In just four years, the Middleburg Film Festival has become a major force. Led by BET co-founder Sheila Johnson, and based at her Salamander luxury resort in the heart of Virginia’s post horse and hunt countryside, this year’s slate includes several titles expected to be Oscar nominees. I am especially looking forward to seeing Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling re-teaming in “La La Land,” a musical from “Whiplash” writer/director Damien Chazelle.

Also on the schedule: “Lion,” with Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman in the true story of an adopted man searching for his biological mother, “Custody,” with Viola Davis in a story about related child abuse cases in the family court system, and “Loving,” with Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton in the true story of the 1967 Supreme Court case that overturned laws requiring married couples to be of the same race.

The festival also includes all of the films nominated by their countries of origin for the Foreign Language Oscar and a tribute to film composer Henry Jackman.