Kevin Bacon comes to Fairfax County for the Washington West Film Festival

The Washington West Film Festival will be cooking with Kevin Bacon when it returns to Fairfax County for its 13th year next month.

The “Footloose” star will visit the county both virtually and in person as part of the philanthropic festival, which this week announced a diverse lineup of films screening Oct. 10-13 at Look Dine-In Cinemas in Reston (11940 Market Street) and Tysons (1667 Silver Hill Drive).

To add a musical twist to the proceedings, Bacon will perform at the Reston Town Center Pavilion with The Bacon Brothers, the band he formed with his brother Michael Bacon, and in a virtual question-and-answer session following a screening of “Footloose” for its 40th anniversary at the Reston Theater on Sunday, October 13th.

Washington West Film Festival Founder and President Brad Russell is most excited about working with Kevin Bacon's nonprofit SixDegrees.org. As the festival's charity partner, SixDegrees.org receives 100% of the festival's box office proceeds and uses them to fund hygiene and essential supplies backpacks for Virginia's Kids Belong, a nonprofit foster care and adoption organization based in Richmond.

“Two hours before Footloose, volunteers will be invited to come early to help us pack equipment and together we will give hope to hundreds of at-risk children,” Russell said. “Virginia's Kids Belong was introduced to us in 2019 by one of our supporters in Richmond. VKB changes the lives of foster children every day and we are thrilled to support their great work.”

The partnership with SixDegrees.org, headquartered in Fairfax City, continues the film festival's efforts to “create inspiring stories rather than just watch them,” according to a press release.

Since its inception in 2011, the festival has donated its box office proceeds to a dozen different nonprofit organizations. Virginia's Kids Belong, the Henry & William Evans Home For Children, Blu_Print and The Children's Inn of the National Institutes of Health were the beneficiaries from 2019 to 2023.

In addition to the collaboration with Kevin Bacon, highlights of this year's festival include the 25th anniversary screening of The Sixth Sense and the opening film, Searching for Amani. Debra Aroko and Nicole Gormley's film about a Kenyan man investigating his father's death won the Albert Maysles Award for best new documentary director at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it premiered this summer.

On Friday, October 11, there will be a collection of short films and gold medal-winning Paralympic swimmer Mallory Weggmann will participate in a personal question-and-answer session following a screening of her final film, “Watershed.” Director Jay Snyder will attend The Boro on October 12th.

Outside of the main festival, Washington West has partnered with the Reston Town Center Association to host a free outdoor screening of The Lion King (2019) on October 5 as part of the Arts in the Park series.

To mark James Baldwin's 100th birthday celebration at George Mason University's Cheuse Center, three short films about the writer and activist will be shown on October 21 at CenterStage at the Reston Community Center (2310 Colts Neck Road). GMU Professor Dr. Keith Clark will lead a post-screening discussion.

As the presidential election becomes increasingly heated, the Washington West team focused on unity, empathy and human connection as key themes when developing the 2024 program.

“That’s our goal for this year’s program at Washington West – especially fall 2024 – is to create unity,” Russell told FFXnow. “…This year’s stories are magnetic and call us to share in the common human experience of disappointment, hope and overcoming.”

Tickets for all films are on sale now. The full schedule can be found on the festival website below.

Saturday, October 5th

• 7 p.m. – The Lion King (Reston Town Square Park)

Thursday, October 10th

• 7 p.m. – Looking for Amani (Look Dine-In Cinemas Tysons)
• 8 p.m. – The Sixth Sense (Look Dine-In Tysons)

Friday, October 11th

• 5:30 p.m. – Short Film Friday (Look Dine-In Tysons)

Saturday, October 12th (all screenings at Look Dine-In Tysons)

• Lunch – Climbing to Life with director Melissa Davey
• Noon – GMU Student Showcase with live Q&A
• 12:30 p.m. – Luther: Never too much
• 3 p.m. – Champions of the Golden Valley with producer Baktash Ahadi
• 3pm – Local Spotlight: 1001 cuts and I can't back away from this with questions and answers
• 5:30 p.m. – The thinking game
• 7 p.m. – The Bacon Brothers (Pavilion at Reston Town Center)
• 7:30 p.m. – Watershed

Sunday, October 13th (all events at Look Dine-In Reston)

• 11:30 a.m. – Environmental short film program
• 1:00 p.m. – Kit build with SixDegrees.org
• 2 p.m. – Porcelain War
• 4:00 p.m. – Unbound with virtual Q&A
• 4pm – Black Table

Monday, October 21st

• 7:30 p.m. – James Baldwin Abroad: A Series of Three Short Films (CenterStage in Reston)