Virginia Festival of American Film

EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS AT NEW YORK RECEPTION VIRGINIA FESTIVAL OF AMERICAN FILM AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY NEW YORK, NEW YORK SEPTEMBER 8, 1993 BY GOVERNOR L. DOUGLAS WILDER Thank you. It's good to be with you. I want to thank the American Museum of Natural History for providing this outstanding location for our reception — and a very fitting locale for a discussion of film, given the box office receipts this Summer for "Jurassic Park." Unfortunately, Virginia does not have the rainforests necessary to film "Jurassic Park 2" in our state — but by the time those dinosaurs start moving north in "Jurassic Park 3" to attack cities and farm lands, beach fronts and mountainsides, rolling pastures and wetlands, then Mr. Spielberg will find Virginia the perfect locale for all scenes in his movie. Already this year, the city of Lexington and Bath and Charlotte Counties in Virginia were perfectly transformed into post Civil War communities and farmlands for "Sommersby . " And Richmond served as an excellent facsimile for the nation's capitol in "Dave. " In that movie, the President's address to Congress is given in the Virginia State Capitol, and I can assure you from personal experience that addressing a full audience of legislators from the podium in the House chamber can make you feel very much like a person ready to be President. A growing number of filmmakers are coming to appreciate the natural beauty, rich history and architectural styles of our Commonwealth. In fact, several important productions have come to Virginia due to filmmakers' involvement in past festivals. The award-winning Hallmark Hall of Fame productions "My Name Is Bill W." and "Miss Rose White" are two of those productions. The feature films "Navy SEALS" and "Toy Soldiers" resulted from producers involvement in this festival as well. I am hopeful that this year's festival will provide for more rewarding partnerships in the future. The level of cooperation between Virginia's communities, residents, local officials, state government and filmmakers is a strong reason for our successes thus far.