Virginia Film Festival and Virginia Festival of the Book to Welcome Actor, Writer, Director, and Producer Emilio Estevez for Screening of His Film, ‘The Public’

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – February 12, 2019 – The Virginia Film Festival and the Virginia Festival of the Book will welcome actor, writer, director, and producer Emilio Estevez for a screening of his film The Public on Friday, March 22 at 7:00 PM at The Paramount Theater, as part of the 25th anniversary Virginia Festival of the Book, taking pace March 20-24.

As an unusually bitter Arctic blast makes its way to downtown Cincinnati, a group of homeless library patrons find themselves at odds with library officials over how to handle the extreme weather event. Led by Jackson (Michael K. Williams), the patrons decide to turn the building into a shelter for the night by staging a sit in, and librarians Stuart (Emilio Estevez) and Myra (Jena Malone) are thrown into the middle of the action.  What begins as an act of civil disobedience quickly becomes a standoff with police while the media look to sensationalize the truth. This uplifting story explores issues of homelessness and mental illness in America and sets the drama inside one of the last bastions of democracy-in-action: the public library. Emilio Estevez wrote, directed, produced, and stars in The Public alongside an all-star cast featuring Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Christian Slater, Jeffrey Wright, Taylor Schilling, Michael K. Williams, and Gabrielle Union.

Following the screening, Estevez, will be joined for a conversation with Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Director David Plunkett and local homeless and mental health advocates. The conversation will be moderated by The Washington Post chief film critic Ann Hornaday. Ann will also participate in a book signing in The Paramount Theater’s lobby after the screening. Her book, Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies, will be available for purchase on site before the film.

Tickets for this special screening are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors, and will go on sale at noon on Friday, February 15. Tickets can be purchased online at VaBook.org or theparamount.net, by phone at 434-979-1333, or in person at The Paramount Theater Box Office on the Downtown Mall at 215 East Main Street.

“We are very excited about partnering with the Virginia Festival of the Book to bring Emilio Estevez and this film to Charlottesville,” said Jody Kielbasa, director of the Virginia Film Festival and vice provost for the arts at The University of Virginia. “This is a great opportunity for both of our organizations to come together around a film with an important message that resonates here in our own community, as well as in communities across the country.”

“It’s always a pleasure for us to partner with the Virginia Film Festival, and we’re also celebrating our 25th year of partnering with the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library. The public library plays a vital role in the heart of a community, and we look forward to discussions raised by The Public,” adds Jane Kulow, director of the Virginia Festival of the Book.

Emilio Estevez has established himself not only as an accomplished actor, but also as a talented writer, director, and producer. In 2006, he wrote, directed, and co-starred in the Golden Globe and SAG-nominated Bobby, which revisits the night Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel and is set against the backdrop of the cultural issues gripping the country at the time. He made his acting debut in Tim Hunter’s Tex and appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s ensemble drama The Outsiders, both based on S.E. Hinton novels. Estevez’s performance as a quintessential high-school jock in John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club won him widespread attention and acclaim. Later that same year, he went on to appear in St. Elmo’s Fire before starring in That Was Then, This Is Now, for which he also wrote the screenplay. In 1996, Estevez directed Martin Sheen for the first time in the Vietnam drama The War at Home which Emilio also starred in and produced. Other film credits include, Repo Man, Mission: Impossible, and the Stakeout, Young Guns, and Mighty Ducks franchise movies.  

Ann Hornaday grew up in Des Moines and graduated cum laude with a degree in government from Smith College. After working at Ms. magazine as a researcher and editorial assistant, she became a freelance writer in New York City, where she eventually began to write about movies for the New York Times Arts & Leisure section and other publications. In 1995 she became the movie critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas, where she stayed for two years before moving to Baltimore to be the movie critic at The Baltimore Sun. She left the Sun in 2000 and began working at The Washington Post in 2002. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism in 2008. Hornaday is the author of Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies.

A signature program of Virginia Humanities and the Virginia Center for the Book, the Virginia Festival of the Book brings readers and writers together for a five-day program of mostly free events including author readings, book signings, panel discussions, programs for children, and more. The 25th annual Book Festival will be held March 20-24, 2019 in venues across Charlottesville and Albemarle County. The Festival consistently attracts audiences of more than 20,000 from more than forty states each year, with an estimated local economic impact of about $4 million annually. To learn more, visit VaBook.org.

The Virginia Film Festival is a program of the University of Virginia, with support from the Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts. VAFF will celebrate its 32nd year this fall with dates and details coming soon. For more information, visit virginiafilmfestival.org.

The screening of The Public is generously supported by Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, The Paramount Theater, and UVA Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts.

The Public will be released in theaters on April 5 ( www.ThePublicFilm.com and www.facebook.com/ThePublicFilm).