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ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHTThe many facets and textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated in writer-director Payal Kapadia’s revelatory narrative feature debut ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, a soulful study of the transformative power of friendship and sisterhood. Centering on two roommates who also work together in a city hospital – head nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and recent hire Anu (Divya Prabha), along with their coworker, cook Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam).
ANORAStylistically thrilling, hugely entertaining, and emotionally genuine, ANORA is a unique take on a Cinderella story from the immensely talented and inventive director/writer Sean Baker (Red Rocket, The Florida Project, Tangerine). Set in 2018, it follows the wild odyssey of Anora (or “Ani,” as she prefers to be called), a young Russian American sex worker who is swept out of her everyday life as an erotic dancer by the impetuous, free-spending son of a Russian oligarch.
BETTER MANBased on the true story of the meteoric rise, dramatic fall and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams, BETTER MAN finds director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) back in the flow of kinetic, visionary showmanship. The film is uniquely told from Williams’s perspective, capturing his signature wit, cheeky charm, and indomitable spirit as it follows his journey from childhood to chart-topping boy-band youth to unparalleled, record-breaking solo artist..
BLACK BOX DIARIESShiori Itō was a 28-yr. old aspiring journalist when she was drugged and raped by a powerful political journalist and close ally of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In the award-winning BLACK BOX DIARIES, Itō courageously investigates her own assault as she seeks to prosecute her high-profile offender, believing she has no other choice in order to change Japan’s antiquated sexual assault laws. Her press conference shocks the public in a society, where speaking up on such matters is considered shameful.
BLACK GIRLSBLACK GIRLS, a Never Whisper Justice story, explores intergenerational healing that traces the spectrum of advocacy among Black women from a variety of angles. The documentary follows the stories of Allyson Felix, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history; Vanessa Rochelle-Lewis, a performer, facilitator, educator, writer, and activist for body positivity; Olympia Auset, Founder of SÜPRMARKT and advocate for solving America’s food desert crisis; and Marley Dias, author and creator of #1000BlackGirlBooks...
THE BLACK SEAInspired by filmmaker Derrick B. Harden’s travels to Bulgaria and improvised by Harden and its Bulgarian cast of non-actors, THE BLACK SEA (co-directed by Crystal Moselle, Wolfpack) traces the journey of Khalid, a charismatic dreamer from Brooklyn who inadvertently becomes the only Black person in a small seaside vacation town on the Black Sea in Eastern Europe. After quitting his New York restaurant job, the aspiring rapper responds to a Facebook ad and impetuously heads off for a gigolo gig overseas..
BLITZ OPENING NIGHT
Under the fury of the German blitzkrieg bombing campaign of 1940, working-class single mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) grows fearful for her 9-year-old son George’s (sensational newcomer Elliott Heffernan) safety. At the urging of her father, Gerald (Paul Weller), she makes the same difficult decision countless families made at the height of World War II. She sends her child to the countryside until the onslaught subsides.
THE BRUTALISTTHE BRUTALIST chronicles the journey of a Hungarian-born Jewish architect who emigrates to the United States in 1947, is initially forced to toil in poverty and ultimately wins a contract that will change the course of the next 30 years of his life. Rendered in majestic 70mm photography on a narrative canvas that spans three decades, director Brady Corbet tells the story of László Toth (in an award-worthy performance by Adrien Brody), who arrives in America with very little to his name..
CARVILLE, WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPIDCarville: Winning is Everything, Stupid chronicles eighteen tumultuous months inside what many consider the most consequential election in U.S. history from the distinctive vantage point of one of the most influential, charismatic, and combative voices in the Democratic Party: James Carville. The film features intimate interviews and verité footage with famed Republican operative—and James’s wife of over 30 years—Mary Matalin.
CONCLAVESATURDAY CENTERPIECE
When the Pope dies unexpectedly, members of the Catholic College of Cardinals gather at the Vatican for an election that will select a new pontiff and define a new era for the Church. Behind locked doors, it is the sacred duty of Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), dean of the College of Cardinals, to oversee this conclave. Several front-runners emerge, including Cardinals Bellini (Stanley Tucci) of the Vatican, Trembley of Montreal (John Lithgow), and Tedesco of Venice (Sergio Castellitto).
ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATEA global cultural icon like Sir Elton John deserves a documentary study commensurate with his everlasting impact and appeal. Co-directors R.J. Cutler and David Furnish answer that calling with this engrossing and intimate portrait of a true trailblazer. But even with a life lived so spectacularly in the spotlight for decades, there is so much still to be mined, so much to be revealed. ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE captures a groundbreaking artist as he reflects on his life and career.
