Remember when helicopters were scrambled to deal with a runaway balloon that floated away with a six-year-old boy inside? What about documenting the melting glaciers in Iceland, an Afghan ski club, or the oldest woman scaling Yosemite’s famed El Capitan? These are all just a glimpse of what will be showing at the Washington West Film Festival in early October.

This is the 13th annual Washington West Film Festival in Reston and Tysons that will be showing from Oct. 10-13t in theaters. Other films alongside of the Balloon Boy include “Searching for Amani,” a Tribeca Film Award-winning movie, and “Watershed,” the story of Mallory Weggemann, a five-time Paralympic medalist who was paralyzed at the age of 18 and found refuge in the pool as a swimmer. Filmmakers from George Mason University will also have some of their shorts featured in this festival.

A scene from “1001 Cuts,” about the world of surgery. 

 

The filmmakers involved are teaming up with Kevin Bacon’s Charity, SixDegrees.org, and “Virginia’s Kids Belong,” to support foster children and build kits. The film festival will donate 100% of its box office proceeds to Virginia Kids Belong. There will be a special Footloose screening to celebrate its 40th anniversary with Kevin Bacon.

One activity aimed at making a difference will be filling backpacks for foster kids on Sunday Oct. 13, at 1 p.m. Filmmakers and other participants will be there, making a difference in another way.

The Big Picture

The film festival is aimed at bringing together people to celebrate world class film as well as creating inspiring stories of change for a world in need. Politics is big in the Northern Virginia area and it creates a division of thoughts amongst residents but the film festival is trying to bridge that gap. "Our Founder's dream is that Washington West would, in this very divided city, bring people together who would otherwise never come together," WWFF said.

Although the variety of topics goes in several directions, filmmakers at George Mason University are involved with films by female filmmakers. Two of their entries are "1001 Cuts," and "Can't Retire From This." 1001 Cuts is a film about surgery, while "Can't Retire From This," follows women and girls in the DC metro area who find community and inspiration in their youth basketball league.

Another area film is called "The Test," and is about a Ghanaian maintenance worker at a Virginia retirement community who dreams of becoming an American citizen to provide a better life for his family, so he enlists the help of two elderly residents to help him prepare for the US Citizenship exam.

Balloon Boy will be showing on Friday, Oct. 11, LOOK Dine-In Cinemas, 1667 Silver Hill Dr., McLean. Go to https://wwfilmfest.com/ for the complete schedule.