35th annual Virginia Film Festival announces 2022 film program

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Virginia Film Festival Tuesday announced its film program for 2022. It features more than 130 films.

The festival will kick off this year with ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,’ and will finish with ‘Empire of Light.’ Guests during the festival include stars like Jonathon Majors, Chrissy Metz, Judith Ivey, and director Sam Pollard.

“We bring in a lot of tremendous, special artists that join us for the festival. Every year, we premiere some of the top films that are coming out during the fall festival season that are considered for Golden Globes and Academy Awards,” Virginia Film Festival Director Jody Kielbasa said.

The festival hopes to get people back to theaters after a decline during the height of the pandemic.

“There’s nothing like that shared communal experience of watching a film in a theater. You laugh, you cry, you get that energy from people in the seats next to you and then everybody spills out on the Downtown Mall, and they want to talk about that incredible film that they’ve just seen,” Kielbasa said.

The festival says it has something for everyone, no matter your taste.

“We have wildly entertaining films. We have incredible and insightful documentary films. We have films that deal with topics and subjects that are important here within Charlottesville and, of course, the festival opens a window on so many different cultures around the world,” Kielbasa said.

The festival runs from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6. Movies will be screened at multiple theaters across downtown Charlottesville.

The link to the full program and where to buy tickets is here. Tickets go on sale Oct. 18.

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