Community Corner
Middleburg Film Festival Kicks Off Its First Year This Weekend
Watch trailers for films being screened this weekend at first Middleburg Film Festival kicking off this weekend.
By Cinema Siren aka Leslie Combemale
Just a short drive from the Northern Virginia metro area this weekend you'll find a major cultural event — the Middleburg Film Festival — kicking off its first year. Organizers plan to celebrate the best in independent films.
In the next four days, they are proving themselves to be a significant force to be reckoned with in the film fest circuit, with exclusive advance showings of Oscar contenders including:
- Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (starring Idris Elba) as its centerpiece film
- Philomena (starring Judi Dench)
- August: Osage County (starring Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep)
- Lee Daniel's The Butler (starring Forest Whittaker)
- and its opening film, Nebraska, (which won its star Bruce Dern the Best Actor prize at Cannes this year).
There are also movies like Le Weekend (starring Jim Broadbent), The Best Offer (starring Geoffrey Rush), and Chile's submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, Gloria. Many documentaries will be screened as well, including Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, The Armstrong Lie, The Slow Food Story, and Muscle Shoals.
Musician and film composer Mark Isham (Crash, 42, The Mechanic, October Sky, The Majestic, and many more) is receiving the festival's first Distinguished Film Composer Award and will perform Friday night.
It is an exciting new opportunity for film lovers and aficionados in the Washington area to be "in the know" about movies before the general public. Tickets are currently available for screenings of all these films, and for most other events, but are selling out fast.
Cinema Siren will be attending many screenings. Hope to see you there, bringing support for independent film to the Washington area!
Some of the highlights of the festival and their screening times:
- Nebraska: Showing Friday night (sold out), and 11:45 a.m. Saturday
- Philomena: Showing 4:45 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday
- August: Osage County: Showing 7 p.m. Friday and 4:30 p.m. Saturday
- Lee Daniels' The Butler: Showing at 1:15 p.m. Sunday with a director's Q&A
- Le Weekend: 6 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday
- A master class with film composer George Clinton (Austin Powers score) 10 a.m. Saturday
- Keynote address with Ted Leonsis: 10 a.m. Saturday
- Tribute and Conversation with Bruce Dern 12 p.m. Saturday (in another location from the Saturday screening)
- Critics: What Makes A Good Film 3 p.m. Friday
- Wine tasting with producer Michael Shamberg: 12 p.m. Saturday
- An Evening with Mark Isham Barbecue at 7 p.m., concert 8:45 p.m. Friday (tickets can be purchased for the concert alone, or both)
You can purchase tickets in a number of combinations. Find all ticket information here.
A shuttle is available between locations. Click here for a map of locations.
Click here for an overview of the festival events. Click here for a schedule.
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