AWFJ @ Middleburg Film Festival – Sandie Angulo Chen reports
The Middleburg Film Festival celebrated its 12th year this past weekend, presenting 43 feature and documentary films in the scenic Virginia town, just an hour from Washington, D.C. Founded by entrepreneur Sheila Johnson and led by executive director Susan Koch, the festival consistently highlights women filmmakers and curates an impressive lineup of films. The 2024 Audience Award for Best Narrative Film was a tie between Conclave, directed by Edward Berger, and September 5, directed by Tim Fehlbaum. The Audience Award for Best Documentary Film was awarded to Martha, directed by R.J. Cutler, while Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig won the Audience Award for Best International Film. Actress Isabella Rossellini, attending in support of Conclave, was honored with the Agnès Varda Trailblazing Film Artist Award.
“On behalf of our audience, we are delighted to recognize these filmmakers and their work. Their stories deeply resonated with our filmgoers, for both their exceptional storytelling and craft,” said MFF Executive Director Susan Koch. “We are so grateful to our filmgoers who turned out in record numbers this year,” she added.
Several AWFJ members, including Mae Abdulbaki, Lauren Bradshaw, Sandie Angulo Chen, Leslie Combemale, Roxana Hadadi, Cortland Jacoby, Lauren Veneziani and Jazz Tangcay, attended the festival’s annual Women in Film luncheon. The event featured Piano Lesson star Danielle Deadwyler, legendary songwriter Diane Warren, Black Box Diaries director Shiori Ito, and a group of international filmmakers and dignitaries from Kenya and Nigeria.
Here is what AWFJ critics @Middleburg had to say about this year’s festival offerings:
Mae Abdulbaki: Middleburg is always a joy to attend — good movies, great people, and an intimate, homey vibe that can’t be beat. This year, I was thrilled to have seen a plethora of thought-provoking, moving films, but one of the features that stood out to me the most is A24’s On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Written and directed by Rungano Nyoni, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl examines the patriarchy at play within a family following the death of Shula’s (Susan Chardy) Uncle Fred. After being found dead on the side of the road, Shula and her cousins, whom Fred sexually assaulted, must contend with the endless affection and respect their mothers have for their brother despite knowing what he’d done. It’s a measured, moving drama that treats its topic and the emotions of its characters with the utmost care and sensitivity, while also exploring the turmoil that comes with honoring tradition in death. I believe A24 moved the film’s release to 2025, but On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is definitely worth seeking out when it’s released, as it’s a film that has stayed with me since watching it.
Leslie Combemale: As usual, I had a lot of favorite moments at MFF this year, in part because the weather has literally been perfect every year since the first year of the fest, so even between films and interviews, taking a walk or sitting in the sun is integral to the Middleburg experience. This year, though, I had two interviews that were wonderful, and for very different reasons. I did the post-screening Q&A for The Wild Robot, a film I love, with composer Kris Bowers. My areas of expertise are animation and film music, so talking about that project came easily and was a joy. I love Kris’s work and have spoken to him before. He’s always a delight and so passionate about music! My interview with Ed Lachman, cinematographer for Maria (about Maria Callas) was more challenging. First, because cinematography is something I’m still learning about and am the least comfortable with, and secondly because my interview was right after the screening, so I had little time to mull over what I’d seen. I needn’t have worried. He’s the world’s nicest human. He not only explained some of his choices more broadly before getting technical, he also gave me his personal notes about the film! Speaking to incredibly talented artists is my favorite thing in the world to do, and this time in Middleburg I got to glory in subjects I know well and learn more about a subject essential to great filmmaking from one of the masters of the craft!
Sandie Angulo Chen: This year, I screened eight films at Middleburg, but the one that keeps lingering in my mind is the audacious Emilia Perez—a film best experienced without too much explanation. It’s a wildly imaginative, Spanish-language musical primarily set in Mexico, directed by maverick French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, who won the Cannes Jury Prize for it earlier this year. The film stars Zoe Saldana in a performance that showcases her range as a classically trained triple threat, alongside the remarkable Karla Sofia Gascón (who took home Best Actress at Cannes), and the versatile Selena Gomez. The story follows Saldana’s character, Rita Mora Castro, a Dominican-born, Mexican-educated criminal defense attorney, whose life takes a dramatic turn when a client offers her $2 million to help start a new life. The film’s song-and-dance sequences fluctuate from brilliant to catchy, with a touch of kitsch, but the performances are uniformly stellar. The narrative delves into the complexities of living authentically and the inevitable cost of starting over. Netflix is releasing the movie in theaters on Nov. 1, with streaming available starting Nov. 13.
Roxana Hadadi: My favorite film at Middleburg this year was Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which will be released by Neon on November 27. Rasoulof’s films are often pointedly critical toward the country’s ruling class for using religion as an excuse for their subjugation of Iranian citizens, and he was sentenced to eight years in prison for the content of The Seed of the Sacred Fig. (Rasoulof has since fled to Germany.) The Seed of the Sacred Fig is an incredibly personal and furious work, centering a family whose patriarch is promoted to a position as an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Guard. At nearly the exact same time as his promotion, the Woman-Life-Freedom protests begin spreading throughout Tehran, and that activism drives a wedge between him and his daughters, his daughters and his wife, and even him and his wife. The film incorporates actual footage from the protests to accentuate the increasing paranoia and fear within the family home and features fantastic performances throughout, particularly from actresses Mahsa Rostami and Setareh Maleki, who play the family’s two daughters. The horror-movie final act is a stunning turn.
Cortland Jacoby: It’s my seventh year at Middleburg, and I don’t think I’ve had a screening experience here quite like The Last Showgirl. Seeing a new side to Pamela Anderson is genuinely thrilling and there’s something apropos to watching her play an aging dancer coming to terms with her past when her career is ripped away from her. The supporting cast is brilliant with a softer Dave Bautista, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Kiernan Shipka bringing up the rear. Gia Coppola infuses the film with a joyous melancholy that I haven’t seen onscreen before and I already know it’s something I will return to multiple times throughout my life.
