Cinematic altruism is alive and well this year in Reston, Virginia.
The ninth annual Washington West Film Festival, which returns to Reston Town Center this Thursday through Sunday, allows audiences to watch exclusive new releases, with all proceeds going to charity.
“We screen all types of films: short films, feature documentaries, feature narrative films,” founder Brad Russell told WTOP. “At the end of the day, we give away our box office. We give 100% of our proceeds to kids in need. … Our audience members, by buying a ticket to the Washington West Film Festival, are actually creating a story. We use those funds to help others. It’s super fun for all of us.”
The festival kicks off Thursday with a “Star Wars” salute, featuring a red carpet of Stormtroopers and R2D2, followed by a special Q&A with C-3PO himself.
“We have the honor of hosting Anthony Daniels, the only actor who’s been in every ‘Star Wars’ movie,” Russell said. “We’re calling it ‘In Conversation,’ a 45-minute interview. … We asked Lucasfilm if we could show a few clips from the original trilogy, and they just really accommodated this event. So, during the interview we’re going to look at one clip from each of the original three movies. … That will be followed by the original ‘Episode IV’ that Lucasfilm has shared.”
The fun continues Friday with a number of short films.
“We’ve got a great lineup of shorts, a couple of potential Oscar looks,” Russell said. “One is called ‘Raw Tuba,’ a local story from Baltimore, very moving and inspiring. A young man who grew up in a very poor, challenging situation ends up getting his doctorate in music in tuba, plays with some of the great symphonies around the world, then comes back to his neighborhood in Baltimore.”
Friday culminates with local filmmaker Daniel Hanna’s “Miss Virginia.”
“It is the true story of a single mom in inner-city D.C. who is really challenged to raise her family, just financial challenged, and fights against the D.C. school district to provide better education opportunities for her son,” Russell said. “Uzo Aduba is the lead in this and she’s really great from ‘Orange is the New Black.’ Matthew Modine is in the film and [Niles Fitch], the young man from ‘This is Us.'”
Saturday brings the ESPN 30:30 doc “The Good, The Bad, The Hungry.”
“It’s a really interesting story about the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest,” Russell said. “Not only just the Japanese-American rivalry, but part of the sub-story is how ESPN and the rest of the sports world embraced this as a sport.”
Saturday also includes the Sundance Audience Award winner “Burden.”
“‘Burden’ is a true story,” Russell said. “In South Carolina in the late ’90s, a KKK museum was established without the town knowing it. A lot of violent reaction happens that really splits the town. It’s a story of forgiveness and redemption. … This is the first screening since it won at Sundance. … Forest Whitaker leads a really great cast [of] Garrett Hedlund, Andrea Riseborough, Tom Wilkinson, Usher.”
Sunday brings laughs in Matt Ratner’s “Standing Up, Falling Down.”
“It’s the new Billy Crystal film,” Russell said. “He is the colead, kind of a dark comedy.”
Sunday culminates with a pair of films by Oscar nominee David Darg, starting with the 50-minute racing documentary, “Electric Kingdom.”
“Darg called to say he just finished a film … that was just finished being edited like three days ago from Saudi Arabia,” Russell said. “He was brought on as the director for a fascinating documentary about the first [Formula] E Race Car race that Saudi Arabia just hosted. It’s really the Saudis’ first public recognition of moving away from oil by hosting this electric, battery-powered formula race.”
After that, Darg will stick around to show the 28-minute “Lazarus.”
“It’s a beautiful story about a man with albinism from Malawi,” Russell said. “Many albinos are murdered. It’s just a horrific thing that happens still in some part of the world. … Lazarus is a really talented musician. His music has made him famous in his country and made the albinism community suddenly cool or accepted. It’s getting world recognition, it’s winning awards, there’s some early Oscar talk about this film. We’re super excited to close the festival with it.”
As mentioned, all proceeds go to charities, including Kids in the Spotlight.
“Ty Burrell from ‘Modern Family’ introduced us to a foster-kid program in Los Angeles,” Russell said. “They introduce foster kids from around Los Angeles to industry professionals: editors, cinematographers, directors. The kids end up learning the film industry as a future potential trade, but also end up telling part of their life story in a short film that they direct. Counselors are hailing it as a very therapeutic process for dealing with the tough situations they had to live through.”
The festival also benefits the Henry & Williams Evans Home for Children.
“The Robert Duvall Children’s Fund here on the East Coast introduced us to the Evans Home for Children in Winchester, which is a remarkable foster home for teenagers,” Russell said. “We’ve helped those kids for a number of years prepare for school, from simple things like school supplies to getting ready for college. We’ve gotten to know a lot of kids through these programs and we love it.”
Through it all, the festival believes a story can change the world.
“We believe, at Washington West, that all of us are living out stories,” Russell said. “We tend to think, especially in America, that the storytellers are the celebrities, the people up front or on stage.”
“We believe our audience members have important stories to tell, to be a part of, to engage in. We’ve all been through challenges, we’ve all faced disappointments, we’ve all had victories in our lives, and we believe the summation of those stories are what really help us connect with others.”
Find more details on the festival website. Hear our full conversation below:
