Year Ten: 2024

Click here for a list of all Longleaf 2024 Official Selection films
Click here for a list of Longleaf 2024 award winners
Click here to review some special programs at Longleaf 2024
Click here to see a full schedule of events at Longleaf 2024
Click here for a look at some photos from 2024

It’s challenging to “wrap up” an event, an exhibit effort, a program, or other activity. So, please accept these comments knowing that I realize they are inadequate to express how grateful I am to everyone involved over the last 12 years or so in the formation and continuation of Longleaf Film Festival—which just completed Year 10!

This year, our in-person attendance was about 1,600—a significant increase from 1,000 in 2023—and we screened 71 films, 30 of them premieres of some sort. At the Awards Ceremony, 22 films were recognized for their excellence, including the evening’s top prize recipients:

African American Cultural Celebration Prize: Frederick DeShon Murphy and Kimberly Knight, Duality: A Collection of Afro Indigenous Perspectives
American Indian Heritage Celebration Prize: Montana Cypress, Lumbeeland
Latin American Communities Prize: Ana Carolina Hoppert Flores and Layla Peykamian, Abuela
Best Student Film: Lauren E. Johnson, Running to Remember
Judges’ Choice/Documentary Film: Brad Herring and Adé Carrena, Bite of Bénin
Judges’ Choice/Narrative Film: Shaun Dozier, The Problem of the Hero

A few comments from filmmakers speak to the cumulative effect of the festival:

“First, I’m very grateful for all the work you and your team have done creating Longleaf Film Festival. In addition to the value of just seeing (and exhibiting) films, Longleaf somehow has fostered a ‘town meeting’ kind of feeling, a place where it’s easy to meet other filmmakers old or new.”
“Thank you for such a lovely time at the festival and for the gift! That popcorn is addictive! Thank you so much for all your hard work, along with the hard work of your team. What a wonderful time it is at Longleaf.”
“Oh. My. What an experience:”
- “the warmth and hospitality . . . true to North Carolina’s long heralded motto.”
- “the workshop sessions . . . really informative, and actually . . . inspiring.”
- “the films . . . beautiful . . . and inspiring.”
- “the entire Longleaf and NCMOH team, and volunteers . . . priceless.”
“There is no measure for the meaning . . . and inspiration . . . of this weekend’s experience for all of us, and we want you to know it. We admire all of you and appreciate the time and commitment it took to pull off such an experience for so many.”
“Thank you, again, for the opportunity to show our film at your festival this past weekend; we are so grateful for the chance to show our work and for the creation of spaces for conversations to take place. And to be named Judges’ Choice is such an honor, one we never imagined we’d receive! Thank you for recognizing our work and for everything you and your team do for all the filmmakers in our area.”

Everyone involved in Longleaf this year, and all the years, is truly gifted, and I am grateful to you all for sharing those talents and your time with this event. This year’s cast and crew included:

Amber (the words!) and Amme (the look!); Marcie, Alexa, and the marketing mavens; Frank, Bryan Bolduc, Bryan Gaines, Brian Allen; super docents Bob and Charlie (the original poster boys), Diane, Phyllis, and Jim; Joel (LIGHTS and so much more); Lynn and the museum shop crew (love our Ts); Stephen Evans, the LFF website and popcorn guru; Maria and Jim (checks-r-us); Emily Grant (host with the most); and ALL OF MY EDUCATION SECTION PEEPS, who are, simply, the best at all I ask (and all I forget to ask), plus, my sanity: y’all, I mean really! And then there’s Jerry Taylor—the ideas, the support, the screening of films, flawlessly, so that Longleaf actually is a film festival.

With the addition of a feature-film block, this year’s festival started early on Friday afternoon; it continued with a film block of shorts, a fun reception for filmmakers and friends, and an appropriately, amazingly moonlit evening for Movies-N-Moonlight. Saturday kicked off a strong start with an off-site workshop at North Carolina’s first virtual production studio and two additional on-site workshops (The Independent Filmmaker’s Production Packet and It’s Been a Decade: How It Started/How It’s Going). The day continued with more film blocks and concluded with our annual Awards Ceremony (again distributed simultaneously via live-stream), where we presented our annual award tiles, and an overwhelming Wrap Party.

During the festival run, our social media accounts reached thousands of people on Facebook and Instagram, and the Longleaf website had more than 26,000 views—just in April and May.

In summary, one of our best years yet . . . but here is the other news, which you all know by now.