Year Four: 2018


 

Click here for a list of all Longleaf 2018 Official Selection films . . .
Click here for a list of award winners for 2018 . . .
Click here for special events at Longleaf 2018 . . .
Click here for a look at some photos from 2018 . . .

The fourth version of Longleaf, in 2018, screened a total of 73 films at the museum, in Daniels Auditorium and two classrooms, in 12 film blocks. New for this year was a change in qualifications for films: all films submitted for the 2018 festival—with the exception of previous Longleaf Official Selection filmmakers—were required to have some sort of connection to the Tar Heel State—through the people involved in making them or through the film’s subject.

Among other innovations for Longleaf 2018:

  • launching a blog that we’ve named Pinings (sign up if you don’t already subscribe);
  • offering three new submission categories: music videos and animated films, and a History+ category for accurately interpreted or portrayed films that reflect history from a unique perspective or insight;
  • adding public invitations to the Friday evening reception for filmmakers;
  • moving the Friday evening film block outdoors for Movies-N-Moonlight;
  • redesigning the festival’s program; and
  • providing two food trucks, one for lunchtime service and one for dinner.

Two documentary feature films in Daniels Auditorium kicked off Longleaf 2018 on Friday afternoon, May 11. Black Beach/White Beach: A Tale of Two Beaches and Released both drew good crowds, and filmmakers from both were available after the films for a brief Q&A session. The afternoon transitioned to evening with the first of our special weekend events: a sold-out public Reception for Filmmakers and Friends (sponsored by the North Carolina Museum of History Associates), which featured the amazing and varied music of the talented North Carolina Film Orchestra.

Opening day ended with Movies-N-Moonlight—an outdoor film block set up on Bicentennial Plaza, just outside the front doors of Longleaf’s home base, the North Carolina Museum of History. This special film block played to a full house, thanks to warm weather, light from the moon, and relatively few bugs. Nine shorts were screened—from music videos to an animated work to a high-school–student–made film—with subjects as far-fetched as an alien invasion and a five-year-old baseball prodigy.

Events on Saturday, May 12, included two panel discussions with industry professionals from North Carolina in the museum’s Demonstration Gallery:

  • Women in Film, North Carolina Style, with women filmmakers Kelly Creedon, Lana Garland, Nicolle Jones, and Camden Watts (and moderated by Beth Yerxa), as well as
  • Distribution Platforms and How to Get There, with guests Elisabeth Haviland James, Evan Kidd, and Thomas Varnum (and moderated by Eric Johnson).

Six more two-hour film blocks in the education wing and four in Daniels Auditorium completed screenings for the day. Longleaf 2018 wrapped up, for the second year, with Steve Neilson, Dagtype Films, a member of our Longleaf Advisory Board, hosting the annual awards ceremony. There, 13 films received festival tiles, made this year by North Carolina’s Whynot Pottery. Our three top prize winners also received $500 cash awards.

Judges for 2018 included four-time judge Craig Lindsey and two-time judges Jill Boniske, Marcianne Miller, and Lawrence Toppman, along with first-timers Kelly Creedon, Alisa Johnson, and Frank Thompson.

We very much appreciate two continuing sponsors: the North Carolina Museum of History Associates. Third-year sponsor, J. A. Steel and Warrior Entertainment, also helped support the event, alongside four new sponsors: the North Carolina Film Orchestra, Redfin, Nicolle C. Jones and the Limerence Bureau, Robert Half, and our Wrap Party cosponsor Oak & Dagger Public House.

During the free festival, more than 1,020 people attended (an increase over last year’s 900), most enjoying a continuous supply of free popcorn. Further testament to our growth, and because we are history buffs who like to prove our worth, our social media buzz included

  • an average weekly impression rate of  3,000 on Twitter—and 599 followers at festival time;
  • reaching 14,800 people in festival month on Facebook with 800 followers; and
  • a total of 88 picture posts on Instagram, for 415 followers.

Still, in the end, this year was about the films, the filmmakers, and the film fans—because we’re always about film, fun, and community!

 

 

Click here for a list of all Longleaf 2018 Official Selection films . . .
Click here for a list of award winners for 2018 . . .
Click here for special events at Longleaf 2018 . . .
Click here for a look at some photos from 2018 . . .