Now heading into its sixth year, the Middleburg Film Festival has announced a number of the films to be featured during its four-day (Oct. 18-21) stretch, including its opening and closing night selections and additional special screenings.
Kicking of the festival this year will be Roma from Academy Award-winning director Alfonso Cuaron. The film, which has been selected as Mexico’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film for this year’s Academy Awards, is loosely based off Cuaron’s own childhood as it follows a young domestic worker (played by first-time actress Yalitza Aparicio) for a family in Mexico City’s middle-class Roma neighborhood. Aparicio will also be honored with Middleburg’s 2018 Rising Star Award.
Friday and Saturday special screenings will feature films starring big name actors and actresses. The Friday Spotlight Film will be Boy Erased, starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe, directed by Joel Edgerton. Boy Erased is based on the true story of a son of a Baptist pastor who is given the ultimatum of going to gay conversion therapy or being shunned by his family and community. Edgerton and Garrand Conley, author of Boy Erased: A Memoir, will be in attendance.
Tapped to be the Centerpiece Film on Saturday is The Front Runner starring Hugh Jackman. From Jason Reitman, The Front Runner depicts Senator Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential campaign, which became derailed by reports of an extramarital relationship. Reitman and screenwriters Matt Bai and Jay Carson will take part in a Q&A following the screening.
The Closing Film will be Green Book, which recently won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Green Book, directed by Peter Farrelly, stars Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali and tells the story of Italian-American bouncer Tony Lipp, who is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley, a world-class black pianist, on a concert tour in the Jim Crow-era South, relying on “The Green Book” to know what places are welcoming to them.
In addition to Aparicio, Middleburg is honoring three other women in film this year. Receiving the Leading Actress Award is Maggie Gyllenhaal in recognition of her “courageous artistic choices and breaking down stereotypes of women,” per the festival’s announcement. To honor Gyllenhaal, there will be a special screening of her latest film, The Kindergarten Teacher, where she plays the eponymous teacher who discovers a gifted student and becomes obsessed with nurturing his talent.
Diane Warren has been named the recipient of the 2018 Impact Award for her songwriting, which has appeared in more than 100 films. Warren will give a performance of a selection of her songs. Lebanese director of Capernaum, Nadine Labaki, will be feted with the 2018 Visionary Award for her film, which was also the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
“This year’s film slate literally takes us around the world—from the rugged landscape of Iceland to streets of Beirut to 1970’s Mexico City to an isolated village in Italy,” said Sheila C. Johnson, Middleburg Film Festival founder, in the press release. “These remarkable stories entertain, inform and engage us—and most importantly help broaden our understanding of the world and one another.”
More films and events will be announced in the coming days. For information on the entire festival schedule or to purchase tickets, visit middleburgfilm.org.