In memory of Tom Verlaine
It's with sadness but with fond memories that we're posting a clip from Television frontman Tom Verlaine's visit to the 7th James River Film Festival in 2000. Tipped off by Steve Wilson that Verlaine was touring with a package of vintage avant-garde films, we soon got in touch with him--by telephone!--and he agreed to come down, but we'd have to fly his accompanist, Jimmy Rip, in from LA. The night they got in after our other programs were finished, they asked to go out to hear some live music, so we took them to Jimmy's, the now-defunct jazz club at Broad and Meadow, where they marveled at the low cost of the drinks!
On Sunday, April 16th, at the Byrd Theater, the performance was packed and Verlaine went off with his loopy guitar solos backed by session guitarist Rip, they played to Star of the Sea (Man Ray), Fall of the House of Usher (Watson & Webber), The Life & Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra (Florey & Vorkapich), Emak Bakia (Man Ray), They Caught the Ferry (Dreyer), Autumn Mist (Kirsanoff), and Ballet Mechanique (Leger). At the end, the applause rained down, and Verlaine humbly stood and acknowledged the crowd, urged on by Rip.
Tom, we barely knew ye, but we thank you and will forever remember you!
-Michael Jones
Gary Lucas - JRFF 2023
via Gary Lucas
”TOO MUCH: Just confirmed, on Sat. April 22nd I am returning for my fifth appearance performing in Richmond Virginia at the fantastic JAMES RIVER FILM FESTIVAL with my live score accompanying Orson Welles's 1938 silent surrealist farce "TOO MUCH JOHNSON". This will take place at Richmond's sumptuous art-deco palace The Byrd Theatre and I am so looking forward to performing there again. My last appearance playing with this film was sold-out at the Noorderzon Festival in Groningen Netherlands recently, and I am keen to play with the film again! I'm told by festival organizer Mike Jones that one of Orson Welles's favorite Mercury Theater players, Joseph Cotten, the star of this madcap film, is buried nearby — so a trip to his final resting place is de rigeur.”
More about "Too Much Johnson": http://garylucas.com/www/tmj/tmj.shtml
photo by Phil Mango
Full festival line up will be announced in the coming months. We hope to see you all at this year’s James River Film Festival!
28th James River Short Film Showcase Winners!
Thank you, everyone, for coming out and supporting the filmmakers! We had a fantastic crowd and a wonderful evening. Be sure to come back next year!
A special thank you to our Jurors, Our Guest Judge Kevin McNeer, the VMFA, the VFO, and everyone who helped make this year a success.
The Winners of this year’s prizes are listed below. Filmmakers, we will be in touch!
In Order of Appearance:
Coffee and Yellow Roses - Paul L. Hugins, Arlington, VA - $400
On My Mind - Walker Moore, Richmond, VA 8:58 - $400
5 Stages of Romantic Relationships - Adam Rosenburg, Richmond, VA $400
Rings - Colin Earner, Richmond, VA - $400
The Kathryn Stephens VA Filmmaker Award - $200
Two Lines - Walker Moore, Richmond, VA
People’s Choice Award - $200
On My Mind - Walker Moore, Richmond, VA
28th Annual James River Short Film Showcase
Advance tickets can be purchased here
28th JAMES RIVER SHOWCASE
FINALISTS SCREENING & AWARDS PRESENTATION
JANUARY 13, 2023
Leslie Cheek Theater, VMFA
PROGRAM:
Garlic Party - Rose Vincelli Gustine, Brooklyn, NY 15:45
Bye Bye Lullaby - Sonali Gulati/ Rohan Gulati, Richmond, VA 4:42
Post Comedy - Via Bia, Arlington, VA/ LA, CA 8:30
Coffee and Yellow Roses - Paul L. Hugins, Arlington, VA 15:24
On My Mind - Walker Moore, Richmond, VA 8:58
INTERMISSION:
Two Lines - Walker Moore, Richmond, VA 8:48
A Moment of Your Time - Adam Lapallo, Richmond, VA 19:40
5 Stages of Romantic Relationships - Adam Rosenburg, Richmond, VA 1:26
Rings - Colin Earner, Richmond, VA 16:46
The Young Women Are Not Getting Along - Maddy Wade, Richmond, VA 5:13
non-screened honorable mentions:
Poplars - Matthew Garrison
Break - William Fields
AWARDS PRESENTATION: $2,000 in prizes! Plus the Kathryn Stephens VA Filmmaker Award & People's Choice Awards!
