Join us for the Carrboro Film fest 2025

Schedule of Events:

January 13, 2025

Pre-festival Kickoff - The Deciders
7:00?PM  9:00?PM
Chelsea Theater
Carrboro Film Fest is proud to present, The Deciders: Red, Whiteville, and Blue, a feature documentary film by Durham filmmaker, D. L. Anderson. In a small North Carolina town, a nascent group of single mothers, military veterans, and Trump supporters who dub themselves “the Deciders,” find solidarity in each other as they must face entrenched forces and callous political leaders in their pursuit of a living wage. This heartfelt documentary will leave you asking who really decides where the money goes? And why not you? Join us for a special kick-off screening at the Chelsea Theater as well as a Q&A with the director and Susan Romaine, founder of Orange County Living Wage.

January 24, 2025

Opening Film - A Song For Imogene

7:30?PM  9:30?PM
Drakeford Library Complex
Carrboro Film Fest is proud to present, A Song for Imogene, a feature film by North Carolina native, Erika Arlee. After discovering she is pregnant by her abusive boyfriend, a fallen-away musician must decide between freeing herself or remaining a relic of her drive-by Southern town. Set against the grueling landscape of the American South, this gritty drama explores issues of abuse, pregnancy trauma, and the female bid for independence. We invite you to join us for the film and a special Q&A with the director, cast, and crew after the screening.   

January 25, 2025

Film School 101: Understanding Cinematography with Nicole Berland

12:00PM - 1:00PM
Drakeford Library Complex
Every film represents a collaboration between directors, cinematographers, writers, actors, equipment operators, editors, and more. Each of these people makes choices that impact the story they're telling and how audiences will receive it. This workshop offers a crash course in the technical language of cinema.

Out On a Limb - Short Films

1:30PM - 3:30PM
Drakeford Library Complex
Southerners are tough – but we know real stories of triumph are never easy. That’s why this collection of 8 short films seeks to honor all the risks, challenges, and moments of discomfort we trade to create better versions of ourselves or a better world for the people we love. From a “post-binary, pansexual, polyamorous, pot-smoking parent and professional drag queen” who uses her platform to protect and celebrate her community, to a father trying to provide dinner for his family in a new country, to a recovering people pleaser trying her hand at BDSM – we are here for every moment of the process as all these individuals are sacrificing comfort and caution for something bolder and brighter on the other side.

Systems Failing, Community Rising - Short Films   

4:00PM - 6:00PM
Drakeford Library Complex

This collection of 7 documentary shorts highlights the efforts and accomplishments of Southerners who are coming together and rolling up their sleeves to challenge, combat, and reform systems which no longer serve them. In Alabama, a mechanic with a PhD from Berkeley takes a stand against capitalism in his own garage; in Texas, the Briggle family must contend with a far right government to defend their child’s right to gender affirming healthcare; and in our very own Orange County, NC, social workers, police officers, community leaders, and individuals living without shelter use their voices to illuminate the growing crisis of affordable housing. We hope you leave this block enlightened and inspired by the work your neighbors are already doing in city halls, community centers, and backyards all around you.

Meet the Filmmakers Dinner

6:30pm - 7:30pm

6:30PM  7:30PM
Drakeford Library Complex
Come join us for a free dinner with some of the filmmakers from this year's Carrboro Film Fest. Admission is free, but registration is required. Space is limited, so register early!

Southern Oddities - Short Films
7:30?PM - 9:30?PM
Drakeford Library Complex
As Southerners, we don’t shy away from what others may find strange, surreal, or uncanny; instead we approach with curiosity, eager to learn what the otherworldly has in store. With this block of twelve short films, we follow a cat to the center of the earth, watch best friends cleanse their home of a haunted couch, and witness individuals undergo a mysterious grieving process involving a supernatural telephone booth. With this collection we are taking our audience through the looking glass, hoping to return with an enriched perspective on the weird and wonderful world that is the South.

January 26, 2025

Southern Body Fantastic - Short Films

12:00PM - 2:00PM
Drakeford Library Complex

Southerners aren’t arrogant – but we do believe there is nothing more fascinating than ourselves and the bodies we inhabit. This collection of 8 evocative shorts seek to both interrogate and celebrate our ideas about the Southern body. From the nourishing and transformative power of neighborhood gardens and art which centers fat beauty and liberation, to the societal and social challenges of processing death and improving our care for pregnant black women and trans individuals, to the deeply personal choices of how we express our identity through our bodies (be it through hair care, imaginative play, or a series of backflips)–this collection explores contemporary social issues and timeless existential questions through the most intimate lens possible: the human body.

Closing Film - Our Movement Starts Here

2:30PM - 4:30PM
Drakeford Library Complex

Carrboro Film Fest is proud to present Our Movement Starts Here, a powerful documentary about grassroots activism and environmental justice in the American South. The film centers the story of a rural community in North Carolina who articulated the concept of environmental racism in 1982 by fighting the state’s toxic landfill. We invite you to join us for the film and a special Q&A with the director, cast, and crew after the screening. Directed by John Rash and Melanie Dang Ho.    

Date: January 24-26, 2025

Location: Various Venues in NC, USA

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