EMILIA PEREZ FRIDAY SPOTLIGHT
From renegade auteur Jacques Audiard comes Emilia Pérez, an audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations. Through liberating song and dance and bold visuals, this odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. The fearsome cartel leader Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón) enlists Rita (Zoe Saldaña), an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self.
THE ENDWith THE END, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer delivers a poignant and deeply human musical about a family that survived the end of the world. Twenty-five years after environmental collapse left the Earth uninhabitable, Mother, Father and Son are confined to their palatial bunker inside a former salt mine, where they struggle to maintain hope and a sense of normalcy by clinging to the rituals of daily life – until the arrival of a stranger, Girl, upends their contented routine. Son, a naïve 20-something who has never seen the outside world..
FLOWA wondrous journey through realms natural and mystical, FLOW follows a courageous cat in the aftermath of a devastating flood that has taken his home and changed the course of human history. Teaming up with a capybara, a lemur, a bird and a dog to navigate a boat in search of dry land, they must rely on trust, courage and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet. From the boundless imagination of the award-winning filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis, this thrilling animated spectacle is a profound meditation on the fragility of the environment and the spirit of friendship and community.
HARD TRUTHSLegendary filmmaker Mike Leigh returns to a contemporary milieu with this fierce, compassionate and often darkly humorous study of family and the thorny ties that bind. Reunited with Leigh for the first time since the multiple Oscar-nominated Secrets & Lies, the astonishing Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, a woman wracked by fear, tormented by afflictions and prone to raging tirades against her husband, son and anyone who looks her way. Meanwhile, her easygoing younger sister (Michele Austin) is a single mother with a life as different from Pansy’s as their clashing temperaments..
I’M STILL HEREThe year is 1971 and Brazil faces the tightening grip of a military dictatorship. The Paivas – Rubens (Selton Mello), Eunice (Fernanda Montenegro) and their five children – live in a rented house by the beach, their door always open to friends. The affection and humor they share marks its own subtle form of resistance to the oppression that hangs over their country. One day, Rubens, a former congressman and outspoken critic of the dictatorship, is taken from his home and told nothing more than that he must give a “deposition” to authorities.
THE KINGDOMCorsica is a territory lying at the crossroads of Mediterranean peoples, forever irrigated by violence. In recent years, that violence has intensified within an insular society, feeding the fantasies of an idle youth fascinated by easy money, guns and power. Crime as a business has become commonplace, bloodying the island with impunity like so many other territories struggling to find a path to peace. Set in 1995, THE KINGDOM centers on Lesia (Ghjuvanna Benedetti), experiencing her first summer as a teenager on the island.
THE LAST SHOWGIRLShelly, a seasoned showgirl, must figure out her future when she learns her show is abruptly closing after a 30-year run. As a dancer in her fifties, her options are limited. For Shelly (a terrific Pamela Anderson) there’s nothing that’s meant more to her these past three decades than being a Las Vegas showgirl – and not just any show girl. Shelly was at the top of her game with her sequined outfits and dazzling dance moves bringing fame, if not fortune. But now, at age 50, she no longer knows what her place in the world is.
MARIAWith the third in his unofficial trilogy of acclaimed historical figures following studies of Jacqueline Kennedy (JACKIE) and Princess Diana (SPENCER), Chilean director Pablo Larraín trains his and legendary cinematographer Ed Lachman’s lens on titanic opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie). Set in Paris in September of 1977, the film is a testament to Callas’s final days as she negotiates her public and private personas. It’s a celebration told through memory, majesty and music with Larraín contemplating the ailing performer as she seeks a return to the world stage.
MARTHAThis definitive documentary on multi-faceted businesswoman Martha Stewart pulls back the curtain on one of America’s greatest icons, from her start as a teenage model to her stint as a Wall Street stockbroker to her reign as the grand dame of entertaining and good taste – not to mention her impact as America’s first female self-made billionaire. Directed by Emmy-winning documentarian R.J. Cutler, MARTHA draws on hundreds of hours of intimate interviews with Stewart and those in her inner circle..
MEMOIR OF A SNAILGrace Pudel is a lonely misfit with an affinity for collecting ornamental snails and an intense love for books. At a young age, when Grace is separated from her twin brother Gilbert, she falls into a spiral of anxiety and angst. Despite a continued series of hardships, inspiration and hope emerge when she strikes up an enduring friendship with an elderly eccentric woman named Pinky, who is full of grit and a lust for life. From Academy Award-winning animation writer and director Adam Elliot.
