CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – September 22, 2026 – The Virginia Film Festival has announced the lineup for its upcoming 39th year, set for October 21-25, 2026 in Charlottesville, VA.
The Festival’s Opening Night Film is Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut. Julianne Moore stars as a shy woman who is unexpectedly cast in a local musical and, under the spell of its enigmatic director (Paul Giamatti), loses herself in the role.
The Centerpiece Film is The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd with writer-director-producer-actor Tim Blake Nelson appearing in person and receiving the Virtuoso Award. A teacher (Amanda Seyfried) in a maximum-security prison forms a connection with a charismatic death-row inmate (Scoot McNairy), risking everything.
The Closing Night Film is 1 15 41 Tragedy to Triumph. A documentary following the UVA football program from the tragic shootings of three of its players in 2022 through the aftermath of the tragedy, culminating in the team’s triumphant 2025 season.
Visionary Awards will be presented to Nathan Lane and Jessica Lange, both of whom will be in conversation with Turner Classic Movies primetime host Ben Mankiewicz. Nathan Lane will appear with a 30th anniversary screening of The Birdcage.
Jessica Lange will appear alongside a screening of director Jonathan Kent’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2025). She will also join The Hollywood Reporter’s Executive Editor of Awards Scott Feinberg for a live recording of the Awards Chatter podcast, and introduce a screening of her 1994 film, Blue Sky.
James Gray will be presented the Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award at a screening of Paper Tiger. After the film, he will be joined in conversation by his longtime composer Christopher Spelman. Gray will also be a guest on a live recording of IndieWire’s Screen Talk podcast hosted by IndieWire Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson and Executive Editor Ryan Lattanzio.
Producer Todd Black (The Pursuit of Happyness, Fences, The Equalizer franchise) will receive the inaugural Career Producer Honor at a special screening of The Social Reckoning, after which he will be in conversation with Aaron Sorkin. Black will also present a clip talk program centered around the upcoming film Madden, alongside director David O. Russell.
Writer-director Chuko Esiri will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting Award at the screening of Clarissa. Director Penny Lane will receive VAFF’s documentary recognition, The Chronicler Award, at a screening of The Wild Inside. Musician and composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Film Composition at Club Kid and will also present Nuisance Bear later in the festival.
Ruth De Jong, production designer of The Odyssey, will receive the Craft Award for Production Design and join a robust lineup of industry panels and educational offerings, to present the Building Worlds: The Art of Production Design Panel.
“I believe this is the strongest lineup of guest artists and films that we have had in my 18 years as director of the Virginia Film Festival,” said Jody Kielbasa, Executive Director of the Virginia Film Festival and Vice Provost for the Arts at the University of Virginia. “In what is clearly a tremendous year for film across the world, we are proud to showcase some of the most celebrated films on this year’s festival circuit.”
“Our guests this year range from storied industry icons whose body of work has informed a generation of cinema to some of the most prominent auteurs working today, alongside treasured film artisans and a bevy of new talent who auger an exciting future for the state of film for years to come” said Ilya Tovbis, Artistic Director of the Virginia Film Festival.
Gala Screenings
*With Award Presentation
14th
Dir. Ava DuVernay
Behemoth!
Dir. Tony Gilroy
Being Heumann
Dir. Siân Heder
La Bola Negra
Dirs. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
The Cashier
Dir. Andy Edmunds
*Governor Gerald L. Baliles Founder’s Award – Daphne Maxwell Reid
Club Kid
Dir. Jordan Firstman
*Outstanding Achievement in Film Composition Award – Cristóbal Tapia de Veer
Elsinore
Dir. Simon Stone
I Play Rocky
Dir. Peter Farrelly
Ink
Dir. Danny Boyle
Paper Tiger
Dir. James Gray
*Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award – James Gray
Wild Horse Nine
Dir. Martin McDonagh
Spotlight Screenings
*With Award Presentation
All of a Sudden
Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff
Dir. Nanette Burstein
Clarissa
Dirs. Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri
*Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting Award – Chuko Esiri
Everytime
Dir. Sandra Wollner
Fatherland
Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski
Josephine
Dir. Beth de Araújo
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Dirs. William Greaves and David Greaves
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
Dir. Noah Segan
Possible Love
Dir. Lee Chang-dong
Tangles
Dir. Leah Nelson
When a Witness Recants
Dir. Dawn Porter
Wild Inside
Dir. Penny Lane
*Chronicler Award – Penny Lane
World Premieres
1 15 41 Tragedy to Triumph
Dir. Greg Firth
Death Becomes Us: And Hands are with Us
Dir. Chris Farina
Giants Do Fall
Dirs. Megan Ponder and Stiv Wilson
Love, Your Birth Mom
Dir. Din Blankenship
No More Punk Time: The Last Days of Crayola House
Dir. Tarik Begic
One of a Kind
Dir. James Burns, Lee Adams, and Noah Gray
Our Community. Our Canvas.
Dir. Pam Hervey
A Price We Have to Pay
Dir. Ricardo Preve
The VAFF program includes 11 official entries for Best International Feature for the Academy Awards: All of a Sudden (Japan), La Bola Negra (Spain), Coward(Belgium), The Dreamed Adventure (Bulgaria), Everytime (Germany), Fatherland (Poland), Flood (Slovakia), Nina Roza (Canada), Minotaur (France), Possible Love (South Korea), and Rose (Austria).
The full 2026 VAFF program will be available online onThursday, September 24. Tickets will go on sale at noon on Friday, October 2 at virginiafilmfestival.org.
Festival Sponsors
The Virginia Film Festival is a program of the University of Virginia.
The 2026 Virginia Film Festival is presented by The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. The 2026 Virginia Film Festival is also generously supported by the following Premiere Sponsors: AV Company, Bank of America, Harvest Moon Catering, The Hollywood Reporter, Southern Environmental Law Center, UVA Arts & the Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts, Violet Crown Cinema, and Virginia Film Office.
Press materials and images are available atvirginiafilmfestival.org/news-press.