KEVIN McNEER, born in Richmond, and this year's awards judge, attended the Moscow Film School, and has directed several documentaries, including Stalin Thought of You (2009) , winner at the Tel Aviv Film Festival, Frame-by-Frame (2019), on the making of the stop-action film Hoffmannaiada in production for decades, and On One Day of the Days of God (2015), about the vanishing traditional life on the Yemen island of Soqotra.
2023 JAMES RIVER SHORT FILM SHOWCASE JURORS:
CARYL BURTNER is an award-winning conceptual artist whose movie-loving mother took her to see her first movie, "The Snow Queen", at the age of two. Thousands of films later, and despite a growing collection of ticket stubs, she still screens avidly.
TOM CAMPAGNOLI watched Moby Dick and Hitchcock movies with his father as a boy, and later was manager/projectionist at Richmond's repertory Biograph Theatre. He was Kosmo in the RVA animated epic, Futuropolis and is recently retired from UR libraries.
KEVIN DOWNS is a screenwriter, and producer/director of numerous commercial shorts--including music videos for Lost Highway and Epic Records. Educated at VCU and NYU he currently teaches screenwriting and film production/ history courses.
KEN HOPSON oversees The Workshop at VCU Libraries, which supports and collaborates with academic research and design through emerging media technologies. His personal narrative is a loose adaptation of an unscripted true story.
COLEMAN JENNINGS is a graduate of VCU's Mass Comm department and a member of the James River Film Society, overseeing the Society's various programming and tech needs. An avid rock climber, he also collects "found" Super-8 home movies.
ASHLEY KISTLER is a graduate of VCU's SOA, and has curated at the VMFA, the Visual Arts Center, and was director of the beloved Anderson Gallery at VCU. She recently edited a book on the gallery's collection and is active in the RVA arts scene.
JERE KITTLE is an award-winning photographer, artist and filmmaker based in Richmond, educated at VCU. She was a finalist in the London Int'l. Super-8 Festival: Straight 8, and the Phillips Collection "American Moments", in Washington, DC in 2015.
RAASA LEELA DE MONTEBELLO is an award winning filmmaker and actress who divides her time between NYC and Ashland. A NYU film grad, she currently freelance edits and directs; her films have been won several awards at RVA's 48 Hr Film Projects.
JAMESON PRICE is a Richmond musician and activist and a member of the James River Film Society central program committee. He has curated the Silent Music Revival programs at various RVA venues for the past 16 years.
TODD STARKWEATHER holds a PhD in English,University of Illinois-Chicago, where he studied film theory. He has taught literature, writing and film studies at various universities in the past twenty years, and currently teaches English in middle school.
SPECIAL THANKS to finalists judge Kevin McNeer, the jurors, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The Showcase is sponsored annually by the Virginia Film Office and the James River Film Society, a non-profit organization. www.jamesriverfilm.org
James River Film Society
presents:
SILENT MUSIC REVIVAL (holiday edition!)
“Reviving the craft of live music to Silent Cinema”
Featuring:
A Collection of Holiday Shorts (1913-1932)
Live Score by:
Paint On It
https://paintonit.band/
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16th
7:30PM:Doors • 8PM: Start
at Basic City Beer Co.
https://www.basiccitybeer.com
212 W 6TH STREET. RICHMOND, VA.
(in old town manchester)
Plenty of parking (there's a parking lot!)
