Georges Méliès directed more than 500 short films from 1896 to 1913, specializing in innovative and challenging early silents that basically wrote the rules on how to “trick” the viewer’s eye.
Director Terry Gilliam called the French theater owner “the first great film magician” — magic was his original trade — and Martin Scorsese paid tribute to him, especially his iconic 1902 short, “A Trip To the Moon,” in the film “Hugo.” Sadly, less than half of Méliès’ films — documentaries, comedies, historical dramas, trick camera setups and his famous “fairy stories”— survive. But what we have showcases a visionary still capable of eliciting wonder.
“He was not only the father of special effects, and of narrative film, but he was a magician first,” says Michael Jones, co-founder of the James River Film Festival. “Movies came out of magic. People don’t quite realize that.”
It’s only right that a film festival intent on honoring the magic of the movies would include this master. Six of Méliès best films, including “A Trip To the Moon,” will be screened at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts during this year’s 32nd James River Film Festival, which runs from March 29 to April 4 in venues across town and online.
At this year’s confab, moviegoers have a variety of choices — acclaimed new documentaries (“Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk,” a harrowing look at life under Israeli siege in Gaza); landmark African-American cinema (Charles Burnett’s “Killer of Sheep” paired with a new documentary on the ’70s “Black Power” art of Dewey Crumpler); cult music films (“Head,” the psychedelic 1968 feature starring the Monkees); and offerings from Richmond filmmakers (“Futuropolis,” an ambitious 1984 animated fantasy shot here by animators Steve Segal and Phil Trumbo).
Jones doesn’t hide the fact that this year’s fest is a bit of a retrospective and features the return of favorite movies from previous installments. “We’ve used various mottos over the years,” Jones says. “The first one was ‘Films For the Independent-Minded,’ because we always concentrate on independent filmmakers. More recently, it’s been ‘Celluloid For the Cinematic Soul.’ This has always been about bringing to Richmond something that is out of the ordinary.”
This year’s festival starts at the VMFA on March 29 with a program of short films from VCU/Arts Cinema students: “In the Way” (Heath Russell), “Cross My Heart” (Joy Sharpe), “Mama’s Roots” (Alexander Scott) and “No Funny Business” (Madi Aragon). “We’ve always collaborated with VCU,” says Jones “The festival started there 31 years ago. This screening is important because this is the next generation of filmmakers.”
Director Charles Burnett was a previous guest of the festival. His 1977 “Killer of Sheep,” which the Library of Congress selected as part of the National Film Registry of “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” films, will screen at VMFA on Sunday at 1 p.m. “We’ve shown it a couple of times over the years. It’s one of the most important Black indie films ever,” says Jones. “It’s almost like an Italian neorealist film with non-professionals in acting roles.” The presentation of Georges Méliès films will follow on Sunday at 3:30, and the celebration of the first celluloid alchemist will open with actual magic. “We will have a live magician, Dan Dalton, who’s considered one of the best in Virginia,” says Jones.
Things take a serious turn at Studio Two Three on April 2 at 7:30 p.m. with “Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk,” a documentary directed by Iranian/French filmmaker Sepideh Farsi, who crafts a first hand account of life in war-torn Gaza. The film consists of video calls Farsi made with on-the-ground Palestinian journalist Fatima Hassouna. “It was selected to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival, and a day later, Hassouna and her family were killed by a drone raid,” says Jones. “So it’s kind of a memorial and a monument.” He adds that he knows that the film will be controversial given the debate over Israeli actions in Gaza, but that “the festival has never shied away from controversy.”
Given the festival’s foundation in academic film studies — Jones is a longtime film professor at VCU — there will also be experimental offerings on the schedule. On April 3 at 7 p.m, Michael Snow’s “Wavelength” will show at the Grace Street Theater, a bold puzzler that has stimulated debate since it debuted 60 years ago. The movie consists of a single, slow zoom pan from one end of a New York City loft to the other, but there’s more than meets the eye in this 45-minute meditation on urban living (the JRFF notes call it “a detective story”).
“Wavelength” is joined by the late Stan Brakhage’s psychedelic “Mothlight,” an abstract film made without a camera, where the filmmaker, a former guest of the festival, collected moth wings, flower petals and blades of grass, pressed them between strips of splicing tape and contact printed the results. This is a rare chance to actually view this somewhat notorious 3 1/2 minute film, from a director cited as an influence on everyone from documentarian Jonas Mekas to George Lucas to “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who were students of his at University of Colorado, Boulder.
Following that at 8 p.m., local director and VCU film professor Sasha Waters will be in attendance at a screening of her new documentary, “Mary Oliver: Saved By the Beauty of the World.” [For more on that film, stay tuned for an interview early next week by Style Editor Brent Baldwin, who recently spoke to Waters].
