Wilmington, Sept. 24, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cucalorus (www.cucalorus.org) announces 116 early film selections for its 21st annual Cucalorus Film Festival and CONNECT Conference, November 11-15, 2015 in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. Recently named one of MovieMaker Magazine's "25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World, 2015," Cucalorus draws an international audience and is recognized for its creative, provocative and original programming.
New this year, the Cucalorus CONNECT Conference expands the Festival's focus to celebrate innovation and entrepreneurship across many industries. Organized through an ongoing partnership with University of North Carolina at Wilmington's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, CONNECT features events including a PlaceMakers Fair, a virtual reality lounge, and the 10x10 challenge pairing filmmakers with entrepreneurs to make a promo video in less than a week. These events join the festival's growing roster of innovative offerings, which will include Dance-a-lorus, Visual/Sound/Walls, the Bus to Lumberton and new events like the Emcee showcase and the Cat Salad film festival.
Feature films chosen for early selections include Trey Edward Schults' KRISHA (winner of the SXSW 2015 Grand Jury and Audience Awards), Stephen Cone's pious dramedy Henry Gamble's Birthday Party, Anders Thomas Jensen's Danish comedy Men & Chicken. Ingrid Veniger's He Hated Pigeons will have its U.S. premiere at Cucalorus accompanied by a live score performed during the screening.
Documentary selections include Stanley Nelson's The Black Panthers: Vanguards of the Revolution, Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker's Welcome to Leith, Olivia Wyatt's Sailing a Sinking Sea, Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger's The Anthropologist, Nicolas Steiner's Above and Below, and the Southeastern premiere of Jillian Corse's Trichster (winner of The LA Center Studios Young Filmmaker Award).
The festival's Works-in-Progress program, a workshop-style review of top social documentaries in-the-making, includes Byron Hurt's Hazing: How Badly Do You Want In?, Leslie Cunningham's Jig Show: Leon Claxton's Harlem in Havana, Deborah Riley Draper's Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, Margaret Byrne's Raising Bertie, and Michael Premo's Water Warriors.
View early selections and purchase Cucalorus festival passes at www.cucalorus.org. The complete list of film festival and conference selections will be announced in October. The final event lineup will feature over 200 films and approximately 30 keynotes, panels, breakouts, and social events.
About Cucalorus:
Cucalorus was founded in 1994 by the underground filmmaking collective Twinkle Doon. Today, Cucalorus is a multi-disciplinary arts organization supporting emerging and innovative creative professionals through an annual film festival, a residency program, a micro-cinema, a summer outdoor screening series, and an extensive community engagement program. The annual festival takes place every November, celebrating independent and international film for five days in historic downtown Wilmington, NC. MovieMaker Magazine recently recognized it as "One of the Coolest Film Festivals in the World, 2015." More than 200 films screen each year at venues all over downtown Wilmington, attracting a large number of participating artists (300+) and thousands of fans and industry professionals (accumulated attendance in 2014 was 15,743). Cucalorus is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that relies on funds from individuals, businesses, and grants to fund its annual celebration. For more information on the Cucalorus Film Festival visit www.cucalorus.org.
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