The Virginia Film Festival has announced its 2026 Virginia Filmmaking Series for its upcoming 39th year, set for October 21-25 in Charlottesville, VA. This year’s Virginia Filmmaking lineup will include documentaries, features, and short films from across the Commonwealth, including the World Premiere of 1 15 41 Tragedy to Triumph.
What do an awkward 22-year-old kid from Queens with a nasty spider bite and a 3,000-year-old Greek war hero have in common?They’re slaying it at the international movie box office this summer.
Come learn about curricular, extra-curricular, programmatic, and volunteer opportunities from the Visual & Performing Arts & Architecture departments, programs, and community.
A trio of the area’s leading arts organizations, including The Paramount Theater, The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA, and the Virginia Theatre Festival, are joining forces to celebrate the life, work, and legacy of the iconic artist Frida Kahlo with a series of phenomenal presentations and events.
Kicking off Friday, the Indie Short Film Festival is back in full-swing for its third year in Charlottesville, cementing the Indie Short Film Festival as a Charlottesville staple. The festival will run from Friday through Sunday with showings of around 130 short films in venues along the Downtown Mall, as well as panels, a cinematography workshop and a launch party for the festival featuring live musical performances.
In the Oscar-nominated movie “One Battle After Another,” Bob, a former left-wing militant played by Leonardo DiCaprio, has retreated to an isolated cabin in the woods with his teenage daughter, Willa, played by Chase Infiniti. When Bob questions Willa about the genders of some friends she plans to attend a dance with, she storms off to her bedroom, shouting, “It’s not that hard!” Chris Cortner, a University of Virginia alumnus and set designer, helped build that bedroom. His work, along with that of production designer Florencia Martin and set decorator Anthony Carlino, is now nominated for an Academy Award for best production design.
Karen Zipor knew she would eventually end up in Hollywood, but her career has still come as something of a surprise. “If 21-year-old Karen knew what was coming, she would not believe it,” said Zipor, who graduated from the University of Virginia in 2022 with degrees in drama and computer science. Since graduating, Zipor has worked on productions for Disney, DreamWorks, and Netflix, among other studios. She’s produced the talk show “Brittany Broski’s Royal Court,” which has featured guests like singer Harry Styles, comedian and “Saturday Night Live” star Marcello Hernandez, and Oscar-winning actor Jessie Buckley. She even started her own production company and has made both live and animated short films.
On Friday, March 6 through Sunday, March 8, the Shenandoah National Park Trust will host the 11th annual Banff Mountain Film Festival at the Paramount Theater in downtown Charlottesville. For Arts this week, we spoke with Molly Strauchler. My name is Molly Strauchler. I’m the events and volunteer manager at Shenandoah National Park Trust, the official philanthropic partner of Shenandoah National Park, and we host the Banff film festival every year at the Paramount the Banff Film Festival is our largest annual fundraiser, and it is an epic cinematic experience over the course of three days. Each screening shows completely different films every night, and they’re all jam packed full of mountain culture and mountain adventure.
You’re listening to WTJU Charlottesville. For Arts This Week, we spoke with Viviane Silvera about her upcoming film See Memory. See Memory is premiering at the Violet Crown on the Downtown Mall this Wednesday, February 25 at 7pm as part of the Fralin Downtown Film Series.
Local cinephiles know that every October, Charlottesville’s Virginia Film Festival offers five days of riveting cinematic programming, from exclusive looks at upcoming releases to throwback screenings. However, they may be unaware that VAFF’s program continues well past its annual main event. From January to August, VAFF’s Year Round program showcases films that are not a part of the festival’s official lineup, but still offer valuable artistic and social contributions. Summer releases, documentaries and foreign films are presented — each only once in the evening — throughout the eight months in the Violet Crown theater on the Downtown Mall. Free previews of A24’s newest films are also screened, with “Materialists,” “Eddington” and “The Legend of Ochi” exciting crowds in 2025.
For once, diminutive pop star Sabrina Carpenter might be the tallest person in the room. On Wednesday, the Grammy-winning singer will host the 50th anniversary special of “The Muppet Show” on Disney+. For viewers unfamiliar with the Muppets, it might seem odd to pair a notoriously raunchy celebrity on a show with puppets. But one Muppet expert says it’s actually a great fit.
Matt Marshall is a film lecturer, screenwriter, composer, and accompanist. He teaches Cinema as Art and Screenwriting at the University of Virginia and Film Appreciation for Piedmont Virginia Community College’s Prison Education Program. He has been composing and performing live music to classic silent films for over 20 years with the Virginia Film Festival and other venues throughout the Commonwealth.
