The North Carolina Museum of History is thrilled to announce the tenth annual Longleaf Film Festival! The festival announced this year’s Official Selections on Friday, April 12 in a virtual event.
Longleaf Film Festival, a free-to-attend festival that highlights the best of independent film demonstrating a Tar Heel State connection, will occur on Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11. This year’s festival will be screening 71 documentaries and narrative works. Film fans can join us at the festival’s home base, the North Carolina Museum of History, a place that seeks to share the stories that connect us all. The weekend is packed with ways to celebrate the art and craft of independent filmmaking with popcorn, socials and more!
Here’s what to expect when making your plans to join us:
Friday, May 10
Opening Film Blocks: Daniels Auditorium
3–5 p.m. and 5–7 p.m.
Longleaf opens with two wonderful films, Isaiah Alexander Forte-Rose’s Forbidden Fruit, a short that follows an eleven-year-old boy navigating a rural food desert. This block also screens the feature-length Box Brown: A Box Marked Freedom directed by Aravind Ragupathi and Robert Alan Underhill and starring Mike Wiley. This film shares the true story of Henry "Box" Brown, an enslaved man who mailed himself to freedom in 1849. In the 5–7 p.m. film block, an array of shorts speak of loss, friendship and survival.
Reception for Filmmakers and Friends
5–7 p.m.
Join us for the Official Selection Filmmakers and Friends Reception. Meet filmmakers, actors and other film fans! While Longleaf Film Festival screenings and workshops are free to attend, the reception is a ticketed event.
Movies-N-Moonlight
8:30–10 p.m.
After the reception, stay for Movies-N-Moonlight, an outdoor film block on Bicentennial Plaza featuring nine different narrative and documentary shorts. Some chairs are provided or bring your own!
Saturday, May 11
Ten film blocks in three spaces at the museum show everything from narrative and documentary features and shorts to music videos and animated films.
Blocks begin at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. To learn more about the films, explore the festival schedule here. To learn more about the individual films and watch trailers, check out the Official Selections here.
Workshops feature topics of interest for filmmakers and film fans. Explore a virtual production studio, learn about the legal basics for filmmakers, and join the conversation with the “How It Started/How It’s Going” panel discussion. Register for workshops here!
Final Film Block and Awards Program
5–7:30 p.m.
The final film block of the festival takes place in Daniels Auditorium and is followed by the Awards Program where we celebrate excellence in filmmaking, with our host David Menconi.
Longleaf Film Festival is sponsored, in part, by Carlyle Adams Foundation, Celito, The Freelance Editor, CT Wilson Construction Company, Monarch Realty, Ricci Law Firm P.A., Bellhop, Empire Properties, and ZenBusiness.
For more details, click the links above or visit LongleafFilmFestival.com.