A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESSOn a small farm in the Norwegian forest, the Payne family seeks a wild and free existence. They practice home-schooling and strive for a closely-knit family dynamic in harmony with the living world. Parents Maria and Nik take their four children on nature walks, teach them farming skills and guide them through life’s lessons, with not a screen or electronic device in sight. However, when tragedy unexpectedly strikes the family, it upends their idyllic world..
NICKEL BOYSCLOSING FILM
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, NICKEL BOYS chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school and the terrors of the Jim Crow South. When Elwood Curtis’s (Ethan Herisse) college dream shatters alongside a two-lane Florida highway, he bears the brunt of an innocent misstep and is sentenced to the netherworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal deep-south reformatory.
NIGHTBITCH SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT
Based on author Rachel Yoder’s bestselling 2021 novel, NIGHTBITCH features Oscar-nominated actress Amy Adams as Mother, a talented artist and overworked stay-at-home mom looking to catch a break while caring for a toddler that keeps her hands full day and night. She loves her son deeply, but also feels alone and exhausted, buckling from the urge to break under the numbing daily grind. Slowly losing control of her emotions and primal urges..
NO OTHER LANDBasel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta (a collection of 19 Palestinian hamlets in the southern West Bank), has been fighting his community’s mass expulsion by the Israeli occupation since childhood. Basel documents the gradual erasure of Masafer Yatta as soldiers destroy the homes of families, the largest single act of forced transfer ever carried out in the occupied West Bank. He crosses paths with Yuval, an Israeli journalist who joins his struggle, and for more than half a decade they fight against the expulsion while growing closer together.
NOBUAn examination of culinary legend Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s vast empire, NOBU, from director Matt Tyrnauer (Valentino: The Last Emperor) offers an intimate portrait of a man who has redefined global gastronomy. The cinema-verité documentary captures a master at the apex of his influence, poised between reflection and innovation. The film follows the peripatetic Nobu as he navigates the expansion of his culinary kingdom, a delicate dance of creativity and commerce performed alongside his business partners Robert De Niro and Meir Teper.
ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWLCelebrated Zambian Welsh writer-director Rungano Nyoni returns with this engrossing surrealist drama. On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula (Susan Chardy) stumbles across the body of her uncle, Fred. She seems unfazed by the sight, but the man’s sudden death will nevertheless precipitate a reckoning with the past for her extended Zambian family. Surely the dead can’t take all their secrets to the grave, and Fred, in particular, had many.
THE ORDERAfter a tumultuous career, Special Agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) has been placed on desk duty in a one-man FBI office in sleepy Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Meanwhile, for more than a year, a series of bold daylight bank robberies and armored car heists throughout the Pacific Northwest has left law enforcement baffled and the public panicked. With little to occupy his time, Husk begins to follow the spree, but the local sheriff has little interest in helping. An eager young deputy (Tye Sheridan) and an FBI colleague (Jurnee Smollett) assist in the investigation..
THE PIANO LESSONIt’s 1936 and a battle is brewing in the Charles household. At the center stands a prized heirloom piano tearing two siblings apart. On one side, Boy Willie (John David Washington) plans to build the family fortune by selling it. On the other, his sister, Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), will go to any lengths to hold onto the sole vestige of the family’s heritage. After all, in the piano’s wooden frame are carefully chiseled carvings of their great-grandparents during a time when they were enslaved. Their uncle Doaker (Samuel L. Jackson), meanwhile, tries to mediate..
PORCELAIN WARAmidst the chaos and destruction of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, three artists defiantly find inspiration and beauty as they defend their culture and their country. In a war waged by professional soldiers against ordinary civilians, Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko and Andrey Stefanov choose to stay behind, armed with their art, their cameras and, for the first time in their lives, their guns. Despite daily shelling, Anya finds resistance and purpose in her art, Andrey takes the dangerous journey to get his young family to safety abroad.
A REAL PAINActor-turned-filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg’s sophomore effort follows mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) as they reunite for a trip through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. The adventure takes a turn when the odd couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. David and Benji were born weeks apart and were as close as brothers growing up, but they’ve since drifted away from one another due to the demands of adult life.
THE ROOM NEXT DOORIn his first English-language feature film, Oscar-winning legend Pedro Almodóvar draws two of the screen’s most laureled and revered actresses for a deeply considered study of love, friendship, compassion and empathy. THE ROOM NEXT DOOR, adapted from the novel “What Are You Going Through” by Sigrid Nunez, follows the determined Martha (Tilda Swinton) and faithful Ingrid (Julianne Moore), old friends brought closer together by an extreme but strangely sweet situation. Ingrid, a bestselling author so fearful of death she’s made it a focus in her writing..
