CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)– “They say Virginia is for lovers, and I certainly feel the love right now,” famed theater, television and movie actor Nathan Lane told a packed house at the Paramount Theater Sunday.
Following a 30th anniversary screening of the 1996 comedy “The Bird Cage,” which starred Lane, Robin Williams and Gene Hackman, Lane received the festival’s Visionary Award, as “an iconic artist whose filmography has changed the course of modern cinema,” according to the festival’s website.
“I am many things. My gifts, they are legion,” Lane said. “I am not now, nor have I ever been a visionary. Honestly, I just thank God so I’m pretty.”
During his humorous, self-deprecating and sometimes acerbic acceptance speech, Lane shared memories of working with the late Williams and Mel Brooks, and told the audience he is far more proud of his work in theater, especially his performances in “The Iceman Cometh” and “Death of a Salesman.”
“Genuine collaboration and doing the hard work with professionalism and kindness, that’s what it all means,” Lane said. “Remember to hold on to your dream and why you dreamed it in the first place.”
Sunday marked the final day of this year’s film festival, one that included appearances by some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Lane, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, producer Todd Black, and actress Jessica Lange.
Actor, writer, and director Tim Blake Nelson appeared at screenings of both “The Leader,” in which he starred, and “The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd,” which wrote, directed, and starred in.
Director David O. Russell was on hand for a showing of his 2013 film “American Hustle” and also shared the stage with Black for an event in which clips from his 2026 film “Madden” were shown.
”When you have artists like Nathan Lane, and Jessica Lange, Tim Blake Nelson, it’s extraordinary,” UVA Vice Provost for the Arts Jody Kielbasa told Cville Right Now.
Ben Mankiewicz, the primetime host of Turner Classic Movies, hosted a Q&A with Lane following the screening. Mankiewicz and Lane discussed the film’s unique history and impact on culture, and touched on Lane’s status in Hollywood. He complimented Lane on the breadth of roles he has played and the courage of his trying of new things,
”I hope this audience understands how hard it is for actors to open up other people’s perceptions of them and other avenues for them to act,” Mankiewicz said.
The 39th annual Virginia Film Festival came to a close on Sunday with a slate of films that highlighted the festival’s themes: Virginia’s excellence in filmmaking, the role of music and musicians in making films special, and stories from the LGBTQIA community.
This year’s event began Wednesday with both a screening of Jesse Eisenberg’s new comedy “The Debut,” and an announcement by UVA President Scott Beardsley that the University of Virginia, which hosts the festival, will breaking ground on its new Center for the Arts, which will house the Tessa and Richard Ader Performing Arts Center, a 1,200-seat performing arts hall, which is being conceived as a future place to screen some of the Festival’s centerpiece films. “I firmly believe that this year’s festival provides us with a perfect runway for the next four years as we head towards the opening of the new Center for the Arts,” Kielbasa said at the Paramount Wednesday. “The Center for the Arts will be this exciting new venue to host additional films and events, while always maintaining our longtime home here at the Paramount Theater and at the Violet Crown.” Kielbasa also took time to congratulate the Festival’s artistic director, Ilya Tovpis, for crafting the strongest lineup in the event’s 18 year history.
The 2026 Festival’s program at the Paramount Theater ended with Greg Firth’s “1 15 41 Tragedy to Triumph,” about the fatal shootings of D’Shaun Perry, Devin Chandler, and Lavel Davis Jr., that rocked the UVA community in 2022, and the 2025 Virginia Football season that saw the Hoos win 11 games three years after the tragedy.
The final film on the schedule was Steven Pressman’s “Dust Bowls and Jewish Souls,” a documentary about the later career of songwriter Woody Guthrie, and his intersections with Jewish culture in New York City during the Second World War and onward.
