WILMINGTON — As the independent film festival in the region continues to screen more than 100 films through Sunday at various venues, it’s also announced thousands in grants to support projects filmed in North Carolina.
On Thursday, the Cucalorus Film Foundation announced a dozen North Carolina-based filmmakers would receive money from the Filmed in NC Fund. A multi-partner initiative with Cucalorus, NC Film Office, Artless Media and The Magnifying Glass, $11,000 was doled out.
The money will support the scaling of narrative, documentary, and experimental film projects, both features and shorts. The awardees also back female, African American and Latinx storytelling.
“Funding for indie projects is such an important part of having a healthy film industry in North Carolina,” Cucalorus Executive Director Dan Brawley said in a released statement.
With record number entries coming in this year, the 12 chosen include
- Cassia Sherrill: River Warrior, a documentary feature about an Appalachian, off-grid farmer who went full force into her next adventure – kayaking 1,895 river miles from her neighborhood creek in Lansing, NC all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
- Clarke Phillips: Suga Brown, a narrative feature about a mother facing extreme challenges to ensure her baby is delivered without the mandatory genetic modifications her government demands.
- Dawn Dreyer: Smooth, a documentary short about a neurodivergent athlete, tracing the journey from girlhood to menopause through the relationship with two coaches, then and now.
- Evelyn Garcia: Gabriela, a narrative short about a young, undocumented Guatemalan woman, dreaming of joining a Country Club swim team in the American South.
- Jennida Chase: The Motherlode, a documentary feature about an unprecedented immersion into the arts, illuminating the invisible labor of women and exploring the intersection of art and motherhood.
- Justin Robinson: GERMAN SOUL, an episodic project about an obsessive Black ethnobotanist, chasing down the German ghosts hiding in Southern cuisine, rendering new perspectives and possibilities for culinary sovereignty.
- Kristi Ray: A Midwife Solution, a documentary short about a network of “Underground Midwives” in North Carolina, who are answering the call in secrecy to protect and serve an entire generation of home-birthing families.
- Michael A Betts II: Blerd Nation, an episodic project about a nerd-driven exploration into the fantastic, revolutionary world of Black Nerd Culture in America.
- Madison Hill: For a Brief Moment, a documentary short about the uncertainties of death and dying through the perspective of a North Carolina based death doula.
- Olivia Schindler: FEVER, a narrative short about a young frontiersman on a desperate hunt for food, and the nightmarish bond made between his prey and his rapidly deteriorating father.
- Shahin Nemat Gorgani: Gorgeous, a narrative short about a young boy, caught between his estranged parents’ silence decides to embark on a curious journey of self-discovery.
- Victoria Bouloubasis: Lo Mejor Está Por Venir, a documentary feature about a formerly undocumented family returning to Argentina, prompting the eldest daughter, Barbara, to question why they left.
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