The final day of the festival, Saturday, April 4, begins at noon with a free screening at the Richmond Main Public Library of Josef von Sternberg’s 1935 fever dream, “The Devil is a Woman,” starring Marlene Dietrich. The showing of “Futuropolis,” also free, follows. Filmed over a period of nine years by fledgling animators Steve Segal and Phil Trumbo [“Pee-wee’s Playhouse”] and featuring a bevy of Richmond locales, it’s an inventive sci-fi fantasy that merges live actors, and animation. Segal, who has gone to work on big budget Pixar films such as “Toy Story,” will be in attendance.
In years past, the JRFF has specialized in bringing to Richmond rarely-screened music-related films, and this year is no exception. “Land of Look Behind,” slated for Studio Two Three on April 4 at 7 p.m., is a stirring 1981 film that documents Bob Marley’s funeral in Jamaica. Directed by the late Alan Greenberg, the film, according to the festival notes, is “a deep searching mediation on Jamaican life and culture.”
After a set of music by the Wrong Worshippers — which Jones describes as specializing in satiric, melodic pop — the festival concludes at 9 p.m. in spectacular day-glo fashion with a rare screening of “Head,” the 1968 debut film of director Bob Rafelson (“Five Easy Pieces”).
“Head’ has been called a “masterpiece” (Quentin Tarantino) and a mess (The New York Times). Arguably, it’s both. What happens when a ’60s pop band, derided for their manufactured image, decides to make an outrageous art film with no linear plot, and fills it with a cast that includes Frank Zappa, Annette Funicello, Victor Mature and former heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston? Oh yeah, and the movie’s co-writer is none other than a young Jack Nicholson. You want to see that movie, right? (Disclosure: This writer, an unrepentant Monkeeologist, will introduce the film).
This year’s festival also has an online component. From March 30 to April 1, several free internet screenings will be available at jamesriverfilm.org. This includes Richmond director Kevin McNeer’s documentary on the Russian political cartoonist Boris Efimov,”Stalin Thought of You,” Christopher Holmes’ 2014 family drama, “The Lost Colony,” and a collection of short films from the archives of the local Flicker Filmmakers Forum.
Jones admits that it’s getting harder and harder to produce a film festival that is actually about the art of film.
“It used to be that images were somewhat sacred,” he says. “They were shown in a darkened room. You went in there and it was like going to church. All of a sudden, people could watch any movie they want at any time and that kind of devalued the experience.”
He still calls the James River Film Festival “the people’s festival, the no red carpet festival. We honor the work. That’s kind of our mission. We’re honoring the artists, the creators.”
The 32nd annual James River Film Festival will be held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Studio Two Three, Grace Street Theater at VCU, the Richmond Main Public Library and at jameriverfilm.org from March 29 to April 4. Most screenings $7. For more, go to jamesriverfilm.org
James River Film Festival 2026 Schedule
Sunday, March 29 at VMFA
“VCUArts Cinema Short Films” (11:30 a.m.)
“In The Way” (Heath Russell, 16.21);
“Cross My Heart” (Joy Sharpe, 10:41);
“Mama’s Roots” (Alexander Scott, 15:47);
“No Funny Business” (Madi Aragon, 14:16)
Admission: $7 / VMFA Members $5
“Killer of Sheep”
w/ “Post-Atlantic: The Art of Dewey Crumpler” at 1 p.m.
Admission: $7 / VMFA Members $5
“The Magic of Melies” at 3:30 p.m.
w/ Magician Dan Dalton and a slideshow from the Méliès Museum in France by James Parrish
Admission: $7 / VMFA Members $5
Thursday, April 2 at Studio Two Three
“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” (7:30 p.m.)
Directed by Sepideh Farsi
(2025, 112 min, FR/PAL)
Admission $7
Friday, April 3 at Grace Street Theater
“Wavelength” (7 p.m.)
Directed by Michael Snow
“Mothlight”
Directed by Stan Brakhage
Admission: $7
Friday, April 3 at Grace Street Theater
“Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” (8 p.m.)
w/ guest filmmaker Sasha Waters
Admission: $7
Saturday, April 4 at Richmond Main Public Library
“The Devil is a Woman” at 12 p.m.
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
Free
“Futuropolis” (2 p.m.)
Directed by Steve Segal & Phil Trumbo
w/ guest filmmaker Steve Segal
Free
Saturday, April 4 at Studio Two Three
“Land of Look Behind” (7 p.m.)
Directed by Alan Greenberg
with live Music by The Wrong Worshippers
Admission: $7
“Head” (9 p.m.)
Directed by Rob Rafelson
Admission: $7
The Virtual Film Festival
Free online screenings available at jameriverfilm.org
Monday, March 30 (free online)
“Stalin Thought of You”
Documentary directed by Richmonder Kevin McNeer. Free screener available via the JRFF website.
Tuesday, March 31 (free online)
“Short Films From The Archive of The Flicker Filmmakers Forum”
Wednesday, April 1 (free online)
“The Lost Colony”
Directed by Christopher Holmes
