POLLYWOOD | MIDDLEBURG FILM FESTIVAL
HOLLYWOOD IN HUNT COUNTRY Oscar-worthy films debut at the sixth annual Middleburg Film Festival. BY ERICA MOODY PHOTOS BY NANCY MILBURN KLECK, TONY POWELL , JOY ASICO, IRYNA KRUCHK0, ALFREDO FLORES AND ED FELKER
Director Jason Reitman, screenwriters Jay Carson and Matt Bai and producer Helen Estabrook at Wind Fields Farm with Tim Harmon’s horse, Newton de Vains
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vernight this has become one of the biggest film festivals in the world,” director Peter Farrelly marvelled as he introduced his film “Green Book” on the closing day of this year’s Middleburg Film Festival.Viggo Mortensen was mingling nearby with Hollywood insiders and local film buffs in the halls of the Salamander Resort & Spa in bucolic Middleburg,Va. (population 673). It was like that all weekend. The intimacy of the events (fireside chats felt like living room conversations), ease of attendance (lines were short, events started on time and shuttle buses chauffeured guests to various screening venues in town) and access to star power cannot be overstated. Where else could you chat with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jason Reitman without the barriers of paparazzi and PR reps? And the films! Not a bad one in the bunch. From the Steve McQueen
heist thriller “Widows” to the heartbreaking “Capernaum” from Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki, which won the Jury Prize at Cannes, screenings ran the gamut from indie nonfiction to blockbuster narratives. Among the 26 films featured in 2017, there were 33 Oscar nominations, and judging by the quality, this year may produce even more. But just how did this sleepy Virginia town become a staple stop for contenders on their way to the Oscars? We have Salamander Hotels CEO (and “Lee Daniels’The Butler” executive producer) Sheila Johnson and Middleburg Film Festival executive director and Emmy Awardwinning filmmaker Susan Koch to thank. After working together on the documentaries “Kicking It” and “The Other City,” in 2013 Johnson had the vision to bring in Koch who, with her excellent taste in cinema, foresight
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for films that matter and strong Hollywood contacts, has created a year-after-year lineup of high-quality movies worthy of discussion and acclaim. Screenings combined with events that engage the community (wine tastings and dinners, conversations and concerts, even a downtown art show) make the Middleburg Film Festival a sought-after event, not only for those in the film world but for hunt country and District residents as well. Every night, movie lovers gathered by a fire in the Salamander’s lobby over a spread of food and fine Scotch to digest each day’s films and forge new and lasting friendships.
THURSDAY Festivities kicked off with a “Welcome toVirginia” reception on the Garden Terrace of Salamander Resort, where sponsors and special guests
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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