It’s the 10th anniversary of the Middleburg Film Festival, and this is shaping up to be the biggest year yet. This morning, the festival revealed the first four films and some of the special programming that will be highlighted during this special occasion. Kicking off the four-day festival on October 13th will be Noah Baumbach’s White Noise. The adaptation of Don DeLillo’s book stars Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Sam Nivola. Baumbach was at the festival in 2019 for Marriage Story.
Rian Johnson will be in attendance on October 14th for a special screening of his anticipated sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Johnson will lead a discussion about his career, as well as received the Distinguished Screenwriter Award and, along with editor Bob Ducsay, the Variety Creative Collaborators Award.
Taking the Spotlight slot is Darren Aronovsky’s stunning drama The Whale, which stars Brendan Fraser in a performance that people are already calling the finest of his career. Fraser plays a reclusive, severely overweight English professor as he attempts to reconnect with his daughter following a tragedy.
And the Saturday Centerpiece film will be Ray Romano’s directorial debut, Somewhere in Queens. Romano also wrote and starred in the love letter to the famed New York borough, joined by Laurie Metcalf, Jacob Ward, Tony Lo Bianco, Sadie Stanley, Sebastian Maniscalco, and Jennifer Esposito in the ensemble cast.
Also on hand to receive the Rising Star Award is Everything Everywhere All At Once breakout, Stephanie Hsu. She will also take part in a discussion following a special screening of the hit indie film.
A 40-piece orchestra will perform the songs of previous Distinguish Composer and Songwriter honorees Diane Warren, composers Mark Isham, Marco Beltrami, Kris Bowers, Charles Fox and the 2022 Distinguished Composer Award recipient Michael Abels. Abels has had an incredible year composing the scores for Jordan Peele’s Nope, and Breaking starring John Boyega.
The Middleburg Film Festival runs from October 13th-16th. Festival tickets and packages are available for sale here.
