The Middleburg Film Festival has been an annual highlight for me all nine years of its existence. And their tradition of bringing major awards season films to the area continues with the announcement of just some of this year’s impressive slate, beginning with the Opening Night film, King Richard!
Kicking off the Middleburg Film Festival on October 14th is King Richard, starring Will Smith as Richard Williams, father to tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men), the film also stars Aunjanue Ellis as the girls’ mom, Saniyya Sidney as Venus, Demi Singleton as Serena, and Tony Goldwyn and Jon Bernthal as influential coaches Paul Cohen and Rick Macci.
The Saturday Centerpiece is Kenneth Branagh’s acclaimed coming-of-age film Belfast, winner of the TIFF People’s Choice Award. Following one boy’s childhood in the tumultuous 1960s of Northern Ireland, the film stars Caitríona Balfe, Judie Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds and Jude Hill.
Closing out the festival on Sunday is Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, which has already been earning Oscar buzz for star Benedict Cumberbatch. Also starring Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee, it follows Phil Burbank (Cumberbatch), a charismatic rancher who inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil responds with mocking cruelty until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.
The Friday Spotlight definitely has my attention, as it will be Red Rocket, the new film from The Florida Project‘s Sean Baker. Starring Simon Rex in a performance already being called “charismatic”, the story follows Mikey Saber, a hustler who returns to his small Texas hometown after a failed adult film career in L.A.
Set for the International Spotlight is The Hand of God, the autobiographical film from writer/director Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) centering on a young man coming of age in 1980s Naples where family, soccer, cinema, love and loss dominate his thoughts.
The Documentary Spotlight is Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen film about “Amin as he confronts a painful secret he has kept for 20 years. Recounting the story for the first time to Rasmussen (his close friend and high school classmate), Amin chronicles his extraordinary childhood journey of fleeing Afghanistan with the help of smugglers and settling in Denmark as an unaccompanied minor.”
The Middleburg Film Festival runs from October 14th-October 17th. Enhanced COVID-19 safety protocols will be in place for those who attend. I can’t recommend the festival highly enough for movie lovers. Passes available now with individual ticket sales coming early October to the Middleburg website here! More announcements to come!
