The Washington West Film Festival is an annual
film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...
held in
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226.
Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City movem ...
every autumn since 2011. It is noted for being organized as a fundraising project for charity.
Festival
The Festival is the project of Brad Russell, Pastor of the Dulles Community Church. Pastor Russell is known for showing short scenes from popular films to illustrate the theme of his sermons.
Mark Maxey
Mark Maxey (born May 13, 1969) is an American producer, writer and director of film and television best known for the documentary film ''Up to Snuff'' (2019), about musician/composer W. G. Snuffy Walden.
Early life
Mark Maxey was born on May ...
is Chairman of the Festival's Board of Directors.
Beginning with a single venue, by its fifth year the week-long festival was screening dozens of new films in multiple venues.
The festival includes an oral storytelling event - with whiskey - to which only the filmmakers are admitted.
Charity
The festival, which donates 100% percent of box office receipts to charity,
selects a different charity to fund each year.
In 2013, the festival funded rebuilding efforts in
Breezy Point, Queens
Breezy Point is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, located on the western end of the Rockaway peninsula, between Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. The community is run by ...
, a New York City neighbohoood ravaged by
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
.
In 2011 it funded the construction of a theatre and community center in Haiti.
References
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Film festivals in Washington, D.C.
Film festivals in Virginia
Film festivals established in 2011