Global Film Festival offerings set
The theme of the 2013 Global Film festival at William & Mary is “Film and Youth,” and includes screenings of films made during the last couple of months by locals youths, as guided by mentors.
Scheduled over President’s Day weekend (Feb. 14-17) at the Kimball Theatre, the four-day main event will again feature films from around the world, live performances, receptions and presentations by invited filmmakers.
Tickets are on sale now at the Kimball Theater box office. Ticket prices run from $1 to $3, depending on the film. There are a variety of GFF passes available, costing between $10 and $50. Specific information can be found on the festival website. All passes include “movie &” deals and offers from participating restaurants on Merchant’s Square.
The pre-festival series of films opens tonight with a double feature at 6:30 and runs every Wednesday and Saturday through Feb. 13. These films will be shown at the Williamsburg Library Theater and are free and open to the public. The Saturday showings begin at 1 p.m.
Highlighting the films being shown during the festival proper is “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” on Saturday night at 7. The film has been nominated for Academy Awards for best picture, best director (Benh Zeitlin), best adapted screenplay and best actress (Quvenzhane Wallis). Producer Michael Gottwald, a Virginia native, will appear via Skype at the festival following the screening on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Expected to be in attendance at the festival will be two child stars, 15-year-old Jared Gilman of “Moonrise Kingdom” and Helene Bergsholm of “Turn Me On, Dammit.”
“Moonrise Kingdom” has been nominated for an Academy Award for best original screenplay, and was a Golden Globe nominee for best motion picture – musical or comedy.
“Turn Me On, Dammit,” is a Norwegian coming-of-age comedy that won best screenplay at the Tribeca Film Festival. At the time, Bergsholm was a 17-year-old high school student from western Norway with no acting experience who just happened to accompany a friend to the audition for “Turn Me On, Dammit.”
Last fall, the festival introduced a filmmaking project for local teens – DIY/FIY -- who were asked to make autobiographical films about the things they love to do and submit them to the festival for programming.
“We wanted to empower the youth of Williamsburg to express themselves through the medium of motion pictures,” festival director Timothy Barnard explained, “and by programming the films at the festival, we want to showcase their cinematic creations for the whole community.”
DIY/FIY film projects will be judged by a jury of local and guest celebrity filmmakers with selected films being screened alongside youth and youth-themed films from around the world at the festival.
For all information about the festival, go to Film Festival’s website.
About the festival
With the support of the William & Mary Wendy and Emery Reves Center for International Studies and the Roy R. Charles Center, the Global Film Festival launched in 2008 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Williamsburg Theater. This year, the sixth annual W&M Global Film Festival will again bring the world of global film to the Williamsburg community through film screenings, events and invited guests.