SANTOSHRipped from her life of domesticity, Santosh (Shahana Goswami), a young widow now desperate to support herself, accepts an opportunity to inherit her husband’s job as a police officer in the rural badlands of India. Emerging from her abrupt training, she takes her first-ever taste of something truly mysterious, disconcerting and fascinating to her: authority. And yet nothing is clear, not where she fits in this world, not how she should handle the corruption and oppression she is both target of and party to, not even who is innocent or guilty.
SATURDAY NIGHTOctober 11, 1975. Backstage at Manhattan’s 30 Rockefeller Center, the clock is ticking ahead of the world premiere of “Saturday Night Live.” Two young TV producers, Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) and Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman), along with writers Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott) and Michael O’Donogue (Tommy Dewey), plus an unruly ensemble of 20-something actors on the cusp of being household names, are attempting something wildly new: live sketch comedy, broadcast to the world.
SEED OF THE SACRED FIGShot entirely in secret, Mohammad Rasoulof’s captivating thriller THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG centers on a family thrust into the public eye when patriarch Iman is appointed as an investigating judge in Tehran. He is expected to blindly follow the dictates of the Iranian government, but as political unrest erupts in the streets, he realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful. When Iman’s wife and two daughters show sympathy for protesters demanding human rights, he begins to harden in defense of an unjust system.
SEPARATEDAcademy Award®-winning filmmaker Errol Morris incisively probes one of the darkest chapters in recent American history: family separations. Merging narrative vignettes of one migrant family’s plight with hard-hitting interviews with government officials, Morris paints a jaw-dropping picture of the state-sponsored crisis of cruelty, as hundreds of families remain separated today. These vignettes, shot in Mexico with local crew and talent, reveal the underlying trauma of what migrants endure in pursuit of a better life.
SEPTEMBER 5The story of the 1972 Munich Olympics tragedy, when 11 Israeli athletes were taken hostage and killed in an act of terror witnessed by the world, has been told many times in narrative and documentary cinema. But with SEPTEMBER 5, director Tim Fehlbaum chooses an angle never before excavated: the role of the media in conveying the events of that day to an estimated global audience of one billion people. By focusing on the broadcasters’ perspective, Fehlbaum presents a story concerned with the moral, ethical, professional and ultimately psychological dilemmas of journalists.
SING SINGSPECIAL SCREENING
Inspired by the real-life arts rehabilitation program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, filmmaker Greg Kwedar’s new drama stars an unforgettable ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors, led by the inimitable and Oscar-nominated Colman Domingo as Divine G. Imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Divine G nevertheless finds purpose by acting in the facility’s theater group alongside his fellow inmates. Every six months, the men gather to discuss the direction of their troupe, often looking to Divine G to help mount their next play.
SMALL THINGS LIKE THESEIt is 1985 in the run-up to Christmas in a small town in County Wexford, Ireland. Bill Furlong (Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer) toils as a coal merchant to support himself, his wife and his five daughters. Early one morning while out delivering coal to the local convent, he makes a disturbing discovery that forces him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a town controlled by the Catholic Church. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Claire Keegan, the film reveals deeply buried secrets about Ireland’s Magdalene laundries..
THERE’S STILL TOMORROWA box office sensation upon its theatrical release in Italy, the film is comedian Paola Cortellesi’s black-and-white directorial debut. Set in the 1940s, the film stars Cortellesi as Delia, a working-class mother who is a victim of domestic physical and psychological abuse at the hands of her military veteran husband (Valerio Mastandrea). Delia suffers in silence while going about her daily routine, but a mysterious letter arrives giving her the courage at last to change the circumstances of her life. An astounding film that is as empowering as it is humorous..
UNSTOPPABLEThe directorial debut of Oscar-winning film editor William Goldenberg, UNSTOPPABLE tells the inspiring true story of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), who defied every expectation to become a wrestling sensation. Despite being born without a right leg, Robles rises to become a NCAA Division 1 star who, with the unwavering love and support of his devoted mother Judy (Jennifer Lopez) and the encouragement of his coaches, fights to earn a spot on the Arizona State wrestling team and go to the National Championships.
