After a hiatus of several years, one of our favorite film festivals is back in action. The Charlotte Film Festival, founded in 2005 by Louis Gurgitano, returns this year for a 9-day run, buoyed by an ASC grant and partnerships with local corporations and other film festivals, as well as the Charlotte Film Society. Some 60 films will screen over the course of the festival, including several US and regional premieres, and include everything from full length feature films and documentaries to short programs in both these categories. The festival received over 250 entries from filmmakers around the world.
The previous incarnation of the Charlotte Film Festival never found a permanent home, wandering around the city with a new set of venues each year, finally fetching up at the EpiCentre theaters – just before they changed management. This year, the festival will use just two venues strategically spotted at the opposite ends of town, the Ayrsley Grand off Hwy 49 at I-485 in Southwest Charlotte, and the Carolina Cinemas on Monroe Road in East Charlotte. Both have considerable experience hosting film series – Ayrsley is set to begin its annual Retro Horror series on Oct. 2 and Carolina Cinemas is one of the Charlotte Film Society’s venues of choice, with the Back Alley Film Series appearing here monthly.
The recently renovated Carolina Cinemas Charlotte is, incidentally, one of our favorite screening rooms. Reclining lounge chairs, local brews on draft, an interesting menu of food choices – what’s not to love?
NC Flix asked the festival’s communications director Brandon Falls what the high points of this year’s festival will be for him.
“We are very excited to be the regional premiere of FINDERS KEEPERS (our opening night film), the US premiere of EMBRACE THE SERPENT and also the regional premier of BONE TOMAHAWK staring Kurt Russell as our closing film,” Falls said. “At least 30 of the films screening this year will have representation from either the director, cast member or another crew member.”
In addition to the films Brandon mentions, regional premieres include I Am Thor, Chuck Norris vs Communism, and The Astrologer (all showing Saturday Sept. 26), Behavior (Conducta) on Sunday, Sept. 27; Sea Fog (Haemoo) on Thursday, Oct. 1; and Tales of Halloween and Applesauce on Friday, Oct. 2. The festival concludes on Sunday evening, Oct. 3 with two more regional premieres: Men & Chicken, a comedy from Denmark, and Bone Tomahawk, a new Western featuring Kirk Russell going up against cannibals. Bone Tomahawk won’t be released in theaters until Oct. 23 so this is something of a sneak peak. In between these invited films are the official selections made from the many submitted films. There’s a wide and impressive variety, which real indie film buffs will want to sample.
On weekdays between the two big weekends of film, the festival keeps going with some special events. On Monday, the Basement Media Festival, a traveling event screening a variety of low-fidelity shorts, comes to the Carolina Cinemas. On Tuesday, the winners of the best narrative feature and best documentary feature will be screened. Wednesday, Sept. 30, brings “A Night with Carolina Filmmakers,” a screening of a curated selection of films by Carolina filmmakers, followed by a Q&A, panel discussion and meet-and-greet with the artists.
Full descriptions of the films along with the festival schedule and ticket information can be found on the Charlotte Film Festival website (kudos for a very easy format to follow, by the way). Students and Charlotte Film Society members receive discounts.
NC Flix will be onsite for several of the festival screenings and events. Follow us on Twitter @NCflix for up to the minute coverage.
No comments:
Post a Comment