This year marks the 30th anniversary of Ron Howard’s Academy Award-winning APOLLO 13. The film recounts the true story of astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), who embarked on the eponymous space odyssey that became one of the tensest rescue missions in NASA history.

Please join us as we celebrate the landmark film and pay tribute to Jim Lovell Jr.’s legacy. Senator and recent NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will join us for a post-screening panel as we explore the film’s cultural impact, the real-life heroism of the Apollo mission, and a look ahead to the future of space exploration with Artemis II’s planned return to the Moon in 2026.

As part of Arts in the Park at Reston Town Center, and in partnership with the Reston Town Center Association, we’re thrilled to present a free, family-friendly outdoor screening of SHREK—just in time to celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary this spring! Grab your blankets, bring your little ogres, and join us for a fairy tale evening full of laughs and adventure. It’s going to be ogre-the-top fun!

Track legend Edwin Moses will be joining us for the screening and a post-screening Q&A!

Moses – 13 Steps tells the inspiring story of one of the most extraordinary athletes in the history of sport. Edwin Moses finds his discipline by chance and teaches himself one of the most difficult track events in athletics — the 400-meter hurdles. A historic winning streak follows: nine years, nine months, and nine days unbeaten. The film illuminates Moses’ journey from his childhood in segregated America and his formative years at Morehouse College to his iconic victories at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Edwin Moses is a scientist, engineer, and humanitarian, an advocate of equality, fairness and integrity in sport — and one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Following his wife’s recent passing, single father Lucky finds himself navigating the challenges of raising his son Mason, who has Down syndrome. Mason is an 11-year-old exuberant boy who enjoys drawing and watching baseball with his dad. Seeking solace, Lucky and Mason embark on a journey across Metro Atlanta to attend their first baseball game together. Throughout their day-long trip, they encounter Murphy’s Law. From car breakdowns to missed trains, the duo faces a series of obstacles that test their relationship with each other. Despite the setbacks, they persevere, determined to reach the game. Together, Lucky and Mason learn that healing does not await them at the mountaintop, but can be found with every step along the path. “Color Book” provides an intimate portrait of a father and son while exploring the experiences of raising a child with Down syndrome, highlighting the strength and resilience that emerge from their bond.

Glauber “Pro” Contessoto—an immigrant working multiple jobs and living in a 220-square-foot apartment—gambles his life savings on a joke cryptocurrency. Two months later, he becomes “The Dogecoin Millionaire” and a hero to his growing YouTube following.

It’s easy to get rich online. But as Pro will soon discover, it’s even easier to lose it all. Amateur investors like Pro must navigate a landscape that’s rife with scams, bad advice, and a fear of missing out. THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE exposes the startling risks and rewards of today’s market through expert commentary and the anxiety-inducing stories of real people trying to make millions.

Join us on opening night for a private pre-release screening of Anna and post screening panel with producer Mark Maxey and guests.

ANNA | A Russian journalist’s brave crusade, fighting for an independent voice in Putin’s Russia, puts her life in jeopardy. Based on the true story of Anna Politkovskaya.

Following the screening you’re invited to celebrate with a free drink and dessert at our opening night reception.

Opening Night Film 

Join us for a powerful opening night celebration, starting with the feature documentary, Refuge – a story of love and fear in the American south. Set in the most diverse square mile in America – Clarkston, Georgia – REFUGE follows the friendship between a Muslim heart doctor and a former member of the KKK, revealing what is possible when we leave the security of our tribes and what is at stake for our country if we don’t.

Co-director Din Blankenship and subjects Chris Buckley and Arno Michaelis will join us for a Q&A.

And following the film, we invite you to join us on the rooftop of Capital One Hall, with a drink on us. There are food trucks galore, putt putt golf, a lively biergarten, amazing views, and more!

Impact // Filmmaker’s Voice

We hope that our film can rekindle our sense of empathy. We’ve captured a story about a community that insists that their shared humanity is more important than any kind of shared ethnicity, shared faith or even shared language. We hope that anyone who watches it will see themselves in all of the characters. If people walk out of this film and are more likely to offer compassion to someone who is different than they are – someone of a different race, a different faith, different political beliefs – if you’re more likely to see a person’s full humanity and offer understanding to one another after seeing this film, then we feel like the film will have been a success.

Saturday Evening Showcase

Join us for a moving screening of A House Made of Splinters, an intimate documentary that captures life at a halfway home for children in Eastern Ukraine.

Special guests from our non-profit partner Project HOPE will join us after the screening to discuss their relief work on-the-ground in Ukraine and the surrounding region.

100% of our box office proceeds for the entire 2022 festival will go towards Project HOPE’s efforts to deliver medicine, medical supplies, mental health support, and other urgent assistance to families in Ukraine and those who have sought refuge in Poland, Romania, and Moldova.

We also encourage audiences to explore the work of Voices of Children, which gives psychological and psychosocial support to children who have suffered trauma due to war. This organization is doing incredibly important work in Ukraine, and is very close to the heart of Simon Lereng Wilmont, the director of A House Made of Splinters.

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After Party

Following our Saturday Showcase Film, we’ll move to the lobby of the ShowPlace Icon theater for our After Party! There will be appetizers, desserts, complimentary beer/wine, and good company as we celebrate another year of making an impact with storytelling.

OPENING NIGHT FILM and RECEPTION

The latest film from Academy Award Winning auteur, Wes Anderson. A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in “The French Dispatch.”

Closing Night Film

Preceded by short film, Alone Together

Consisting largely of never-before-seen footage, Mission: Joy explores the remarkable friendship between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Inspired by New York Times bestseller The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, the film showcases the endearing relationship between two Nobel Peace Prize winners, as they recount stories from their lives, each having lived through periods of incredible difficulty and strife. With affection, playfulness, and mutual respect, these unlikely friends impart lessons on how to live with joy in the face of all of life’s challenges from the extraordinary to the mundane.