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A still from the PBS docuseries “The Good Road,” filming along the James River (Image courtesy “The Good Road”)
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A still from the documentary “Alliance,” featuring Jewish pioneers who fled czarist Russia (Image courtesy Ted Salins)
Prepare all ye raving maniacs of cinema for the 29th installment of adventurousness for the eye and ear provided by the James River Film Festival, April 20-23. There will be a traditional and unusual range of movies, sound and silent, music both live and recorded, with events ticketed and free at various venues.
Several offerings hold direct Richmond connections, such as the 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 21, event at Grace Street Theater (tickets are $8). Richmond’s Hotel X, celebrating 30 years of music, with special guest Gary Lucas in his fifth festival appearance, will provide the sound beds for several “city symphony” shorts, including Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand’s 1921 silent short, “Manhatta.”
On Saturday, April 22, the fare at The Byrd Theatre is packed with Richmond-ania. Craig Martin hosts two segments of the PBS docuseries, “The Good Road,” beginning at 11 a.m. (tickets are $8). The “Virginia Balance” segment concerns the Monacan Indian Nation’s quest for national recognition and their four-year struggle to preserve the threatened lands of their people’s historic and sacred primary town, Rassawek, situated at the confluence of the James and Rivanna rivers. Rassawek served as a seat of governance, religious observances and generations of burials. The “Holy River” portion delves into the efforts of the James River Association and allied groups to both clean up the James — which gave birth to Richmond — and sustain the reproduction of the once plentiful sturgeon. The prehistoric, bottom-feeding fish are regaining numbers, and those that originated in these waters return biannually to spawn.
Concerning a different sort of migration, the 1:30 p.m. Saturday screening, “Alliance” (tickets are $8), is a documentary from Susan Donnelly about 43 Russian Jewish families who fled oppressive Czarist rule in the late 19th century for new lives in southern New Jersey. There, they created the cooperative agriculturally-centered Alliance Colony. Donnelly’s great-grandfather was one of the original Alliance settlers. The film’s cinematographer is longtime Richmond filmmaker and educator Ted Salins. A Q&A will follow the screening.
Continuing at The Byrd, a two-part Richmond Music Video Showcase, organized by musician Laney Sullivan of the duo Holy River, kicks off at 6 p.m. The first section presents work from the film and music collective Good Day RVA and is co-hosted by producer Chris Damon. The music videos made by this group for regional bands pair land-and-cityscapes that resonate with their music. A new video will make its debut here. After an intermission with a live performance in The Byrd’s lobby, the showcase will take the audience on a journey from the past into the present with videos from the ’80s of Single Bullet Theory, The Seymores and a new video of renowned saxophonist Plunky Branch.
The evening is rounded out at 9 p.m. with the presentation of Orson Welles’ 1938 silent film, “Too Much Johnson,” with the accompaniment of Lucas (tickets are $15). The madcap film features Petersburg’s own Joseph Cotten, who appeared in some of Welles’ best-known films, such as “Citizen Kane” and “The Magnificent Ambersons.”
All in all, it’s a weekend for the cineaste in everyone.
For more information about the James River Film Festival, visit jamesriverfilm.org.
