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WILMINGTON, N.C. — The 24th annual Cucalorus Festival announces its mashup of film, performance and technology for November 7-11 in downtown Wilmington. Susan Ellis (Director of Social Innovation at SAS) delivers the festival keynote with a special intro from futurist Charlie Fink as part of the Cucalorus Connect Conference. Fringe world-winner Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde directed by Anna Stromberg will stage at Thalian Main Saturday for the Cucalorus Stage Festival.

Underneath the technology and performances, 200 films hit the screen: Mads Brügger’s provocative comedy St. Bernard Syndicate , Madeleine Olnek’s Wild Nights With Emily starring Molly Shannon as Emily Dickinson, and Ann Lupo’s love rollercoaster In Reality . More than half of this year’s 200+ film selections are directed by women.

The fest kicks off Wednesday, November 7 with an opening night concert: pop punk legends Superchunk at the Brooklyn Arts Center . “Superchunk really brings together all the great stuff about the Cucalorus journey right now. Politically tuned, spirited and spunky, but also growing a little bit wiser, and making a business out of creativity. Then you have Susan Ellis from SAS—also a Cucalorus alum—talking about storytelling as a corporate strategy, and you have the perfect storm of creativity, commerce and craziness that makes Cucalorus so fun,” said Chief Instigating Officer Dan Brawley. “Oh yeah, we also have another stellar lineup of wild cinema: from Cannes-winner Burning to Jonas Akerlund’s latest, we’ve curated the best films of the year.”

North Carolinian Rhiannon Giddens and New York Times-journalist John Jeremiah Sullivan hit the stage at Thalian Hall for a conversation surrounding their new work When the Battle's Over: Songs of 1898. Along with several events in the Community Brew track for Connect, this show is organized through a collaboration with the 1898 Massacre and Coup d’état 120th Observance Committee .

Alex Tatarsky is this year’s “Bus to Lumberton” artist, stay tuned for details about when and where to dip your toes into the wacked-out world of Blue Velvet through this interactive, site-specific nod to David Lynch.

Cucalorus presents the North American premiere of Wilmington native Erica Dunton’s feature film Abigail Falls which recently earned the Best Director Award at Madrid Film Festival. Other conversation starters include Ondi Timoner ’s Mapplethorpe , a biographical drama about the famed controversial photographer, and the 2018 SXSW Audience Award winner Transmilitary , about four U.S. Military members who come out in hopes of attaining equal rights for 15,500 transgender people in the U.S. military.

Cucalorus venues include CFCC Union Station, Thalian Hall, Blind Elephant, Bourgie Nights, Cameron Art Museum, CFCC Wilson Center, Dead Crow Comedy Room, Hell’s Kitchen, Jengo’s Playhouse, TheatreNOW, Whisky Tango Foxtrot. The online box office is now open for tickets and passes: cucalorus.org/boxoffice.

For general information visit cucalorus.org. For press inquiries, contact Morgan Davis: press@cucalorus.org or visit cucalorus.org/press. Social: @cucalorus | Hashtags: #cucalorus #cuc24 #cucalorus24

About Cucalorus:
Cucalorus is an evolving experiment in community building that connects visionary leaders in film, performance and technology, supporting the creation of new work and the development of ideas through festivals, residencies, funding and education. Cucalorus is made possible by the City of Wilmington, the National Endowment for the Arts, NC Arts Council, tekMountain, UNCW, and the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

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CONTACT:

Morgan Davis
press@cucalorus.org
910.343.5995