The documentary Another Way of Living: The Story of Reston, VA will have a screening at the Environmental Film Festival in the National’s Capital next month.
The 24th annual EFFÂ runs March 16 to 26 at 52 venues around the DC area.
Another Way of Living will screen at 6:30 p.m. on March 24 at the National Building Museum (401 F St. NW, Washington, DC). The film will be followed by a discussion with film director Rebekah Wingert-Jabi.
Wingert-Jabi, a Reston resident who has earned a Peabody Award for her previous work, spent about five years working on the documentary. The final version aired at Reston Community Center in November and featured major edits to include the legacy of Reston founder Robert E. Simon, who died in September at age 101. A rough draft screened for a select audience during Simon’s 100th birthday celebration in April of 2014.
Another Way of Living also made its festival debut in December at the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville.
The 70-minute film shows how Simon envisioned a suburban “new town” that combined the communal spaces of European cities with natural, wooded open space.
He also wanted people of all incomes and races to live together, which was quite revolutionary in segregated Virginia in 1964. It traces Reston’s changes through the years, right up to the Metro arriving in 2014 and Simon’s death in 2015.
The EFF will present 145 documentary, narrative, animated, archival and children’s films selected to provide fresh perspectives on a variety of environmental issues. Films originate from 33 countries, festival organizers said.
Most screenings are free, and an audience of 30,000 is expected, organizers said.
For more information, visit the EFF website.
Photo Courtesy of Another Way of Living: The Story of Reston, VA
Reston residents will finally get a chance to see Another Way of Living: The Story of Reston, VA. The 72-minute documentary by Reston filmmaker Rebekah Wingert-Jabi will be shown to the public on Nov. 19 at Reston Community Center Hunters Woods.
The screening is at 8 p.m. and will take place in both the CenterStage theater and the Community Room to accommodate as many people as possible.
Tickets are free and will be limited to four per person; they will be available from the CenterStage Box Office beginning Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 4:00 p.m. Any tickets or seats not used at 7:45 p.m. on the evening of the screening will be released to people seeking tickets the evening of the event.
Director Wingert-Jabi will introduce the film with brief comments on the process of editing and preparing it for submissions to festivals as the film has undergone significant change since its VIP screening in April 2014.
Following the screening, everyone is invited to enjoy light refreshments in the Community Room and share their impressions of the movie and the legacy of Reston’s founder, Robert E. Simon.
The movie, which Wingert-Jabi has been working on for several years, will also make its film festival debut at the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville next month. The movie explores founder Robert E. Simon’s quest to build a “new town” in the Virginia countryside,  where people of different races and incomes could live side-by-side and how Reston developed into a groundbreaking community.
To obtain tickets, please visit the CenterStage Box Office during Box Office hours; or call the Box Office at 703-476-4500, and press “3”. For more information, please visit RCC’s website or the Reston Historic Trust’s website.
Restonians will get a chance to see the rough cut of Another Way of Living: The Story of Reston, VA, on Saturday.
The film will be screened Saturday at United Christian Parish (11508 N. Shore Dr.) following a community open house to discuss the Reston Master Plan Special Study Phase II. The community open house will feature Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
The film, formerly titled The Reston Story, was screened for a select audience at Reston Community Center as part of Reston founder Robert E. Simon’s birthday 100th birthday celebrations in April.
The 70-minute film directed by Peabody Award winner Rebekah Wingert-Jabi looks at Reston’s founding in 1964 as an inclusive community “in the middle of nowhere,” to the vibrant place it is today.
Wingert-Jabi and producer Suzi Jones hope to enter the movie into film festivals.
County planners are beginning Phase II of the Reston Master Plan Special Study about two years behind schedule.
Phase I, which looked at the how development should proceed in the areas surrounding Reston’s upcoming Metro stations, was completed late last year and approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in January.
Phase II will look at what kind of changes — if any — should happen to Reston’s neighborhoods, village centers and convenience centers, as well as some areas adjacent to Reston. Lake Anne Plaza, which underwent is own rezoning and revitalization process from 2006-09, will not be part of the study.
