Explore the accomplishments of Gordon Parks in the art of the moving image! Three major films directed by Parks will be shown over the course of this two-day event. This festival is inspired by Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott.
The Learning Tree
(1969; 107 min)
Dir. Gordon Parks
Thu, Oct 13, 6:30–9 pm
Leslie Cheek Theater
$8 (VMFA members $5)
Rated PG
Get Tickets
This poignant story was adapted by Gordon Parks from his own semi-autobiographical novel. Set in a small town in 1920s Kansas, the film relates the overwhelming events that force a black teenager into sudden manhood.
The Learning Tree was the first major Hollywood studio movie directed by an African American and was among the first 25 films to be preserved by the U.S. Library of Congress in the National Film Registry.
Following the film, Dr. Sarah Eckhardt, VMFA Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, will conduct a short gallery tour of Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott.
Image: Warner Bros. Studios
Leadbelly
(1976; 126 min)
Dir. Gordon Parks
Fri, Oct 14, 1–3:30 pm
Leslie Cheek Theater
$8 (VMFA members $5)
Rated PG
Get Tickets
With guidance from Parks and an excellent portrayal by Roger E. Mosley, the rough-and-tumble life of Huddie William Leadbetter (1889–1947) makes for an engaging, entertaining, and educational film. The man who called himself “Lead Belly” mastered the twelve-string guitar along with a slew of other instruments, and he wrote or recorded many iconic folk/blues standards such as “Rock Island Line,” “Midnight Special,” and “Goodnight Irene.”
Double Feature: Admission to Leadbelly also covers admission to Shaft. Present your ticket at the theater entrance.
Image: Swank Motion Pictures
Shaft
(1971; 100 min)
Dir. Gordon Parks
Fri, Oct 14, 6:30–9 pm
Leslie Cheek Theater
$8 (VMFA members $5)
Rated R
Get Tickets
The success of this taut urban action movie launched an entire film genre, affectionately known as “Blaxploitation,” and is one of the best of the bunch. Richard Roundtree plays a charismatic antihero who’s as handy with his fists as he is with the ladies. By casting a black actor as a typically gritty, conventional crime film lead, Parks made Shaft especially revolutionary and influential. Film director/actor Tim Reid will introduce the film and speak afterwards.
Double Feature: Admission to Leadbelly also covers admission to Shaft. Present your ticket at the theater entrance.
Image: Warner Bros. Studios
Listen, play, and explore at VMFA College Night! Join members of the College Advisory Council for games in the Marble Hall, view the work of Gordon Parks, and hear a lecture about the photographer by John Edwin Mason, Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia.
Event Schedule
With John Edwin Mason, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia
6–7 pm | Leslie Cheek Theater
$8 (VMFA members $5)
Students free with college ID
Play!
7–8:30 pm | Marble Hall
Join us in the Marble Hall for a game night led by student members of VMFA College Advisory Council.
Explore
Visit the special exhibition of photographs by Gordon Parks. All galleries open until 9 pm.
Listen
Enjoy Jazz Café until 9 pm.
Few photographers have shaped the American public’s understanding of pressing social issues as much as Gordon Parks. From the 1940s until the 1970s, photo-essays that he published in Life magazine introduced millions of readers to people and ideas that challenged and sometimes changed the way that they saw their nation and themselves. This lecture traces the impact of three of his most influential photo-essays.
With Dr. Sarah Eckhardt, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art & Karen E. Haas, Lane Curator of Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Explore Gordon Parks’s larger career at Life magazine by examining VMFA’s collection of the photographer’s works. The conversation will be followed by a visit to the special exhibition Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott. This program is presented as a collaboration between the University of Richmond and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
What did the ancient Greeks and Romans think about dogs? Were they seen as faithful companions, helpful hunters, or fierce guardians? Through mythological stories, ancient author’s accounts and artistic depictions, discover the Ancient Greek and Roman view of man’s best friend.
With Karen E. Haas, Lane Curator of Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., Executive Director of the Gordon Parks Foundation,
& Dr. Sarah Eckhardt, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
Join Karen E. Haas, curator of Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott, and Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., Executive Director of the Gordon Parks Foundation, in conversation with Dr. Sarah Eckhardt, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. This program is presented as a collaboration between the University of Richmond and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Jean Renoir, son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and a master of French cinema, chose to make his first Technicolor work entirely in India. Based on the Rumer Godden novel, the film eloquently contrasts the lives of young British and Indian women with the immutability of the Ganges River in Bengal. Renoir’s nuanced understanding of the culture, its people, and the British presence enriches this graceful exploration of transitory emotions and everlasting creation. Dr. John Henry Rice will provide post-film commentary.
This film event complements the VMFA print exhibition, LIGHT AND LINE: E. S. Lumsden’s Visions of India.
VCUarts students were invited to design and develop their own products inspired by works in VMFA’s outstanding permanent collection. Now, VCUarts and VMFA Shop are proud to introduce the three finalists and their creatively designed, handcrafted products. Come to the VMFA Shop and meet these talented emerging artists! Exclusive VMFA member discount on all purchases.
Learn more about the VMFA Fellowship Program with this free discussion open to practicing and aspiring artists and art historians. Fellowship Program Coordinator Jenny Harding will provide a history of the program and review the eligibility requirements as well as helpful hints for navigating the application process.
Featuring Daphne Maxwell Reid in discussion with Elvatrice Belsches, the film’s researcher and writer. Moderated by Kimberly Brown.
This documentary explores the extraordinary life of Elizabeth Keckly against the national crisis of the Civil War. Born a slave in Virginia, Keckly’s skill as a seamstress enabled her to purchase her freedom. She became the favorite dressmaker and personal confidante of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, and she later established a relief organization for freedmen and injured black soldiers.
Founded in 2010, the VCU Southern Film Festival explores how the distinctive qualities of the South have been portrayed onscreen by bringing together films and filmmakers with constructive commentary. Cosponsored by the VCU Department of History and VMFA.
