Run, Don’t Walk, to a Film Festival: My Experience at the 2025 Middleburg Film Festival

Zach shares his experience at one of the most uniquely intimate film festivals in the US

I was in my freshman year of college when I first discovered the concept of “film festivals.” You’ve heard of the big ones — Cannes, Sundance, Venice, Telluride. When I first discovered that these things existed, my mind immediately jumped to what it would be like to attend one. A whole weekend, just watching the biggest films of the year, hanging out with movie stars and directors? Surely, they must all be like that, right? Sign me up.

As time went on, I resigned myself to the idea that, not only was attending one of these festivals exceedingly difficult, but hanging out with the Hollywood elite was also out of the question. The dream would remain a dream.

Fast forward to this past September. A friend of mine reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in attending the Middleburg Film Festival. For those not from Virginia, or even those in Virginia, Middleburg is a small town closer to D.C. — a very nice small town, but still a small one. I had no idea they had a film festival and automatically made the assumption that it must be a small, independent one. Me, being a film lover, though, was open to the idea of seeing some local movies and meeting some fellow film lovers.

My assumption, however, was oh so very wrong. The Middleburg Film Festival, it turns out, not only hosts most of the biggest films of the fall festival season each year, but also welcomes big Hollywood stars and directors, who come to this small town in Virginia both for the scenery, yes, but also because the Middleburg Film Festival is renowned for being a “true” festival — not one swarmed by paparazzi and celebrity mega fans, but instead real film lovers who want to engage with the material and talk with these big, Hollywood celebrities not about how Timmy is still with Kylie, but instead about the art itself.

Needless to say, I cleared my weekend plans and bought tickets for six movies. 17-year-old me was about to have his dreams fulfilled, but more than he ever could have thought possible (more on that later).