*The 2023 Richmond International Film Festival, September 26 – October 1, 2023, will screen the documentary 1872 Forward: Foreword, produced and directed by John Wesby (Wesby One Productions) and executive produced by the More Than a Fraction Foundation in collaboration with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).
The documentary follows the memorialization of history and “special places” once used by the enslaved African people who lived on the grounds now known as Virginia Tech.
The 1872 Forward: Foreword short documentary documents Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s (Virginia Tech) three-day event called 1872 Forward: Celebrating Virginia Tech. Held in 2022, the event celebrated the institution’s 250th year. The More Than a Fraction Foundation was one of the major sponsors of the Virginia Tech event with grants it received from the Virginia Humanities and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
The 12th annual Richmond International Film Festival will screen over 135 films from the United States and more than 25 other countries. It also offers industry panels, a Q&A industry session, live music showcases, red-carpeted events, and networking opportunities. It will be held at the Bow Tie Cinemas, the historic Byrd Theatre and multiple venues throughout the city.
In 2011, Heather Waters founded the Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF). As a producer and director, she works behind the scenes for a variety of film and music projects. In addition to producing RIFF she is president and executive director of the RIFF Arts Institute, founder of the Media Industry Xchange and Flow Collective, co-founder of the Creative World Awards, and served as past president of Virginia Production Alliance (VPA), which is the leading advocate for film and development crew and talent in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The history behind the memorialization of the special places on the grounds of Virginia Tech began when Historian Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs discovered that her ancestors were enslaved on the grounds once owned by the Preston family. She went on to publish a creative non-fiction account of the data she discovered on her ancestors titled “More Than a Fraction: Based on a True Story” (Amazon Books). The Virginia Tech grounds were once called the Smithfield and Solitude plantations. Soon after, in 2015, Dr. Moseley-Hobbs joined the Board of Directors of the Smithfield-Preston Foundation a foundation which oversees the grounds of Historical Smithfield Since joining the Board she began helping the foundation and Virginia Tech highlight the lives of the enslaved Africans and the displaced Indigenous peoples of that area. The More Than a Fraction Foundation’s goal in sponsoring the Virginia Tech event was to highlight the estimated 300-year-old Merry Tree which was the center point for the enslaved community to meet, worship, marry, and more for over three generations.
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