[This story was originally published August 14, 2025 by The Charlotte Observer]

Did you know that there are more than five film festivals hosted in Charlotte? What about 10? 15?

It’s a film destination — we know that. But the breadth of the offerings are staggering: feature films, foreign films, short films, animated films, just to name a few. Having so many is an achievement to be celebrated.

Enter the 1CLT Film Festival.

It’s 13 festivals under one roof at The Independent Picture House to present any type of film you can think of over the course of four days — Aug. 20-24. And it’s all free.

“There are more (than the 13) in Charlotte,” said Angel Truesdale, a member of the Charlotte Film Society, Independent Picture House and Charlotte Film Festival, who helped to organize 1CLT.

“We are really scratching the surface with how many (festivals) we have. (Charlotte) is a vibrant film community with film enthusiasts who want to bring good, quality filmmaking and stories to the screen,” she said.

The festivals participating are: Charlotte Film Festival; CineOdyssey Film Festival; 15 Short Film Festival; Reel Out Charlotte; Stranger Days Film Festival; Charlotte Asian Film Festival; Charlotte Latino Film Festival; Black Girls Film Camp; Carolina Film Festival; Carolina Independent Film Collective; Charlotte Jewish Film Festival; Gold Reel Film Festival; and Charlotte Unconventional Film School.

“I think that’s always been my thing, too, and that’s what I’ve tried to champion as much (film options) as I can,” said Jay Morong, director of the Charlotte Film Festival and senior lecturer of film studies at UNC Charlotte.

“There are a lot of people for a long time who have been doing a lot of things in Charlotte related to film screenings, film camps, film workshops (and) screening diverse foreign independent cinema,” Morong said. “These audiences are all kind of fractured and splintered all over the place.

Enter the IPH and a plan five years in the making.

Moving from virtual to in-person

The seed was planted in the middle of the pandemic in 2020. Theaters were shut down, shutting out the festivals with them. People were at home and grasping for new entertainment, which led to the 2020 virtual 1CLT Festival.

“One of the things that we hoped (was to) show unity amongst ourselves, but also to help the community learn about the different film organizations here,” said Tre’ McGriff, founder of the CineOdyssey Film Festival. “Because you go back five years, I had no idea that we had this many film collectives.”

“We were inspired by the We Are One Global Film Festival that Tribeca put on during the pandemic. So, basically this was a local version of that.”

Many of the same groups who are coming together this month came together in 2020 to screen blocks for the festival and it was a hit. It’s a concept that has been on Truesdale’s mind since 2020 and finally last year at the Charlotte Film Festival, she felt it was the right time to try it again.

“I think we had been talking about it for so long, and it just made sense. It was coming up on five years, and I was like, if we don’t do it now, we may never do it,” Truesdale said.

“We did a 1CLT panel with all the film festivals. The Charlotte Film Festival is bringing all of the other film festivals and film organizations together to talk to the public and tell them about their individual festivals,” she said. “It’s time to screen those films. It’s time to have a representation of all the different film organizations we have in Charlotte and just to let all of our different audiences know about each other.”

After speaking with Morong and Juli Emmons, who helped coordinate the 1CLT Festival with her, this year seemed like the right moment to bring everyone together again and in person.

“It’s cool to see things virtually, but it changes the momentum, and ambiance when you are in-person,” Emmons said. “There’s so much energy that way. We’ll get that experience, having (1CLT) live, and that is such a fuel for people, to know that there are people out there supporting them.”

Shorts, animation, midnight madness — oh my!

Think of 1CLT like a tasting menu.

One night you’re sampling a feature film from the Charlotte Jewish Film Festival and the next, you’re trying a handful of shorts from 15 Short Film Festival. Want it weird? Try Stranger Days and the Charlotte Film Festival. Impactful?

“Our motto at the Charlotte Film Festival is ‘Discover Different’ and so while we do show films that are very traditional in form or very traditional in story, one of the things that we really try to lean into is finding things that will feel like something you’ve never quite seen before,” Morong said about the CFF block.

Screening at 10 p.m. on Saturday, August 23, CFF is bringing back the fan favorite, “Hundreds of Beavers” for an encore show. The cult classic will be paired with short films, “The Procedure” (2016) and “Hitte” (2019).

“That was kind of the spirit of programming those three. We knew we had the late night, so I said, ‘Well, let’s pick some quirkier, weirder stuff for the people who will come out at 10 o’clock on a Saturday night,’ ” Morong said.

For the CineOdyssey Film Festival, McGriff said they’re looking ahead to classics and futures of animation. The program begins with a 50th anniversary screening of the Ralph Bakshi animated classic, “Coon Skin,” followed by a CineOdyssey favorite, “Zach in Time.”

“I always wanted to see (“Coon Skin”) remastered. This is the remastered version. I remember being a kid and my older sisters were able to go to the theater to see it, but I couldn’t until years later when it was released on video,” McGriff said.

“But I think Ralph Bakshi, he doesn’t get enough credit. I think because he was an innovator and when you look at some of the other works that he inspired, and just the style of his animation… it’s a film that’s long overdue to be screened, especially since it’s been remastered.”

Carolina Film Festival is bringing two award-winning shorts that have come through the festival: “Beyond Us – After the Collapse” (2019) and “Other Side of the Box” (2018). “If you’re nominated for the Carolina Film Festival, we’re choosing the best of the best of the best,” founder Oliver Crooms said.

The Charlotte Latino Film Festival is set to bring back some favorites from this year’s edition with the Hecho Aquí (Made Here) short film block that includes local work as well as international films.

“I don’t want it to sound cliche, but joy is also a form of resistance, and that’s what we want to portray and showcase in our programming in general at the Charlotte Latino Film Festival,” co-founder Giovanna Torres said. “We also have something that was very special this year that we were able to showcase our very first work in progress by a local artist.

“So it’s also finding and creating those spaces to uplift our local creatives that sometimes don’t encounter those chances quite often.”

For the 15 Short Film Festival, founder Antonio Diaz said his organization has been going strong for 21 years now and he’s excited to bring some of their recent greatest hits to the 1CLT audiences. “I think the draw to this (festival) will be the diversity of all the films and the fact that, I mean, God, look how many films you can see for free.”

The festival coming together is a dream come true for McGriff.

“I would love this to be something that is indoctrinated into the fabric of the film community here. I don’t want to wait five years.”

The 1CLT Film Festival runs from Aug. 20-24. Tickets are available now at independentpicturehouse.org and are free.