Schedule

Third Annual Alexandria Film Festival

The full schedule for the festival is now available. Check it out below, or download a PDF.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
6 – 9 p.m.
Opening Night Event: “Contrast”
Simultaneous “Silent” Film Screenings, Live Music
Torpedo Factory Art Center
105 N. Union Street
Alexandria, Va.
Free

FRIDAY, SEPT. 25 – SUNDAY, SEPT. 27

Festival Film Screenings and Programs
Friday: 7 p.m. – midnight
Saturday: 10 a.m. – midnight
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

George Washington Masonic Memorial
101 Callahan Drive
Alexandria, Va.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

7 p.m. Bon Voyage
Inspired by the idea of overseas travel and the accompanying anxiety of preparing for the trip, Bon Voyage is a stop motion animation about a suitcase that goes to France.
7:15 p.m. Rumba
A delightful French comedy about two teachers in a rural school in France. The happy couple, Fiona and Dom, have a common passion: Latin dancing. One night, after a glorious dance competition, they have a car accident and see their lives turned upside down.
8:45 p.m. Le Paradis de l’Imbecile (Fool’s Paradise)
Immersed in cinematic fantasies, Joe is stunned when his girlfriend, Sarah, tells him their relationship is over. Ultimately, Joe is brought back to reality at Sarah’s door, where she forces him to choose between her and his imagination.
9 p.m. Clean Mic: Laughing Until It Hurts

  • Special Guests: Director Will Gorham and Comedians Freddi Vernell and Sam Beamon

An entertaining, thought-provoking exploration of the realities facing ethnic comedians who want to do “clean
comedy” as they perform in American comedy clubs.
10:45 p.m. The Spam Job
Four friends. Three suspects. One can of meat. The unbelievable true story of a prank that started at Montana State University, traveled the world, and ended almost a decade later.
11 p.m. Idiots and Angels
An animated feature film by Academy Award nominee Bill Plympton, “Idiots and Angels” is a dark comedy about a man’s battle for his soul. Angel, a selfish and morally bankrupt man, wakes up one morning with wings on his back. He tries to hide them, but everyone at Bart’s Bar discovers them and ridicules him about his bizarre appendages.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
10 a.m. Game Over and Bahama Frostbite

  • Special Guest: Alex Scioscia

Claymation videos created by students of The Art League in Alexandria with teacher Andrew Morgan.
10:20 a.m. Animated Poems
Poems written and narrated by students at Paint Branch High School in Montgomery County are brought to life through the animations of their fellow students. The documentary shows the process behind the project.
10:45 a.m. The Art of Giving
Created during the 2009 Spring for Alexandria volunteer program, “The Art of Giving” features students interviewing local residents about what volunteering means to them and the community.
10:50 a.m. Eco Dude
A video created by two 7th-grade science classes at Hammond Middle School in Alexandria, featuring a mock newscast, a commercial, and a trash-adorned character named Eco Dude.
11 a.m. Living Legends of Alexandria
Created by Alexandria photographer Nina Tisara, Living Legends is an ongoing project to identify, honor, and chronicle the people who are making history in Alexandria.
11:15 a.m. The Story of Community Bridge
The Community Bridge mural project transformed a concrete bridge in Frederick, Md., into the stunning illusion of an old stone bridge. Mysterious “carvings” in the stones represent symbols and stories contributed by thousands of people from around the world.
NOON Li Tong
Eight-year-old Li Tong loses her bus pass one day after school. Penniless, she decides to walk home but soon becomes hopelessly lost. Along her way through the streets of Beijing, she encounters an interesting cast of characters.
1:30 p.m. Shoot First and Pray You Live
A tale of vengeance, presented as a graphic homage to the classic Spaghetti Westerns. Red Pierre hunts down legendary gunman Bob McGurk to avenge his parents’ murder.
3:15 p.m. Katyn
The Academy-Award-nominated documentary “Katyn” tells the story of 10,000 Polish soldiers taken prisoner in 1939 near the Katyn Forest. The story is told through the eyes of four women whose families were torn apart as they try to find their husbands, fathers, and brothers — or learn their fate. 2008 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.
5:30 pm Fresh

  • Special Guest: Rob Krupicka, City Councilmember

A documentary that celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for the future of our food and planet.

7 p.m. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

  • Special Guest: Director Aviva Kempner

The story of Gertrude Berg, creator, principal writer, and star of “The Goldbergs,” a popular radio show for 17 years, which became TV’s first character-driven sitcom in 1949. Berg won the first Emmy Award for Best Actress and paved the way for women in television.
9 p.m. Nosferatu

  • Special Guest: Organist Andrew Simpson

A 1922 silent movie classic based on the story of Dracula — with live accompaniment on the Masonic Memorial’s 1954 Müller pipe organ.

11 p.m. City of Borders
In the heart of Jerusalem stands an unusual symbol of unity: a gay bar called Shushan. The film goes inside this underground sanctuary where people of opposing nationalities and religions create an island of peace in a land divided by war.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
10 a.m. Max
A die-hard traditionalist animator gets an unexpected visit from a ruthless auditor.
10:15 am Sebastian’s Voodoo
A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death. A 3D animated film created at the UCLA Animation Workshop by award-winning filmmaker Joaquin Baldwin.
10:20 am The Miracle
In confession to her priest, Tekki, a little person, reveals how she dishonored her mother on a trip to Lourdes twenty-seven years before. For a chance at redemption she will need all her courage, humor and imagination to face the truth.
11 a.m. Land Gewinnen (Gaining Ground)
A young illegal immigrant couple spends their time furtively avoiding the German authorities, until the wellbeing of their young son dictates that they resolve their untenable situation.
11:30 a.m. After the Storm

The story of the production of the musical “Once on This Island” in New Orleans, from auditions through performance, highlighting the effects on each young actor’s life of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. “After the Storm” Producer James Lecesne was featured in the film, and will speak about his experience in New Orleans.

1:45 p.m. Crude

  • Special Guest: Attorney Steven Donziger

A high-stakes legal drama that tells the inside story of the famous “Amazon Chernobyl” case. Set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, corporate power, global politics, and rapidly disappearing indigenous peoples, the film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

4:15 p.m. Redemption Stone – winner of 2009 Alexandria Film Festival Jury Prize

  • Special Guests: Director Tom Dziedzic and Tom Lewis, founder of The Fishing School

Tom Lewis, a D.C. resident, is the focus of this story of inspiration and change. Lewis is a storyteller of quiet power who recounts the social upheaval and rebirth that shaped his life’s journey. A life-altering vision inspires Tom to open a program called The Fishing School to turn hardship into hope for the children in his community.

5:15 p.m. Awards Ceremony

  • Reception to Follow

Day Pass
$10 in advance or $15 at door

Festival Pass
$25 in advance or $35 at door