Newswise — This October, in Charlottesville, Virginia, a posse will attempt to lynch a cattle thief, and a man of principle and reason will risk being beheaded by a religious court. Indeed, we predict a challenging weekend for judges, juries and other legal institutions ... and proudly announce the theme of the eighteenth annual Virginia Film Festival: IN/JUSTICE.
Hosted by the University of Virginia, the Virginia Film Festival will take place October 27-30, 2005, at venues throughout Charlottesville. Over 70 films will be screened and more than 80 guest artists and speakers are expected to participate. The Festival brings major talents to Charlottesville each year, such as last year's featured guests Sandra Bullock and Paul Schrader.
The Festival will bring back, for the second year, the highly successful ADRENALINE FILM PROJECT, comprised of 36 student and community filmmakers in a three-day filmmaking blitz. The Festival will also feature over a dozen new feature film PREMIERE SELECTIONS, screening in advance of their national release. And, as always, filmgoers can expect an extensive catalog of thematically appropriate art exhibits, musical performances, and gala parties.
The classic film selections of IN/JUSTICE will demonstrate how films both promote the rule of law and challenge its flawed practice-- -from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance through The Thin Blue Line. According to Festival director Richard Herskowitz, "We plan to showcase films that expose the tension between legal justice and human injustice. We'll highlight cinema's ability to achieve justice when the legal process falters, through the public airing of larger contexts and truths."
Films will cover the judicial landscape, from courtrooms (i.e., Inherit the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Man for All Seasons, and Arthur Miller's The Crucible) to court martials (Paths of Glory), from the frontier (The Ox Bow Incident) into the streets (Dirty Harry). TV's treatment of justice, from the original Twelve Angry Men teleplay through Law and Order and Court TV, will also be explored. Herskowitz says that films about social justice, capital punishment, and wrongfully accused heroes (a Hitchcockian staple) are also being considered for IN/JUSTICE's final program, which will be announced in mid-September 2005, barring scheduling conflicts such as jury duty or an inquisition.
For more information and for year-round announcements about the Virginia Film Festival and Virginia Film Society, visit the website at http://www.vafilm.com.
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