Basic City also has FOOD w/ DogTown Billy Pie brick-fired pizza
•DONATION$ GREATLY APPRECIATED•
James River Film Society & Grimalkin Records @grimalkin.records
presents:
SILENT MUSIC REVIVAL
reviving the craft of live music to silent cinema
featuring:
“From Morn to Midnight” (1920)
Cashier who embezzles money from a bank and goes on a desperate search for the meaning of life in a nightmarish metropolis.
w/ Live Score by:
(Eli)zabeth Owens
@eli.zabeth.owens
Playing with the languages of folk, romance, soundscape, avant-garde and glitch, their music results in a timeless yet cuttingly fresh brand of art rock unlike anything you’ll hear today.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22nd
7:30PM:Doors • 8PM: Start
@ Basic City Beer Co
@basiccitybeerco_rva
(in old town manchester)
•DONATION$ GREATLY APPRECIATED•
The Dog Days of Summer Fest
THE JAMES RIVER FILM SOCIETY
presents:
"DOG DAYS FUNDRAISING FILM FESTIVAL"
August 19, 7 pm-August 21, 11:59 pm
3 Nights Only! Don't miss it!
Are the last humid days of your summer just dragging by?
Liven up your screen life with a blast from the past!
Stream short film selections from classic JRFS programs like:
Flicker, Filmmakers’ Forum & The James River Short Film Showcase*
(*our annual short film juried competition, VA's oldest, since 1994, co-sponsored by the VA Film Office)
Selections include…
Super-8 Mom - Dave Ellsworth, 5 min., 2002
Another Dress, Another Button - Lyn Elliot, 2:45 min., 2011
Wallpapers - Jennifer Scully-Thurston/ Jeff Roll, 9 min., 2014
Grandma's Biscuits - James Parrish 6.5 min., 2003
The New Friend - Ted Salins, 11 min., 1983
Stamped for Failure - Alex Germanotta, 5:50 min., 2006
Sapsucker - Christopher Holmes, 12:20 min., 2007
Decay - Raasa Leela de Montebello, 6:40 min., 2018
Albumleaf - Paul Turano, 7 min., 2010
Dead Friends (When Blue Turns Red) - Michael Jones, 12 min., 1984 (silent)
37-73 - Richard Myers, 60 min., 1974**
(** Mr. Myers, one of our last remaining great avant-garde filmmakers from the 50-60s-70s era, which was a Renaissance of American Underground film production, has graciously allowed us to include his film, 37-73, in this fundraising "retro" program. Myers was a longtime film professor at Kent State University, and other titles include Allison, Akran, Monstershow. He was a James River Film Festival guest in 2001 & 2013 and remains a favorite in our hearts.)
PROGRAM TRT: approx. 2 hr. 20 min.
You’ll be able to view the whole program here on our website starting August 19th @7PM Sharp!
As another struggling non-profit, we would appreciate any donation you're comfortable with--if you enjoyed this program (and the 100s of others we've presented since 1994), please, please hit the donate button!
Or:
send a check made/ addressed to: "James River Film Society"
c/o P. O. Box 7469, Richmond VA, 23221.
Your support can make a real difference, and thanks. PS! We also want to thank all the filmmakers who generously co-operated in this venture!
Now accepting entries!
Have a film you’d like to show off? Submit it to this year’s film showcase! For 28 years we’ve been running our annual film competition, and while formats have changed, the heart of the competition remains unchanged. $2,000 in prizes are up for grabs and a chance to have your film shown at the VMFA! More details can be found on our FilmFreeway page, right here!
The 28th James River Film Festival!
Please come out and support us this year! The full schedule of events can be found here
Advance Tickets for select events can be found here
Interested in volunteering for an event?
Contact our volunteer coordinator vilma@jamesriverfilm.org and state your first and second event choices, an e-mail or phone contact and we'll get back to you asap. We're looking for 2-3 volunteers per event for ticket & t-shirt sales and ushering. Volunteers will be expected to arrive 45 min. before event starts.
Volunteers get free festival admissions, a t-shirt, an invite for two to the festival cookout Saturday April 2 and a chance to meet the guests!
Thanks again, as always to our wonderful decades long sponsors. the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, VCUarts, The Virginia Film Office and The Byrd Theater!
Thank you to Kevin McNeer for this year’s T-shirt and poster designs!