13th Middleburg Film Festival: ‘Jay Kelly’ to Open, ‘Hamnet’ is Centerpiece Film, Honorees Announced
Chloé Zhao, Colin Farrell, Rose Byrne, Jafar Panahi, Jay Kelly Ensemble and Casting Directors Among Honorees
The Middleburg Film Festival announced today an initial lineup of films and honorees for its 13th edition set to run October 16-19. The festival lineup and schedule will be released in early October. Launching the four-day festival is Netflix’s Jay Kelly from Academy Award-nominated writer/director Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story), starring Academy Award winner George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Academy Award winner Laura Dern and Billy Crudup.
The film centers on Clooney’s titular movie star character, Jay Kelly, and his devoted manager (Sandler) as they embark on a whirlwind and unexpectedly profound journey through Europe. Poignant and humor-filled, the film examines life’s regrets and notable glories. MFF will honor the film with the Inaugural Ensemble & Casting Award to be presented to members of the cast and casting directors Douglas Aibel and Nina Gold.
Screening as the Centerpiece film is the Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice winner film Hamnet from Focus Features and directed by Academy Award-winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, The Rider) who is attending the Festival to accept the Visionary Director Award. Hamnet tells a powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet. Adapted from the widely acclaimed novel of the same name by Maggie O’Farrell, the film stars Academy Award nominees Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal as well as Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, Jacobi Jupe and Noah Jupe.
Colin Farrell will receive the Spotlight Actor Award following a screening of Netflix’s Ballad of a Small Player from director Edward Berger (Conclave, All Quiet on the Western Front). An Academy Award and BAFTA nominee for his work in The Banshees of Inisherin, the award honors Farrell’s wide-ranging filmography which includes The Lobster, In Bruges, Minority Report, and The Batman. Adapted from Lawrence Osborne’s 2014 novel, Ballad of a Small Player follows a high-stakes gambler lying low in Macau as his past, and debts, start to catch up with him.
Rose Byrne will be honored with the Agnès Varda Trailblazing Film Artist Award for her performance in Mary Bronstein’s A24 Sundance breakout If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. In the film, Byrne plays a mother whose world unravels as she contends with her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist. Byrne is best known for her Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated role in FX’s Damages, her breakout comedy turn in the Academy Award nominated Bridesmaids and starring roles in Neighbors and Neighbors 2. She currently stars in the Apple TV+ series Platonic alongside Seth Rogen. The Agnès Varda Award is accompanied by a grant for mentoring aspiring film artists.
Acclaimed Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi will be recognized with the Impact Award for his Cannes Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident from NEON. Long recognized as one of world cinema’s most vital and courageous voices, Panahi has continued to create internationally celebrated work despite restrictions on his ability to travel and make films in his home country. His new film follows a man whose life unravels after a seemingly minor traffic incident escalates into an exploration of guilt, justice and fate. He is one of only four filmmakers to win the top prize at the Cannes, Berlin and Venice Film Festivals. The film is also France’s official entry to the 2026 Academy Awards.
Individual tickets will go on sale in early October when the schedule and full slate are announced. For more information visit www.middleburgfilm.org or download the Festival’s mobile app.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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