CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The world premiere of the documentary “Tragedy to Triumph” is scheduled for October 25 at the Virginia Film Festival. The full 75-minute film will be shown at the Paramount Theater on the downtown mall as the festival’s closing night film. The project was produced by NFL Films in conjunction with BD4 Studios and UVA Athletics.
Date: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Venue: The Paramount Theater
More information: https://virginiafilmfestival.org/festival/2026/venue/the-paramount-theater/
In 2022 the Virginia football program suffered an unthinkable tragedy after an on-grounds shooting resulted in the deaths of UVA football players Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry while injuring two others. Virginia football head coach Tony Elliott in the days after said that the program would turn tragedy into triumph.
The film includes exclusive interviews with athletic administrators, student-athletes and the victims’ families. Just three years after the events of Nov. 13, 2022, the Virginia football team did the unthinkable by posting a school record 11 wins in 2025 and culminated with an appearance in the ACC Championship game for only the second time in program history.
The Virginia Film Festival, now in its 39th year, is a program of the University of Virginia. Widely recognized as one of the leading regional film festivals in America, the VAFF is known for its commitment to taking audiences beyond the screen to explore some of the most important issues of our time. The five-day festival (Oct. 21-25) annually delivers more than 100 films from around the world, combining special previews of some of the hottest titles of the festival season with an array of fascinating documentaries, exciting new voices on the independent film scene, the best of the international film scene and more.
For the entire VAFF schedule visit: https://virginiafilmfestival.org/