Middleburg Honorees: Ann Dowd, Dakota Johnson, and more...
Friday, October 1, 2021 at 2:30PM by Nathaniel R
We previously reported on the six films getting major attention at Middleburg Film Festival and now we know some of the stars who will be attending given the honors & conversations scheduled:
Agnes Varda Trailbazing Film Artist: Ann Dowd (Mass)
Actor Spotlight: Dakota Johnson (The Lost Daughter)
Director Spotlight: Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
International Spotlight: Paolo Sorrentino (The Hand of God)
Ensemble Cast Spotlight: Simon Rex and cast (Red Rocket)
Distingued Cinematographer: Ari Wegner (Power of the Dog)
Conversation: Hair and Makeup artist Donald Mowat (Dune)
Conversation: Songwriters Kathryn Bostic, Amie Doherty, Lesley Barber, and Diane Warren
Which of these talents would you most like us to interview? More after the jump including our own panel plus our favourite annual Middleburg event...
Our favourite night each year at Middleburg is something entirely unique to that festival. They always have a live concert with orchestra honoring a composer. That's a smart focus since the founder of the festival, Sheila Johnson, co-founded the entertainment network BET back in the day. In past years we've been to concerts honoring and starring Oscar nominees Diane Warren, Nicholas Britell, and Kris Powers and it will be so lovely to hear live music again after this long pandemic kept everything virtual. This year the honoree/performer is 80 year old showbiz mainstay Charles Fox. From the press release:
Legendary Oscar-nominated, Emmy and Grammy winning composer and songwriter Charles Fox is this year’s recipient of The Legacy Composer Award for his decades-long career spanning film, television, recorded music and theater. Fox has composed themes for such classic TV shows as The Love Boat, Happy Days, Wonder Women and Laverne and Shirley. His film scores include Barbarella, Foul Play, Victory at Entebbe and Nine to Five. The Songwriter Hall of Fame inductee has written mega hits including “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” “I’ve Got a Name” and “Ready to Take a Chance Again.” MFF will present a Tribute Concert and Conversation with Fox who will perform many of his notable scores and songs. He is also a Steinway artist.
And, finally, as we previously hinted, we're also reprising our own panel (with co-hosts Clayton Davis and Jazz Tangcay) that we launched a few years back.
Additionally, the popular panel discussions on the film awards season and film criticism - Coffee & Contenders and Talk Back to the Critics - are returning this year.
Reader Comments (7)
Nathaniel: can Dakota Johnson get a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for The Lost Daughter? She seems like she would've been a sure-fire GG nominee...alas.
I really hope Mass and it's actors don't get lost this season with some of the big guns still to turn up,i'd like an interview with Ann Dowd.
Hey Nat, I can't find anywhere you've written about Mass. Did you have an MVP in the cast? Buy them as supporting or think they should've gone lead?
Dakota seems prime for a nomination now. I even thought that she deserved one for A Bigger Splash.
I think it's time to post again that great interview with Ann Dowd right when she was self-campaigning for Compliance.
interview ann dowd but all the questions are about martha plimpton
Sorrentino! I loved Il Divo especially, but most of his works have something worth discussing (Jane Fonda, for example). And how can you not want to talk with Ann Dowd about Hereditary as well as Mass?