Issue 18-44 | OCtObeR 29 - nOvembeR 4, 2009 1
“The reason why this film reso- Two nights later at U.Va.’s Cul-
nates with me and why it’s so im- breth Theatre, the festival will screen
F
portant is it creates a journey,” “Locked Out: The Fall of Massive Re-
Kielbasa says. “Fifty years after [Afri-
sistance,” a documentary about that
e
can-American] students were locked
lockout and its after-affects, narrated a
out [of Virginia schools], we’re open-
by students who endured it. A num-
ing the Virginia Film Festival with a
ber of those students will be on hand
t
film that talks about the election of
to discuss the film, along with Virgin-
the first African-American president.
u
ia’s first African-American governor,
I’m excited about this film because I
Doug Wilder (1990-1994), and U.Va.
r
think it’s a love letter to the Univer-
Professor of Politics and popular talk-
sity. The great thing is that it shows
ing head, Larry Sabato. e
a bunch of young people getting
involved and very excited about the Centerpiece Screening
political process. The students come Kielbasa feels it’s “really important
off as essentially rock stars—they’re that people of this community be ex-
“Pixar Shorts”
frank, they’re passionate, they’re en- posed to new works they may not be
ergetic, and they’re committed.” able to see elsewhere,” and to that
learned this year, happily, is that we
have an incredibly large number of re-
ally excellent films that were shot in
“Pulp
Virginia by Virginia filmmakers that
stand on their own, and that I would
Fiction”
program anywhere in the country.”
Kielbasa also wants to alter the ra-
tio of classic to contemporary films.
“In the past, it seems there’s been at
least a 50-50 or perhaps a 60-40 slant
of classic and archival films, and you’re
going to start to see that shift this
year, and perhaps more in the future.
When we do examine classic films,
my hope would be to not only take a
look at them in a historical context,
but also widen them for today, look
at them through a contemporary lens
that makes them relevant to our com-
munity right now.”
eet
H
Although the “Funny Business”
ts
theme was chosen by the festival
board before Kielbasa took over
from previous director Richard Her-
skowitz, he calls himself fortunate
to inherit it. “When I sat down to re-
ally look at this theme I started with
“His Girl
eekendHo
comedy,” Kielbasa says. “But the
more I thought about it, the more I
Friday”
rew
realized there is an awful lot of funny
business surrounding us in so many
aspects of our lives today. You’ve got
the funny business of business, the
funny business of politics…there is
aar.com/
funny business everywhere we turn.”
.c
Fanfare for a Film Festival
It might sound funny to open a
film festival with a fanfare by a march-
www
ing band, but it’s fitting that U.Va’s
|
Cavalier Marching Band will ser-
enade patrons at the opening night
gala Thursday, November 5. That’s
because, as a self-professed politi-
cal junkie, Kielbasa is opening the
te Weekly
festival earlier that evening with the
A
U.S. premiere of “Marching Band,” a e
st
documentary by French filmmaker
l
A
Claude Miller that examines last
year’s presidential election through
the eyes of the U.Va. and Virginia
State University bands.
CAAR Re
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