Cucalorus Film Festival returns to the historic port city of Wilmington, North Carolina for its annual cinematic celebration this November 11-14th. Film selections include Gaspar Noe’s cinematic wonder Enter the Void, Sundance World Cinema documentary winner The Red Chapel by Mads Brügger, and a healthy list of additional independent and international titles.
More than 120 films are expected on the final lineup including.
Narrative Features – highlights:
Enter the Void (France) – Gaspar Noé:
One of the most anticipated cinematic events of the year, Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void is a visionary cinematic thrill ride that’s riveted audiences at the world’s most significant film festivals. At Cannes, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called it “an exceptional work… What largely distinguishes it, beyond the stunning cinematography, is that this is the work of an artist who’s trying to show us something we haven’t seen before…Mr. Noé, in other words, gets into your body…”
The Temptation of St. Tony (Estonia) – Veiko Õunpuu:
A surreal and bone chilling tragedy about the agony and decline of one middle level manager, this Sundance sleeper is a dark and moving meditation on the cold and dehumanizing world of declining economies in an overly technical world.
brilliantlove (UK) – Ashley Horner:
Sex becomes art and art becomes life for Manchester and Noon, two lovers who hole up in a garage apartment to practice their love while the rest of the world falls away. With their emotional and erotic needs so fully met, the two rarely have reason to engage with the outside world, and only scarcely consider what other needs they might have, like food, money, and plans for the future.
Documentary Features – highlights:
The Erectionman (Austria) – Michael Schaap:
Find out how one little pill changed the course of sexual evolution and bankrupted one funny filmmaker from Austria.
Roll Out, Cowboy (USA) – Elizabeth Lawrence:
Chris “Sandman” Sand is a rappin’ cowboy from Dunn Center, North Dakota (population: 120 and shrinking). He drives a semi, plays the guitar and raps. He looks like Woody Guthrie but sings like Dr. Dre. Roll Out, Cowboy follows the 39-year-old country/hip-hop musician as he tours the American West during the 2008 Presidential election. Small town America isn’t as conservative as we think.
A Film Unfinished (Germany, Israel) – Yael Heronski:
Yael Hersonski’s powerful documentary achieves a remarkable feat through its penetrating look at another film—the now-infamous Nazi-produced film about the Warsaw Ghetto. Discovered after the war, the unfinished work, with no soundtrack, quickly became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record, despite its elaborate propagandistic construction.
The other side of Cucalorus
From Dance-a-lorus to the Blue Velvet tour, the Cucalorus Film Festival presents a series of non-traditional events that cross artistic boundaries and challenge our understanding of cinema. A signature event for the festival, Dance-a-lorus (a collaboration with local choreographers collective the Dance Cooperative) will once again open the festival on Thursday night with a live-stage event blurring the boundaries between dance and film. Building on several years of research and practice, British born filmmaker and teacher Ben Fancy conducts the entertaining and enlightening tour of locations for David Lynch’s American indie classic Blue Velvet. The festival has added a couple of tours this year, but reserve early to nab one of the coveted spots on this beguiling journey.
In conjunction with his Work-in-Progress screening for the narrative Dummy Jim, Scottish filmmaker Matt Hulse will host a performance of his “Audible Picture Show” a touring collection of audio works made for the cinema. Italian radio artist Stefano Giannotti and Wilmington-based noise master Grant Stewart have been commissioned to create new sound pieces for the Cucalorus edition of “Audible Picture Show.”
On Friday night at the Front Street Brewery, music fans can dive into curator John Gray’s immersive audio visual environment presenting some of the most inventive music videos from ass-kicking filmmakers working with today’s sweetest sounding bands.
The festivals annual kickoff party at the Soapbox will include a variety show-style performance from many of the multi-disciplinary artists participating in this year’s festival. Italian radio artist Stefano Giannotti, Charleston-based spoken word artist Omari Fox of New Danger, accordionista-cum-filmmaker Josephine Decker and a host of the festival’s creative cadre will perform.
One of the buzzwords at Cucalorus this year is sustainability. Cucalorus development and marketing director Courtney Young reports that Cucalorus has renewed its focus on creating a sustainable model for celebrating film. Festival transportation will be totally electric – with attendees being zipped around the downtown festival loop on golf carts. The festival will also forgo printing tee shirts, instead there will be a print your own tee shirt station (bring us your favorite tee or jacket or bag and we’ll screenprint some loving Cucalorus 16 graphics on them!) at the festival’s main box office and filmmaker’s lounge, which will be located at an undisclosed Front Street location.
source: CFF