The 2019 Virginia Film Festival wrapped this weekend, as festival-goers enjoyed more than 150 films and a robust selection of post-screening discussions, panels and other events.

The festival – a program of the University of Virginia and its Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts – kicked off Wednesday with early Oscar contender “Just Mercy” and concluded Sunday with the closing night film, “Two Popes,” starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as Pope Benedict and Pope Francis.

The featured guests included award-winning actor, writer and director Ethan Hawke, Emmy Award-winning actor Ann Dowd, filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu, bestselling author John Grisham, actor Dennis Christopher and many more.

Take a look at just a few of the highlights.

The festival kicked off early Wednesday as more than 500 local high school and middle school students filed into The Paramount Theater for a special screening of the HBO documentary “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality.” The documentary tracks lawyer and Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson’s work helping those forgotten or wrongfully condemned by the justice system.

Later that night, hundreds more gathered for “Just Mercy,” a feature film about Stevenson’s work that is already garnering Oscar buzz.

Photo by Tom Daly

Film festival director and UVA Vice Provost for the Arts Jody Kielbasa welcomed the students Wednesday afternoon. Kielbasa, speaking again later Wednesday, called this year’s lineup, including more than 150 films, “the very best in cinema from this year’s festival circuit.”

Photo by Eze Amos

UVA President Jim Ryan introduced “Just Mercy,” which stars Michael B. Jordan as Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian, a Monroeville, Alabama, man wrongfully condemned to death row. Ryan – who graduated from UVA’s School of Law and served on its faculty for 15 years – called Stevenson one of his heroes.

Photo by John Robinson

Big crowds were on hand all weekend, and there was plenty of opportunity for smaller discussion groups as well, as filmmakers sat down with panelists and UVA faculty members to share the inspiration behind their work.

Photo by John Robinson

Guest artists included Wanuri Kahiu, shown here at left, an award-winning filmmaker who flew in from Kenya to present her film, “Rafiki,” on Saturday. Kahiu is a leader in the “Afrobubblegum movement,” a genre expanding on-screen depictions of Africa and opposing stereotypes of the continent.

Photo by Jack Looney

Ethan Hawke took the stage Saturday at The Paramount Theater for a conversation about his career following a screening of “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” joined by Elizabeth Flock of “PBS NewsHour.”

Photo by Jack Looney

Hawke also joined UVA students for a smaller Q&A session. The Virginia Film Festival’s Festival Scholars Program, now in its second year, offers a six-day immersive experience for students, including meetings with guest artists like Hawke.

Photo by Jack Looney

UVA Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato was one of many UVA faculty members who participated in post-screening discussions, appearing here with Emmy Award-winning actor Ann Dowd of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Dowd narrated “Dismantling Democracy,” a documentary co-produced by the Center for Politics about challenges facing democracies around the world over the past two decades.

Photo by Jack Looney

Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall was bustling all weekend long, as early Halloween festivities merged with festival fun.

Photo by Tom Daly

Geeta Patel, a professor in UVA’s Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures, joined director Shelly Chopra Dhar, right, after “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha toh Aisa Laga (How I Felt When I Saw That Girl).” The Hindi-language film was part of the Middle Eastern and South Asian Film series, supported by the department and the UVA Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures.
Photo by Ashley Twiggs

Author John Grisham, a Central Virginia resident, was on hand as well, taking the stage after a screening of “The Client,” based on his bestselling novel. The screening marked the film’s 25^th anniversary this year.

Photo by Jack Looney

Even the Rotunda got in on the action, as guests gathered at the University’s historic centerpiece Friday.

Caroline Newman
Associate Editor
Office of University Communications
Original Publication: UVA Today