VERMIGLIOThe year is 1944. In Vermiglio, a mountain village perched high in the Italian Alps, war looms as a distant but constant threat. But for the residents of this isolated community, the war has not really altered their everyday lives. This all changes with the arrival of Pietro (Giuseppe De Domenico), a young Sicilian soldier, who deserted his regiment to carry his wounded comrade all the way back to his village. With stunning imagery, this moving story unfolds in four chapters over the course of the four seasons marking the end of the Second World War.
THE WILD ROBOTSPECIAL SCREENING
Based on Peter Brown’s bestselling children’s books and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chris Sanders, THE WILD ROBOT is an epic tale of survival in which animals and machines must question their programming and embrace their hidden strengths. Rozim 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o) exists to receive orders. But on the rugged isle where Roz first boots up, no orders are forthcoming. Featuring a fantastic score by Kris Bowers.
Art of Costume Design Continuing its long tradition of spotlighting behind the scenes artisans, MFF is delighted to welcome Academy Award-nominee and Tony winner costume designer Paul Tazewell to the festival for a fascinating conversation with Variety's Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay. Tazewell will offer a sneak peek to his latest project -- the highly anticipated WICKED opening Thanksgiving weekend. Having designed costumes for Broadway, regional theaters, film, and television for over three decades, Paul Tazewell is one of the industry’s most revered designers.
Cocktails & Contenders Love the Oscars? Love the Oscar race? Don’t miss our annual Contenders conversation with CLAYTON DAVIS (Senior Awards Editor, Variety) and JAZZ TANGCAY (Senior Artisans Editor, Variety). Previously known as "Coffee & Contenders", this year we've moved the time to later in the day and we'll be offering a cocktail (or mocktail) as you join them for their Oscar predictions – and invite you to share yours as well. How many Best Picture nominees will be shown at Middleburg this year? And who are the likely nominees in the other categories?
Concert Honoring Mychael DannaA beloved signature event of the festival is our LIVE CONCERT honoring a DISTINGUISHED FILM COMPOSER. This year, we're delighted to feature the scores of Academy Award winning composer, MYCHAEL DANNA. Selections of some of Danna's most memorable scores will be performed -- including Life of Pi, 500 Days of Summer, Little Miss Sunshine, Moneyball - by a 60-piece orchestra and choir, led by music director and conductor Kim Kluge and accompanied by movie clips and a conversation with Danna about his creative process.
Conversation with African Filmmakers The Middleburg Film Festival is collaborating with the U.S. Department of State through the United States’ flagship film diplomacy program – the American Film Showcase, which is implemented and produced by the USC School of Cinematic Arts – to host a delegation of leading African filmmakers from Kenya and Nigeria. This special panel event will feature four acclaimed African filmmakers discussing the importance of developing their unique narratives, the growth of the film industry in Africa, and what the film industry means for their creative economies.
Conversation with Colman Domingo & Clarence MaclinAcademy Award-nominated actor Colman Domingo (Rustin, Selma) and his co-star Clarence Maclin will receive this year’s Impact Award for their roles in the inspiring drama SING SING. Directed by Greg Kwedar with a story by Clint Bentley and Kwedar, the film tells the true story of incarcerated individuals in a theater program in NY’s notorious maximum security prison where participants engage in writing, directing and acting in original stage productions - Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA).
Conversation with Isabella Rossellini The Middleburg Film is honored to present Isabella Rossellini with this year's Agnes Varda Trailblazing Film Artist Award in recognition of her storied career.
Join Isabella Rossellini for a fascinating conversation hosted by Journalist, Author, and longtime Vanity Fair correspondent, Maureen Orth.
MUSIC IN FILM: CREATIVE PROCESS PANELThis panel has an abundance of riches! Eight of the world's most accomplished and talent composers and songwriters will share film clips of their work and talk about their creative process in crafting songs and scores.
Participants include: Diane Warren, Charles Fox, Mychael Danna, Taura Stinson, Clement Ducol & Camille, Kris Bowers, and Lesley Barber.
State of the Industry In the aftermath of Covid and the SAG and WGA strikes, the film industry is struggling to regain its footing. At the same time, independent filmmakers are having a tough time finding both financing and distribution outlets. But as the industry searches for solutions, the universal love for movies and movie-going only continues to grow. What does the future of filmmaking, distribution and exhibition look like? And how is the industry working to support and protect the creative community and the theatrical exhibition space? Co-Presentation with the Motion Picture Association.
Talk Back to the Critics Our terrific DC film critics return to MFF for another lively Talk Back to the Critics. Join this special event for a spirited conversation about your favorite – and (to put it politely) your least favorite films. You know that movie with the 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes that you couldn’t stand?