The Footcandle Film Festival is designed to bring unique, challenging and entertaining films and filmmakers to Western North Carolina. The festival is held by the founders and members of the Footcandle Film Society, a 600+ member group dedicated to screening and discussing films on a monthly basis. The festival will be held at the Hickory Community Theatre in Hickory, North Carolina from September 20th through September 28th, 2024. Activities will include an opening reception, filmmaker Q&A sessions, and a closing ceremony with awards.
FILMS
Feature-length (running time greater than 40 minutes) and short films (running time less than 40 minutes) will be screened at the festival covering a variety of subjects.
Submissions will be categorized in one of five categories: Narrative Short, Documentary Short, Youth Short Film (films no more than 15 minutes in length that cater to an audience of approximately 9 to 14 year olds and their families), Narrative Feature, or Documentary Feature. At the festival closing ceremonies awards will be given for Best Narrative Feature ($1,000), Best Narrative Short ($750), Best Documentary Feature ($1,000), Best Documentary Short ($750) and Best Youth Short Film ($500 ) as selected by a panel of judges, and five awards selected by festival attendees - Audience Favorite Narrative Feature ($500), Audience Favorite Documentary Feature ($500), Audience Favorite Narrative Short ($500), Audience Favorite Documentary Short ($500), & Audience Favorite Youth Short ($500 ).
SCRIPTWRITING
A $1,000 cash prize will be awarded to the winning author. All entries will be reviewed and the winner will be announced the last week of July.
The winner will be asked to receive their award on Tuesday, September 24th in person at a festival event. The event will consist of the author discussing their work, a table reading of a portion of their winning script, and a Question-and-Answer session. Following the Q&A a screening of the shorts completed in the festival's FilmLAB will be screened. The evening will culminate in a reception held in the gallery of the Hickory Museum of Art.