Editor

Middleburg Film Festival's Executive Director Susan Koch announced today the main slate of films for the 2016 festival. The festival opens Thursday, October 20 with Garth Davis' feature film directorial debut LION starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, and Rooney Mara. Special guests will be in attendance for a conversation following the screening.

The festival's Friday Spotlight selections include MOONLIGHT (DIR Barry Jenkins), starring Naomie Harris, Janelle Monáe and Mahershala Ali and MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (DIR Kenneth Lonergan), starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler. Kelly Fremon Craig makes her feature directorial debut with THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN, starring Hailee Steinfeld and Woody Harrelson.

As previously announced, LA LA LAND, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, will screen as the 2016 Centerpiece selection on Saturday, October 22 with Oscar-nominated director Damien Chazelle in attendance.

LOVING, from director Jeff Nichols, will screen as the Sunday Morning Spotlight selection. In 1958, Mildred and Richard Loving (Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton) were arrested and sentenced to prison for getting married. She was "colored" and he was white - and that was a crime in the state of Virginia. Their case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in a landmark decision in favor of the Lovings.

The festival will also screen six foreign language submissions to the Oscars, including films from Italy, Chile, Germany, Iran, Denmark, and Spain. 

Henry Jackman will be honored as this year's Distinguished Film Composer with a live performance of his most memorable scores performed by the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and The Freedom Choir.  Jackman's featured works include THE BIRTH OF A NATION, CAPTAIN AMERICA, MONSTERS VS ALIENS, PUSS IN BOOTS, BIG HERO 6 and THE INTERVIEW. A conversation with Jackman will take place between the musical selections.

"We are thrilled to share some of the year's best films followed by thought provoking conversations with festival attendees," said Middleburg Film Festival Executive Director Susan Koch. "The 2016 program includes a mix of Oscar contenders, critically-acclaimed foreign language films and compelling documentaries."

"We look forward to welcoming festival attendees to the fourth year of Middleburg Film Festival," said Middleburg Film Festival founder Sheila C. Johnson. "We have an exceptional film slate this year, featuring the work of a diverse and very talented set of filmmakers. We're delighted to showcase the work of first-time directors as well as acclaimed filmmakers from all over the world."

Middleburg Film Festival runs from October 20 to October 23 in Middleburg, VA and is located just a short one hour from Washington, DC.

The Coca-Cola Company returns as Middleburg Film Festival's Presenting Sponsor. The Washington Post returns as Middleburg Film Festival's Founding Media Sponsor.

For more information, visit: www.middleburgfilm.org.

Follow us on Twitter @middleburgfilm and like us on Facebook at facebook.com/MiddleburgFilmFestival.

Middleburg Film Festival 2016 Program

Opening Night

LION

Director: Garth Davis

2016, 120 minutes

Country: Australia

Genre: Narrative

Five-year-old Saroo gets lost on a train in India and must survive on the streets before ultimately being adopted by an Australian couple. Twenty-five years later he sets out to find his birth family and finally return to his first home.

Friday Spotlights

THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN

Director: Kelly Fremon Craig

2016, 102 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Narrative

Kelly Fremon Craig makes her directorial debut with a hilarious and charming coming-of-age dramedy about Nadine, a high school junior, whose life goes from bad to worse when her best and only friend begins dating her older brother. 

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

Director: Kenneth Lonergan

2015, 136 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Narrative

In MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, a solitary Boston janitor, played by Casey Affleck, confronts   his devastating past when he returns to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew.

MOONLIGHT

Director: Barry Jenkins

2016, 111 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Narrative

MOONLIGHT chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami.

Saturday Night Centerpiece

LA LA LAND

Director: Damien Chazelle

2015, 126 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Narrative

LA LA LAND evokes the romance and nostalgia of old Hollywood in this innovative musical about an aspiring actress and a jazz musician who fall in love in Los Angeles. 

Sunday Morning Spotlight

LOVING

Director: Jeff Nichols

2016, 123 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Narrative

In 1958, Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested and sentenced to prison for getting married. She was "colored" and he was white - and that was a crime in the state of Virginia. Their case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in a landmark decision in favor of the Lovings.

Main Slate

AMERICAN PASTORAL

Director: Ewan McGregor

2015, 108 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Narrative

Based on the Phillip Roth novel, AMERICAN PASTORAL follows an all-American family across several decades, as their idyllic existence is shattered by social and political turmoil that will change the fabric of American culture forever.

AQUARIUS

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

2016, 145 minutes

Country: Brazil/France

Genre: Foreign Language Narrative

Clara is the last resident of the Aquarius, a two-story building built in the 1940s. She refuses to leave as real estate developers try to drive her from her home.

