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Friday, March 29, 2024

Cucalorus connecting again

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Not long ago, two filmmakers crossed paths in Holland’s riverside city, Rotterdam. One a Greek, the other a European, the conversation eventually turned to their favorite film festivals. After listing a few of the big and well-known festivals, the European told the Greek: “And then there’s this one in North Carolina with a funny name…”

So how is it that Wilmington’s Cucalorus film festival, now in its 21st year, has developed such renown with filmmakers and film fans around the world?

“What we’re doing here is more like an artists retreat,” said Dan Brawley, Cucalorus’ executive director. “There’s no red carpet. There’s no star gazing spectacle. It’s more of a personal and social experience. The main thing is for people to get together.”

That approach, along with the beautiful weather, warm ocean and scenic riverfront vistas, is what’s helped the film festival grow from screening 16 films in 1995 to this year’s lineup of more than 267  films and events. It’s also why, year after year, it’s named one of the top 25 coolest film festivals by Moviemaker Magazine.

In growing the film festival, the producers of Cucalorus offer visitors unique events and happenings, and this year is no different. This year’s lineup includes the CONNECT conference, a sort-of entrepreneurial convention running concurrently with the film festival.

One of CONNECT’s features is a virtual reality lounge, where visitors can try out the growing film making technology that puts viewers inside the film, allowing them to look around as if they are there.

Not only entertaining, this new medium is also providing new opportunities to shine a light on social justice issues, by people like the Greek filmmaker, Socrates Kakoulides, who is the producer of “Clouds Over Sidra,” a documentary that follows the path of Syrian refugee and her conditions in a Jordanian refugee camp.

Margee Herring, coordinator of the Cucalorus CONNECT conference, anticipates the experience of virtually being in a refugee camp to be so moving for viewers that she’s worried about the effect it will have on the 10 headsets that are available for viewing the virtual reality presentations.

“People are going to cry and then the next person will put on a damp headset,” Herring said.

Brawley adds: “These are the details we’re worried about.”

With the vast array of films and events to choose from, visitors may be worried about how to navigate what seems like an overwhelming schedule. There’s too much going on to see everything, Herring concedes. But the festival is organized to allow film fans to experience a variety of styles and events.

To start with, films are organized into different categories, each designed to fit a different niche. Films that are crowd pleasers, and which one day may land in the neighborhood megaplex theaters, are under the Magnolia category.

Among this category’s features is “Waffle Street,” starring Danny Glover, of “Lethal Weapon” fame, along with former “One Tree Hill” actor James Lafferty. The plot is based on the true story of a wealthy hedge fund trader, portrayed by Lafferty, who loses his fortune and goes to work in a waffle shop. He meets a cook played by Glover who offers the young man life lessons he couldn’t get in the world of finance.

Lafferty and other members of the cast will be in attendance at Cucalorus, where for the first time, they will have the opportunity to meet the real-life family behind the story in “Waffle Street.”

Another anticipated film in the Magnolia category is “Applesauce,” the story of a radio talk show host who invites listeners to share their stories, with hilariously unpredictable results.

The Vanguard category offers works billed as pioneering and independent from emerging new filmmakers. Shot entirely on location in Chile, the entry in this category “He Hated Pigeons” offers an essay on love and loss that will be accompanied by a live score.

Those looking for politically charged documentaries with a social message will find them in the Voices category.

Perhaps no film in that category is more relevant than “Wilmington on Fire,” a documentary that brings to life the bloody revolt by a white mob on the city’s black community in 1898, which is today considered the only example of a successful coup d’état in United States history.

For those looking for a little edge, there’s Convulsions, the adult-only lineup of after-hours horror and other bizarre films. There are also blocks of short films, music videos and live theatrical performances. Herring recommends attendees try to vary the events they see, seeing something from every category.

Regardless of what events they choose, attendees will see work from groundbreaking artists, Brawley said.

“There are artists who are experimenting across boundaries, artists who are experimenting with new media,” Brawley said.  “The people here are telling stories in new and creative ways.”

The festival runs Nov. 11-15 at several venues in downtown Wilmington. For the full event schedule, visit http://www.cucalorus.org/

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