WILMINGTON, NC — Named one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals, Cucalorus Film Festival promises the best in recent international films from documentaries, to features to shorts. Based in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, the festival’s backdrop adds historic charm with all screening venues within walking distance of one another including Thalian Hall, City Stage, Jengo’s Playhouse, and the Ticketbox (festival HQ located at 201 Princess Street). As most seasoned Cucalorus attendees will assure you, Cucalorus also delivers with parties that fulfill every style from the exclusive Pegasorus Luncheon to the classic Midnite Brunch. Tickets, passes and all the deets about screenings, special events, workshops and parties can be found on our website at www.cucalorus.org. The official festival schedule has been finalized and can be found online. Tickets are also on sale for all events at the festival’s website or on etix.com.
Narrative Features – Highlights
Small Town Murder Songs (Canada) – Ed Gass-Donnelly
The body of a girl is found by a lake in a rural Mennonite town in Ontario. The question of her identity and who killed her burn through this small town. At the head of the investigation is police chief Walter (Peter Stormare) whose own troubled history haunts him as the investigation unfolds. Walter’s sanity becomes tenuous as self-doubt and the fog of religious oppression weave their way into everything he believes. Personal tensions arise, threatening Walter’s relationships, and the decent home he’s built with his God-fearing waitress girlfriend Sam (Martha Plimpton).
Walter finds himself at odds with everyone — the provincial police, the townspeople, his Mennonite father and brother, and the charged isolation wears his psyche thinner and thinner. The building tension can be felt through the whole community, making the ripple effect of an act of violence the heart of this modern gothic tale. Director Ed Gass-Donnelly’s riveting, award-winning short film Pink screened at Cucalorus in 2004.
Skeletons (UK) – Nick Whitfield
Sort of Tarantino-goes-supernatural, this British film follows a Mutt and Jeff pair who help people deal with their problems by mystically delving into their lives (skeletons in the closet — get it?). Filled with arch dialogue, Skeletons centers on a woman who asks for the duo’s help to find her husband, who decamped years ago. There are several surprises afoot in this offbeat flick about two ‘existential exorcists.’ Both whimsical and absurd, it’s truly unique.
Skeletons will be one of the films making up the special UK Spotlight Program for Cucalorus 2010.
Barry Munday (USA) – Chris D’Arienzo
Barry Munday (played by Patrick Wilson) a middle-aged suburban ladies' man, wakes up in the hospital after being attacked in a movie theater, only to realize that he is missing two of his most prized possessions … his testicles. To make matters worse, Barry learns he's facing a paternity lawsuit filed by a woman he can't remember having sex with. With this being Barry’s last chance to ever be a father, Barry reaches out and embraces the journey of parenthood and the onslaught of bumps that face him along the way. Filled with an ensemble of unusual characters, Barry Munday is the surprisingly heart-warming tale of a guy who finds it took losing his manhood to be a better man.
The New Year (USA) – Brett Haley
One-time high school valedictorian and “most likely to succeed,” beautiful bookworm Sunny (Trieste Kelly Dunn) finds herself stuck in Pensacola in her mid-twenties, working at a bowling alley and caring for her terminally ill father. Sunny is taken off guard when she runs into a charming high school rival who is home from New York for the holidays, and finds herself at a crossroads between chasing her old dreams, or creating new ones that she never believed she would have. Brett Haley is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and Trieste Kelly Dunn is a Wilmington native.
Dance with the One (Austin, Texas) – Mike Dolan
Films about the drug culture certainly aren’t a new phenomenon these days, but few have the down-and-dirty verisimilitude of this Texas-based enterprise, which charts the agonizing breakdown of a family over a mix-up involving controlled substances. It’s a classic situation: a small-town dope dealer is entrusted with a big stash, then mislays it. Naturally, he winds up having to protect his loved ones from the evil drug-runner who wants his goods back. Stark, violent, compelling and honest, Dance With the One is quality regional filmmaking.
The Trial (Charlotte, North Carolina) – Gary Wheeler
A lawyer ready to die takes one final case … the trial of his life. Attorney Kent "Mac" MacClain (played by Matthew Modine)has nothing left to live for. Nine years after the horrific accident that claimed the life of his wife and two sons, he’s finally given up. His empty house is a mirror for his empty soul, it seems suicide is his only escape. And then the phone rings. Angela Hightower, the beautiful heiress and daughter of the most powerful man in Dennison Springs, has been found dead at the bottom of a ravine. The accused killer, Peter Thomason, needs a lawyer. But Mac has come up against the Hightowers and their ruthless, high-powered lawyers before — an encounter that left his practice and reputation reeling.
