline

*Screens as part of the WE CAN RELATE TO THAT Short Film Package* A young woman…

The Outside Story

Perceiving a betrayal of trust as a sign his girlfriend Isha is leaving him, Charles Young,…

Overland

How can we connect to our natural, primal spirit when modern society threatens to erase it?…

The Passengers

As Ethiopian Jews, Demoz and Gezi are members of a community of 9,000 individuals who speak…

The Passing On

Three professions ushered Black former slaves from poverty to the American dream: preacher, teacher, and undertaker.…

Pastalight

*Screens as part of the WE CAN RELATE TO THAT Short Film Package* An eccentric Italian…

Piccolino: An Adventure In The City

*Screens as part of the WE CAN RELATE TO THAT Short Film Package* Piccolino is a…

Pier Kids

Pier Kids documents three homeless queer black youth over five years as they navigate the streets,…

Progeny

*Screens as part of the OUT OF THIS WORLD Short Film Package* This is a world…

PVT Chat

While living in New York City, lonely internet gambler Jack becomes slowly fixated on Scarlet -…

The Quarantine Experience

*Screens as part of the VIRGINIA STUDENT SHORTS BLOCK Film Package* As the stay at home order…

Reid’s Records

*This short film screens before HEARD* An interview with David Reid, current owner and inheritor of…

The Reunited States

As the 2020 election approaches, political divisions in the United States are at a near all-time…