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Alexandria Film Festival opens Sunday before an 80-screening anniversary weekend
A climbing documentary starts the program November 8; screenings resume across five venues November 13–15.
Alexandria’s twentieth film festival begins Sunday, November 8, with a documentary about a climbing partnership, then returns the following weekend with a program spread across five venues. Organizers say the edition includes 80 screenings and more than 50 in-person filmmaker question-and-answer sessions.
“Catching Pinecones,” about climbers Jan and Herb Conn, screens at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Patagonia Old Town, 815½ King Street. Doors open at 6 p.m., and director Chad Heddleston is scheduled to join a discussion afterward.
The main program runs November 13–15. Its footprint stretches from Beatley Library in the West End to The Lyceum and Patagonia in Old Town, and to Virginia Tech and The Riviera Alexandria in Potomac Yard. The Riviera is a new venue for the festival this year.
That spread makes the venue on each ticket as important as the screening time: the festival is not taking place in one cinema. Individual-screening tickets and festival passes are offered through the organizer’s ticketing page.
The anniversary program’s defining feature is the opportunity to stay after a screening and hear from filmmakers. The organizer’s schedule identifies the films, locations and accompanying discussions.