CUSTODY

Director: James Lapine

2016, 104 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Narrative

The lives of three women are unexpectedly changed when they cross paths at a New York Family Court.

DISTURBING THE PEACE

Directors: Stephen Apkon, Andrew Young

2016, 83 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Documentary

DISTURBING THE PEACE follows former enemy combatants - Israeli soldiers from elite units and Palestinian fighters, many of whom served years in prison - who have joined together to achieve peace.

THE EAGLE HUNTRESS

Director: Otto Bell

2014, 87 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Documentary

THE EAGLE HUNTRESS follows a 13-year-old girl as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter.

FIRE AT SEA

Italy's submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards

Director: Gianfranco Rosi

2016, 108 minutes

Country: Italy/France

Genre: Documentary

The documentary captures life on the Italian island of Lampedusa, a frontline on the European migrant crisis and the first port of call for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants hoping to make a new life in Europe.

GRADUATION

Director: Cristian Mungiu

2016, 128 minutes

Country: Romania

Genre: Foreign Language Narrative

Romeo, a respected surgeon, is willing to compromise his integrity to ensure a better future for his teenage daughter and allow her to escape their bleak life in Romania after she graduates high school.

I, DANIEL BLAKE

Director: Ken Loach

2016, 100 minutes

Country: United Kingdom / France / Belgium

Genre: Narrative

After suffering a heart attack, Daniel Blake, a carpenter, is unable to work. Seeking state assistance, he encounters endless bureaucracy and strikes up an unlikely friendship with a struggling single mother.

JULIETA

Spain's submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

2015, 99 minutes

Country: Spain

Genre: Foreign Language Narrative

After a chance meeting, Julieta, a broken-hearted woman living in Madrid, decides to confront her life and the loss of her daughter, whom she hasn't seen in thirteen years. Based on short stores by Alice Munro.

LAND OF MINE

Denmark's submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards

Director: Martin Pieter Zandvliet

2015, 101 minutes

Country: Denmark

Genre: Foreign Language Narrative

As World War II comes to an end, a group of young German POWs are captured by the Danish army and forced to defuse and clear land mines from the Danish coastline.

THE MAN WHO SAW TOO MUCH

Director: Trisha Ziff

2015, 88 minutes

Country: Mexico

Genre: Documentary

THE MAN WHO SAW TOO MUCH is about famed Mexican photographer Enrique Metinides who documented crime scenes and accidents. He discovered that the fate of others was his way of connecting to life.

NERUDA

Chile's submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards

Director: Pablo Larraín

2016, 108 minutes

Country: Chile

Genre: Narrative

An inspector hunts down Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, who has become a fugitive in his home country for joining the Communist Party.

PATERSON

Director: Jim Jarmusch

2016, 118 minutes

Country: USA

Genre: Narrative

Paterson is a bus driver in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. Every day, Paterson adheres to the exact, simple routine - walking his dog, having one beer, and writing poetry.

THE RED TURTLE

Director: Michaël Dudok de Wit

2015, 80 minutes

Country: France / Belgium / Japan

Genre: Animation

A man marooned on a desert island tries desperately to escape, until one day he encounters a strange turtle that will change his life.

THE SALESMAN

Iran's submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards

Director: Asghar Farhadi

2016, 125 minutes

Country: Iran

Genre: Foreign Language Narrative

After their apartment is damaged, a young couple living in Tehran, is forced to move into a new place. An incident linked to the previous tenant will dramatically change the couple's life.

SONITA

Director: Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami

2015, 90 minutes

Country: Germany / Switzerland / Iran

Genre: Documentary

18-year-old Sonita, a refugee from Afghanistan now living in Iran, dreams of being a famous rapper. Her family has a very different future planned for her.

THINGS TO COME

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

2016, 100 minutes

Country: France / Germany

Genre: Foreign Language Narrative

Nathalie teaches philosophy in Paris and is married with two grown children. When her husband suddenly announces he is leaving her for another woman, Nathalie must reinvent her life.

TONI ERDMANN

Germany's submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards

Director: Maren Ade

2014, 162 minutes

Country: Germany

Genre: Narrative

Without warning, a father decides to reconnect with his adult daughter. Believing that she has lost her sense of humor, he decides to fix this by surprising her with a rampage of jokes.

About Middleburg Film Festival

Middleburg Film Festival offers four days of fantastic films in a spectacular setting, only 30 minutes from Dulles International Airport and just one hour from Washington, DC.

A carefully curated selection of narrative and documentary films will screen in an intimate theatre environment, followed by fascinating Q and A's with world-renowned filmmakers and actors. The films include Oscar contenders, festival favorites, foreign films, regional premieres, and both narratives and documentaries.  

Festival attendees will also be able to experience the natural beauty, food, wine, and warm hospitality of Middleburg.