The evidence pointing to Thomason’s guilt seems insurmountable. Is Mac defending an ingenious psychopath, or has Thomason been framed — possibly by a member of the victim’s family? It comes down to one last trial. For Thomason, the opponent is the electric chair. For Mac, it is his own tormented past — a foe that will prove every bit as deadly.
Documentary Features – Highlights
The Red Chapel (The Netherlands, North Korea) - Mads Brügger
A journalist with no scruples, a spastic, and a comedian travel to North Korea with a mission — to challenge the conditions of the smile in one of the world’s most notorious regimes. On the pretext of being a small theatre troupe on a cultural exchange visit from Denmark, 'The Red Chapel' was given permission to travel to North Korea with the objective of performing at special events for selected audiences. But in reality the small troupe was comprised of a group who had no such intentions. It is also a story about the meeting between the free mind and the absolute surveillance society. North Korea's 23 million citizens are ruled by the iron hand of 'The Dear Leader', General Kim Jong-il. The country has a history of starving its people, violating human rights and abusing and killing its handicapped citizens. The Red Chapel chronicles the amusing and often bizarre encounters between this Danish “theatre troupe” and their North Korean hosts in a one of a kind, East-meets-West-meets-East look at cultural exchange in the modern world's last anti-globalist bastion. The Red Chapel won the World Documentary Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (United Kingdom) – Craig McCall
Jack Cardiff was lauded by the Hollywood greats he photographed films for — John Huston, Sophia Loren, Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe — and described by Michael Powell as “A genius, a daydreamer, a baby. He should have been a painter instead of being the best colour cameraman in the world.” Yet he has remained largely unknown to the general public until now.
Cameraman celebrates the life and work of this unique figure in British and international cinema, a man whose career spans an incredible nine decades of cinema history. “Legend” is a word all too frequently used in Hollywood, yet Jack Cardiff’s story surely proves him worthy of that title. Cardiff was a special guest at Cucalorus in 1998 as the festival celebrated his masterful cinematography in the Powell and Pressburger classic The Red Shoes.
Dolphin Glide (Australia) – George Greenough
Legendary surfer George Greenough brings us waves from a dolphin’s perspective: one-of-a kind footage from his specially designed Mitchell camera takes us in and through the surf like never before. Filmmaker bio: George is a living legend and unique icon in the surfing world best known for his innovative surf photography, his visionary surfboard design and his ingeniously conceived and constructed inventions including everything from wind generators to hand-made air mats and blue water fishing boats. When George becomes fascinated by an idea or object, he goes about re-inventing it in a way marked by his unusual signature. He has produced films, sailed the South Pacific in a 39' yacht he built in his back yard, and built countless toys ranging from ultimately practical to amusingly whimsical.
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. A startlingly different perspective on the atrocities of the holocaust, Heronski’s film has already received a great deal of awards season attention and is sure to be one of the best Holocaust films ever made.
North Carolina Films – Highlights
From its inception sixteen years ago, the Cucalorus Film Festival has supported local and emerging filmmakers through their creative process. A few of the films made by North Carolina filmmakers or made in North Carolina include:
The New Year (USA) – Brett Haley and Elizabeth Kennedy
Bret Haley attended film school at North Carolina School of the Arts and has directed short films such as A Night Out and More Abandon. The New Year, his feature debut, has been garnering glowing reviews, like this one from Variety: “The New Year represents a glowing coming-out party for its debutant writer-director Brett Haley and star Trieste Kelly Dunn. It feels like a film destined for later rediscovery by cineastes curious to see the first flowering of two serious talents.” Trieste Kelly Dunn, a Wilmington native, is also a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts.
The Trial (USA) – Gary Wheeler
Gary Wheeler is a multi-award winning North Carolina filmmaker who has produced a number of motion picture and television productions around the world. He is the founder and President of Level Path Productions and makes his home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Any Given Friday (North Carolina) – Keith Barber
For more years than their fans care to remember, the South Brunswick Cougars were the laughingstock of their high-school football conference. The team had never won a playoff game in its 32-year history, and basically served as a perennial doormat for its opponents, game after game after game. Then, in 2005, Gordon Walters became the Cougars’ head coach, to the surprise of some of his colleagues. Others, however, weren’t surprised. Walters had a reputation for turning teams around, for instilling in his players the simple belief that, yes, we can win. It was all about turning the attitude around, and Walters had a proven track record of doing just that. Director Keith Barber is a freelance journalist who has worked locally for Lumina News and now lives in Winston-Salem.
