History:
Indie Film Force, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was created in 2005 when filmmaker and founder Louis Gurgitano decided that a world-class city like Charlotte should not miss out on the cultural wealth a film festival could bring. That same year, Mr. Gurgitano and a core group of volunteers began planning the first annual Charlotte Film Festival, which attracted over 2,000 people.
Since, the Festival has grown and evolved. Sometimes those evolutionary developments showed us new paths to fulfilling our mission, and they survived; other times they lead to dead ends and they went the way of the dinosaurs. Through it all, our passion for movies has been our guiding light and our commitment to highlight the best examples of independent cinema has been our walking stick. They’ve allowed us to moved confidently and safely through the years since our humble beginnings to where we are today.
Today:
The Charlotte Film Festival has established itself as dependable presenter of quality independent films and a cultural hub for established and emerging film artists to showcase their works to the region’s top producers, peers, investors and viewers.
Success has multiplied the number of film submissions we receive from filmmakers around the world. To accommodate and make use of all the great material we receive, we have partnered with local independent venue Epicentre Theaters and created new, sister festivals. The Charlotte Horror Fest will premiere in the fall of 2012, and the Big Cause Docu Fest is currently in development for inauguration in 2013.
Goals:
Our organization’s current goals for the CFF are to continue developing a dedicated following, raise our profile and that of our city to filmmakers and distributors outside of our region, encourage dialogue between audience members through exposure to thought-provoking film experiences, and expand our initiatives to include year-round programming of independent film events.
