Middleburg Film Festival’s Executive Director Susan Koch announced today the 29 films comprising the full slate for the 2018 Festival. The Festival, celebrating its sixth year, opens Thursday, October 18 with Academy Award-winning director and writer Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA, starring Yalitza Aparicio. As previously announced, Aparicio will participate in a conversation following the Opening Night screening and will be honored with the 2018 “Rising Star” Award for her breakthrough role.
Middleburg Film Festival 2018 Program
Opening Night
ROMA
Mexico’s submission to Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
2018, 135 minutes
Country: Mexico
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
ROMA follows Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a young domestic worker for a family in the middle-class neighborhood of Roma in Mexico City. Director Alfonso Cuarón draws on his own childhood to create a vivid and emotional portrait of domestic strife and social hierarchy amidst political turmoil of the 1970s.
Centerpiece Film
THE FRONT RUNNER
Director: Jason Reitman
2018, 113 minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
Academy Award® nominee Hugh Jackman stars as the charismatic politician Gary Hart in THE FRONT RUNNER. The film follows the rise and fall of Senator Hart, who was considered the overwhelming front runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination when his campaign was derailed by reports of an extramarital relationship.
Friday Spotlight
BOY ERASED
Director: Joel Edgerton
2018, 114 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
BOY ERASED tells the true story of Jared (Lucas Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith.
Closing Film
GREEN BOOK
Director: Peter Farrelly
2018, 130 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), a bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a world-class Black pianist, on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South. They must rely on “The Green Book” to guide them to the few establishments that were then safe for African-Americans. Confronted with racism, danger – as well as unexpected humanity and humor – they are forced to set aside differences to survive and thrive on the journey of a lifetime.
Main Slate
AT ETERNITY’S GATE
Director: Julian Schnabel
2018, 111 Minutes
Country: USA, France
Genre: Narrative
Julian Schnabel’s AT ETERNITY’S GATE is a journey inside the world and mind of a person who, despite skepticism, ridicule and illness, created some of the world’s most beloved and stunning works of art. This is not a forensic biography, but rather scenes based on Vincent van Gogh’s (Academy Award® Nominee Willem Dafoe) letters, common agreement about events in his life that present as facts, hearsay, and moments that are just plain invented.
BEN IS BACK
Director: Peter Hedges
2018, 103 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
19-year-old Ben Burns (Lucas Hedges) unexpectedly returns to his family’s home on Christmas Eve morning. Ben’s mother, Holly (Julia Roberts), is relieved and welcoming but wary of her son staying clean. Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed, and a mother’s undying love for her son is tested as she does everything in her power to keep him safe.
BIGGEST LITTLE FARM
Director: John Chester
2018, 89 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Documentary
This inspiring documentary follows the director and his wife as they attempt to develop a sustainable farm by reawakening the ecosystem on 200 acres outside of Los Angeles.
BORDER
Sweden’s submission to Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards
Director: Ali Abbasi
2018, 108 Minutes
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
Tina (Eva Melander) is a border guard who has the ability to smell human emotions and catch
smugglers. When she comes across a mysterious man with a smell that confounds her
detection, she is forced to confront hugely disturbing insights about herself and humankind.
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Director: Marielle Heller
2018, 107 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? is the true story of best-selling celebrity biographer Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy) who made her living in the 1970’s and 80’s profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder, and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee is no longer able to get published, she turns her art form to deception.
CAPERNAUM
Lebanon’s submission to Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards
Director: Nadine Labaki
2018, 120 Minutes
Country: Lebanon
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
Written by Nadine Labaki, who also appears in the film, CARPENAUM tells the story of a child who rebels against the life imposed on him and launches a lawsuit against his parents.
COLD WAR
Poland’s submission to Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
2018, 89 Minutes
Country: Poland, United Kingdom, France
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
In the ruins of post-World War II Poland, Wiktor and Zula fall deeply and destructively in love. As musicians forced to play into the Soviet propaganda machine, they dream of escaping to the West. But as they spot their chance to make a break for Paris, both make a split decision that will mark their lives forever.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER: THE STORY OF ROGER AILES
Director: Alexis Bloom
2018, 107 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Documentary
Director Alexis Bloom charts the rise and fall of former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes who was forced to resign from Fox News in 2016 after multiple women came forward with claims of sexual harassment.
EVERYBODY KNOWS
Director: Asghar Farhadi
2018, 133 Minutes
Country: France, Spain, Italy
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
EVERYBODY KNOWS follows Laura (Penélope Cruz) on her travels from Argentina to her small hometown in Spain for her sister’s wedding, bringing her two children along. Amid the reunion and festivities, the eldest daughter is abducted. In the tense days that follow, various family and community tensions surface and deeply hidden secrets are revealed.
THE FAVOURITE
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
2018, 121 Minutes
Country: Ireland, United Kingdom, USA
Genre: Narrative
In the early 18th century, England is at war with the French and frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) occupies the throne. Her friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne’s ill health and mercurial temper. When a new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, Sarah takes Abigail under her wing and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots.
HAPPY AS LAZZARO
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
2018, 128 Minutes
Country: Italy
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
This is the tale of a meeting between Lazzaro, a young peasant so good that he is often mistaken for simple-minded, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination. Life in their isolated pastoral village Inviolata is dominated by the terrible Marchesa Alfonsina de Luna, the queen of cigarettes. A loyal bond is sealed when Tancredi asks Lazzaro to help him orchestrate his own kidnapping.