Things Grow (USA) – Dave Monahan
Dave Monahan went to graduate film school at Columbia University, and now teaches film production at UNCW. He's co-written a textbook and directed and/or edited a bunch of short narrative movies. His experimental Musical Western "Ringo" screened at 20-some film festivals (including Cucalorus), and won the Grand Jury Prize for Short Animation at the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival.
Things Grow, his first documentary, is premiering at Cucalorus this year. A hand-held portrait of a man and his mother, Things Grow offers a glimpse into the life of one family on a rural homestead in South Dakota. Randy, a nearly fifty-year-old divorcee who was never quite comfortable with the working world, moves back home to take care of his ailing mother after his father’s death. Three-and-a-half years later, Randy finds himself strangely settled and fully occupied with the maintenance of a vegetable garden that feeds his family and then some. A simple and profound documentary, Things Grow holds its gaze just long enough for its subjects to reveal themselves and for us to begin wondering about family and the fulfillment of snap peas over time.
Works-in-Progress
Cucalorus showcases upcoming critical works by influential directors though the Works-in-Progress Program. This program is an opportunity to get an inside peek at the filmmaking process and meet and greet filmmakers to discuss their work, creative process, and decisions. Examples from this year’s Works-in-Progress Program include: Dummy Jim, Girl Model, and Grahamland.
Scottish filmmaker Matt Hulse, whose charming bio-doc Follow the Master screened at the festival in 2009, will be on hand to present scenes from his upcoming film about the life of James Duthie, a deaf cyclist who made a miraculous trip to the Arctic Circle – on his bike. The James Duthie memorial foundation will also be sponsoring a tree planting program to offset carbon emissions associated with filmmaker travel.
David Redmon and Ashley Sabin will bring their upcoming film Girl Model (working title) to the festival. Redmon’s first feature Mardi Gras: Made in China screened at festivals all over the world (including Cucalorus) in 2005, winning over 21 awards. Redmon and Sabin’s production company Carnivelesque Films “curates stories unified by the raw and startling sensibilities of transgression, spectacle, and variations of truth and falseness.” Their newest venture follows talent scouts as they recruit teenage models and take them to work in Japan.
Special Events
Cucalorus gets started with the Kickoff Party at the Soapbox on Thursday, November 11th at 9pm. Special guests include Chis “Sandman” Sand from Roll Out Cowboy, local surf-rockers The Noseriders, and Italian radio artist Stefano Giannotti.
The Audible Picture Show, curated by Scottish filmmaker Matt Hulse (Dummy Jim), is an international touring show of audio works created for cinema by a diverse range of people including visual artists, filmakers, animators, radio makers, audio artists, sound designers, writers, musicians plus a choice selection of found sound. Each show is compiled afresh from a growing archive of 100+ unique works. Enjoy it Friday at 1:45 at Thalian Black.
Irrational Reactions: The Dilworth Show by Pierre Delarue will include a presentation of works by Academy Award nominated director John Dilworth. The show promises things like a massage by “head animator” and will include many of his award winning films, including the underground comedy classic “The Dirdy Birdy” along with live musical performances and special guests. Showing at 7:45pm at Thalian Black.
Squeeze the last juice out of your cinematic buzz at Sunday night's Meltdown featuring Dr. Madd Vibe aka Angelo Moore of the band Fishbone. Dr. Madd Vibe will be making a special appearance at the festival in conjunction with the screening of Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, a documentary about the band directed by Chris Metzler (Plaques and Pleasures on the Salton Sea, Cucalorus 2005) and Lev Anderson. Reminisce about the past three days, make plans for the future, and finally work up the nerve to talk to that one special filmmaker. Sunday night at 8:00pm at the Soapbox.
How To: Round, round, get around Cucalorus
This year everything Cucalorus is happening in Downtown Wilmington. There are four main screening locations; Thalian Hall Main Stage, Thalian Hall Black Box, City Stage Theater, and Jengo's Playhouse. Our new festival hub, The Ticketbox, is at 201 Princess Street where you can buy tickets and passes, attend select panels, and take a load off in the filmmaker’s lounge. Passes and tickets can be purchased at www.cucalorus.org. For more information call us on (910) 343-5995.
The Cucalorus Film Festival is sponsored in part by the North Carolina Arts Council and the City of Wilmington. For a full list of Cucalorus sponsors, please visit www.cucalorus.org/sponsors.asp
Go to www.cucalorus.org for ticket packages, passes, and the complete list of early release films including pictures and summaries. Press passes available now.
Press kits and screeners are available, and filmmaker contact information is available upon request.
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Contact
Courtney Young
910-343-5995
development@cucalorus.org
Dan Brawley
910-343-5995
dan@cucalorus.org
