Big party, big series make news in local film world

Carolina Film Community will hold its annual public party, honoring folks who entered its Made in Carolinas film contest, on Tuesday. Filmmakers submitted a piece running three to five minutes; this year, the requirements were that it be silent and contain a drawing of a flower.

The bash begins at 6 p.m. at Studio Movie Grill in the EpiCentre. The night starts with red carpet interviews and photos; at 7, the audience will watch the films submitted. Judges have picked favorites, but an audience favorite will be chosen. Tickets cost $10 in advance online, $12 at the door.

Carolina Film Community meets monthly to connect actors, directors, producers, crew and others who want to work in North and South Carolina. To learn more, go to carolinafilmcommunity.com.

Batte Center hosts indies

The Batte Center at Wingate University and Union County Community Arts Council will present the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Films and Filmmakers.

The free six-film series is billed as the South’s only tour of emerging and experienced filmmakers, who discuss their work after each screening. Topics in the documentary series range from illegal FBI spying to civil rights icon Althea Gibson. Seats are free, but you’ll want to reserve them at battecenter.org. Call 704-233-8300 for details.

Joseph East’s “I Will Dance” kicks off the series Tuesday at 7 p.m. in McGee Theatre. It’s set in Selma, Ala., and follows the Random Acts of Theatre Company – which helps keep young people from becoming teenaged parents or gang members – on a journey to New York, where the troupe shares stories through an original show they wrote and choreographed.

The other titles are “1971” (Oct. 20), about eight citizens who broke into an FBI office in Media, Pa., took hundreds of secret files and revealed that the FBI had illegally spied on Americans; “Imba Means Sing” (Nov. 9), about three children from the slums of Uganda on a world tour with the African Children’s Choir; “Dorothea Lange: Grab A Hunk of Lightning” (Feb. 23), in which her granddaughter profiles the magazine photographer; “American Made Movie” (March 15), about the positive impact of domestic manufacturing jobs on national and local economies; and “Althea” (April 5), about Althea Gibson, the sharecropper’s daughter who became the first African-American tennis player at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Big party, big series make news in local film world."