LITTLE WOODS
Director: Nia DaCosta
2018, 105 Minutes
Country: USA, Australia
Genre: Narrative
A modern Western that tells the story of two sisters (Lily James and Tessa Thompson) who are driven to work outside the law to better their lives after their mother dies.
MARIA BY CALLAS
Director: Tom Volf
2018, 113 Minutes
Country: France
Genre: Documentary
MARIA BY CALLAS focuses on the life and work of the Greek-American opera singer, Maria Callas, featuring never before seen or heard footage and performances of Callas.
NEVER LOOK AWAY
Germany’s submission to Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
2018, 188 Minutes
Country: Germany
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
Kurt (Tom Schilling), an art student, falls in love with fellow student, Ellie (Paula Beer), but Ellie’s father, Professor Seeband (Sebastian Koch), is dismayed at Ellie’s choice of boyfriend, vowing to destroy the relationship. What neither of them know is that their lives are already connected through a terrible crime Seeband committed decades ago.
A PRIVATE WAR
Director: Matthew Heineman
2018, 106 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
A PRIVATE WAR is based on the extraordinary life of Marie Colvin (Rosamund Pike), one of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time. Her mission to show the true cost of war leads her – along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) – to embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.
RUBEN BRANDT, COLLECTOR
Director: Milorad Krstić
2018, 96 Minutes
Country: Hungary
Genre: Narrative Animated
A strange robbery series shakes the world’s most famous museums; nothing can prevent Collector and his team from stealing new paintings. Only Kowalski, a private detective, has noticed what is common in the stolen artwork, but his life is also in danger when he falls in love with the femme fatale of the robbery.
SHOPLIFTERS
Japan’s submission to Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
2018, 121 Minutes
Country: Japan
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a girl in the freezing cold. Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.
SUNSET
Hungary’s submission to Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards
Director: László Nemes
2018, 144 Minutes
Country: Hungary, France
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
In the heart of Europe as World War approaches, Irisz Leiter arrives in Budapest with high hopes to work as a milliner at Leiter, the legendary hat store that once belonged to her late parents; but she is quickly sent away by the new owner. While preparations are under way at the store to host important guests, a man abruptly comes to Irisz looking for Kálmán Leiter, who he says is her brother.
THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD
Director: Morgan Neville
2018, 98 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Documentary
Oscar®-winning director Morgan Neville ( 20 FEET FROM STARDOM) tells the story of legendary director Orson Welles during the final 15 years of his life, as he struggled to make a comeback with one last radical gamble – a film to sum up all that he had lived and learned during his life in Hollywood. This untold chapter of one of the greatest careers in film history shows that until the end, Welles was writing his own narrative as he always had, defiant and unbowed.
WHAT THEY HAD
Director: Elizabeth Chomko
2018, 101 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
WHAT THEY HAD centers on a family in crisis. Bridget (Hilary Swank) returns home to Chicago at her brother’s (Michael Shannon) urging to deal with her ailing mother (Blythe Danner) and her father’s (Robert Forster) reluctance to let go of their life together.
WIDOWS
Director: Steve McQueen
2018, 129 Minutes
Country: United Kingdom, USA
Genre: Narrative
From Academy Award®-winning director McQueen (12 YEARS A SLAVE), WIDOWS is a blistering, modern-day thriller about four women (Oscar® winner Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo) who take their fate into their own hands after being left in debt from their dead husbands’ criminal activities.
WILDLIFE
Director: Paul Dano
2018, 104 Minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
Joe (Ed Oxenbould) is the only child of Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) and Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal)—a housewife and a golf pro—in 1960s Montana. Nearby, a forest fire rages, and when Jerry loses his job, he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son. Suddenly forced into the role of an adult, Joe witnesses his mother’s struggle as she tries to keep her head above water.
WOMAN AT WAR
Iceland’s submission to Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards
Director: Benedikt Erlingsson
2018, 100 Minutes
Country: Iceland, Ukraine, France
Genre: Foreign Language Narrative
Halla is a fifty-year-old independent woman who leads a double life as an environmental activist. Known to others only by her alias “The Woman of the Mountain,” Halla secretly wages a one-woman-war on the local aluminum industry. But as she begins planning her biggest operation yet, she receives a letter that changes everything. Her application to adopt a child has finally been accepted.
Special Screenings
THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER
Director: Sara Colangelo
2018, 97 minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
Golden Globe winning and Academy Award® and Emmy-nominated actor Maggie Gyllenhaal will receive the Festival’s 2018 “Leading Actress” Award, in recognition of her courageous artistic choices and for breaking down stereotypes of women through these roles. A conversation with Gyllenhaal, accompanied by clips of her roles on film and television will be followed by a special screening of her current film, THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, about a Staten Island kindergarten teacher (Gyllenhaal) who discovers a gifted student in her class. She becomes fascinated and obsessed with the child – spiraling downward on a dangerous and desperate path in order to nurture his talent.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND
Director: Orson Welles
2018, 122 minutes
Country: USA
Genre: Narrative
Surrounded by fans and skeptics, grizzled director J.J. “Jake” Hannaford (a revelatory John Huston) returns from years abroad in Europe to a changed Hollywood, where he attempts to make his comeback: a career summation that can only be the work of cinema’s most adventurous filmmaker, Orson Welles. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND is the subject of THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD, the acclaimed new documentary playing in the main slate of the 2018 Festival.
Middleburg Film Festival runs from October 18 to October 21 in Virginia’s historic wine country, an hour outside DC. https://middleburgfilm.org
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