"The deliciously offbeat, smashingly innovative, charmingly anti-competitive Cucalorus Film Festival is one keeper of the Wilmington legends, which expand each year." - MovieMaker 2021

The 31st annual Cucalorus Festival takes place November 19-23, 2025 in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. The non-competitive festival showcases more than 120 films from all over the world and attracts filmmakers, performers and activists who come to celebrate the art-form, discover new work, and discuss the ongoing work of undoing racism. The festival's spirited celebration is a breeding ground for young artists, new ideas and future collaborations.

Festival programs focus on social justice, dance on camera, emerging voices, southern stories, horror & the bizarre, and the finest indie films of the year. Voted "One of the Coolest Film Festivals in the World" (MovieMaker Magazine 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023), and "50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" (MovieMaker Magazine 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), Cucalorus creates an opportunity for intimate engagement between audience and artist through the festival’s retreat-like atmosphere, resulting in friendships that extend far beyond the festival’s 5-day celebration.

Cucalorus wants to see your stuff! Cucalorus seeks magical movies and outrageous videos for this fall’s 30th annual film festival. Cucalorus wants original, outlandish and unexpected creations that bring both justice and joy to our fierce family of filmmakers, performers, and activists. Accepting fabulous features, daring documentaries, sizzling shorts, dance films, animation, experimental films, weirdly personal essays, experiments in cinema, social justice docs, first-time filmmakers, and just about anything you can fit into an MP4!

Awards & Prizes

“Bold, insightful programming, a laid-back rock and roll atmosphere and gorgeous seaside locale no doubt contribute to the ‘summer camp for filmmakers’ vibe, making Cucalorus the best kept secret on the indie fest circuit.” - MovieMaker Magazine

Unlike many film festivals, Cucalorus does not give out awards! Competition is kind of sucky. Instead we give every filmmaker a cash honorarium and we host late night parties with bonfires and curious cocktails to build deep friendships and peculiar memories. Cucalorus is committed to building long-term connections for artists looking to grow their audience, cultivate creative resilience, and explore new projects.

Rules & Terms

EXTRA! EXTRA!
Send us an embarrassing poem or collage about love! Think back to middle school... and have fun with it! Please send it as a PDF. You can mail this to our office at Jengo's Playhouse or email the design to dan@cucalorus.org. If you need guidance on embarrassment or love, email alex@cucalorus.org. **disclaimer** - we may post this on social media!! This is just another way that we use to get to know you as a filmmaker and another way to showcase just how much you want to be included in this year’s Cucalorus Film Festival.

WAIVERS: We offer waivers to filmmakers of color and to residents of New Hanover County or the City of Wilmington. We wish we didn’t have to charge a fee at all but the small entry fee pays for the labor it takes to organize entries - all the emails, titles, scores and so on. It just ends up taking a lot of time! We’re committed to providing transparency to all filmmakers about our programming process, so reach out to us if you want more info about the number of submissions and our judging process. We’re happy to share this info directly with you. Stay tuned. For a waiver code, email dan@cucalorus.org. Cucalorus loves you!

Cucalorus accepts films from all genres by filmmakers of all backgrounds. Films must have been completed within the past two years, and films with world premieres before June 2023 are not eligible. All films must be Wilmington, NC premieres to qualify. If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact dan@cucalorus.org.

Please send all packages, checks, drawings, toys, baby goats, and photos to:

Cucalorus Submissions
Jengo's Playhouse
815 Princess Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
81 Reviews
Overall Rating
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  • Jacob Hatley

    This is the most honest, enthusiastic and fun festival around, it's that simple. We screened our feature to fully engaged audiences and had the support of an absolutely wonderful staff.

    Thank you, Cucalorus!

    May 2025
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  • Amy Grant

    Great experience with inspiring films and performances.

    January 2025
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  • Megan Dahl

    Cucalorus is a one-of-a-kind experience! The films are really wonderful, the blocks are thoughtfully programmed, and the chats with other filmmakers are so thoughtful. And it's just a really fun time in a great city! The communication from staff was the best I've ever experienced and we felt super cared for from start to finish. This is a can't miss festival.

    December 2024
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  • Jeffrey Morgan

    Of all the festivals I've been to over the years, Cucalorus is unique. A mixture of live performance and film, it's truly a celebration of the arts set in the warm and welcoming community of Wilmington, NC. The program offered something for everyone and I hope to return again one day soon. What a treat and honor to have our film be part of the Cucalorus 30 celebration!

    December 2024
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  • Olivia Griselda

    Thank you for selecting my animated comedy short film "She and Her Good Vibrations". Cucalorus is one of my all-time favourite film festival experiences! Their hospitality is a class of its own - they took care of filmmakers really well and their team's communication was excellent. For my travel, I received partial coverage of flight expenses and full coverage of accommodation. The travel expense coverage resulted in many filmmakers from around U.S. and the world visiting the festival. It was also very easy to meet other filmmakers throughout the festival, whether in between screenings, at the Filmmakers Lounge or at the backyard of Jengo's Playhouse.

    Besides the well-curated film selections, the festival created many memorable events, such as the Opening Oysters party and Taco Party at the Railways Museum! I also enjoyed the performance and variety shows that the festival offered alongside the film screenings. The screenings and events were well-attended by the local audience too - I met many local audiences who had been coming to the festival for many years! The festival also provided free shuttle buses to go between the different screening venues and filmmakers accommodation.

    I flew 30 hours from Singapore to attend Cucalorus '24, and I will do it again should there be any future opportunity to do so!

    December 2024
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