An event SO WEIRD Big Boi had to cancel his concert!

 The Cough Syrup Film Festival. This Sunday. 5:30pm. FREE! At Jengo’s Playhouse. It’s a potluck! (Bring some nomnoms!) Live music. Cash Bar. Homemade cough syrup contest. (We wanna sip your sizzurp—show us what you got!)

Still accepting entries until noon on June 8^th – send us your stuff! If it’s 3 minutes or less and contains cough syrup, it’s gonna get screened! Send an email to programming [at] cucalorus.org for more details. Mark your calendars and stretch out those lungs, Cucalorians. On June 9^th, we cure your cough.

Thursday, May 30^th, at 128 South, Brooks Pierce law firm will host a Cucalorus Happy Hour and a Half to premier our new promo video and kick off this year’s sponsorship campaign!

Happy Hour and a Half will take place from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. Chow down on some lamb lollipops, and other delicious foods provided by 128 South Catering, and grab a cocktail or two at our cash bar.

Come out to meet the Cucalorus Staff, Board of Trustees, and current Sponsors. You’ll also have an opportunity to learn more about Cucalorus Film Festival, and how you can join us in celebrating the 19^th year of Cucalorus through sponsorship.

Previous Sponsors have included: PNC Bank, Screen Gems Studios, PPD, Digieffects, Sage Island, Port City Java, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the North Carolina Arts Council, City of Wilmington, and New Hanover County.

Click to watch the official Cough Syrup Film Festival Promo

We wanna see what Weezy taught you!

Whether you’re holed up in bed with a stuffy nose and a cough that won’t quit, or you’re jammin’ out to Three 6 Mafia on the weekend—we’ve all coated our throats with that sickly saccharine purple nectar that is cough syrup.

Sunday, June 9^th, from 5:30 to 11, at Jengo’s Playhouse will be the world’s FIRST EVER Cough Syrup Film Festival.  And we want your movies! Send us something short & sugary sweet: 3 minutes or less, involving (you guessed it!) COUGH SYRUP! You make it, we’ll play it! (As long as you get it in to us by noon on June 8^th.)

The event itself will be free; we’ll have a cookout, a few bands, a cash bar, and as the sky turns purple so will the screen at Jengo’s. Pass that purple drank, let’s get weird together, y’all!

Other entertainment possibilities include (but are not limited to): a Cough Syrup Kissing Booth, a Sizzurp Slip-n-Slide, a home-made cough syrup taste-test, Cough Syrup Cocktails, the Cough Syrup Awards,and all the cooties you can handle.

Registration open for “Camp Cucalorus”!!!! Are you, or do you know any aspiring filmmakers (or YouTube devotees) between the ages of 12 & 17? Send them our way for the most monster-filled, musically delicious week of their life!

Via a mind-meld, we’ll teach these teens everything they’ll ever need to know about making music videos! Pre-production? Got it covered. Filming? You know it. They’ll get to operate multiple cameras! We’ll even let them get their hands on Final Cut Pro and teach them how to slice, dice & splice the footage they shoot!

Students will receive hands-on training from Rob Hill, Emmy-nominated founder of Common Sense Films, and other film experts. They’ll watch super-cool demonstrations from film-industry-extraordinaires. AND they’ll get some quality hang-out time with the band whose music video they’re filming! Featured bands in previous years were Justin Lacy & The Swimming Machines, and Fractal Farm! (Check out behind the scenes footage from last year!)

In addition to filming the band live in Jengo’s Backyard, students will take a field trip to see film professionals in action! In previous years we’ve taken campers to Screen Gems Studios, and Cape Fear Community College’s film studio and editing lab.

At the end of the week they’ll get to experience the premiere of their music video in style with a Screening Party right here at Jengo’s Playhouse. WOW! What a week!

Camp Cucalorus runs 9 a.m. – 3 p.m, July 29 –Aug 2, 2013. Space is limited so apply today! Camp enrollment is $395 and includes: lunch and snacks for all 5 days, a DVD copy of the finished music video, behind the scenes field trip and 4 tickets to the Premier Screening at Jengo’s Playhouse.

For an application contact Jill Tefft at development@cucalorus.org or 910.343.5995

            “The mission of the YWCA’s Stand Against Racism is to raise awareness that racism still exists in our communities. We seek to promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.”

           Cucalorus Film Festival is hosting a free community film screening of Marco Williams’ feature documentary BANISHED in conjunction with the YWCA’s “Stand Against Racism.” Come hang out, eat free popcorn, get some monster hugs and puppy kisses, and help put a little bit more love into the universe!

           The screening will be held at 7pm on Friday, April 26, 2013, at Jengo’s Playhouse, on 815 Princess Street. Take a bike, train, spaceship or hover car—just get on over here and take your stand!

BANISHED:

A hundred years ago, in communities across the U.S., white residents forced thousands of black families to flee their homes. Even a century later, these towns remain almost entirely white. BANISHED tells the story of three of these communities and their black descendants, who return to learn their shocking histories.

In Forsyth County, Georgia, where a thousand black residents were expelled, the film explores the question of land fraudulently taken, and follows some descendants in their quest to uncover the real story of their family’s land. In Pierce City, Missouri, a man has designed his own creative form of reparation—he wishes to disinter the remains of his great-grandfather, who was buried there before the banishment. And in Harrison, Arkansas, home to the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan, a white community struggles with their town’s legacy of hate.

By investigating this little-known chapter in American history, BANISHED also takes a contemporary look at the legacy of racial cleansing. Through conversations with current residents and the descendants of those who were driven out, the film contemplates questions of privilege, responsibility, denial, healing, reparations and identity.

What can be done to redress past injustices? What is the ongoing impact of the expulsions on families and communities today? In the stories of black families whose land and livelihood were stolen, the film illustrates the limits of the American legal system and the need for creative forms of repair. By introducing these families and the white communities who forced them out, BANISHED raises the question of responsibility for past wrongs and what is involved in righting them.

So you’re joining us for An Evening on the Red Carpet, eh? Well, read below for some helpful information. Today’s topic: CHECK-IN, FOOD, AND DRINK!

So you’ve parked your car and taken a ride on the trolley, you’ve strut the red carpet, shmoozed with the style judges, and waved at the paparazzis…WHAT NOW?! Check in time!

You will notice that there are no tickets to An Evening on the Red Carpet, just a very exclusive guest list—WITH YOUR NAME ON IT! Arrive to the check-in desk, let the lovely ladies know your name, receive your silent auction number and table assignment, and VOILA—time to party!

Though the party begins at 7pm, the actual Oscar Awards show doesn’t begin until 8:30pm. That gives you plenty of time to peruse the silent auction, begin filling out your Oscar Ballot, and fill up on some food and drink. An Evening on the Red Carpet is catered by Angie of Chris’ Restaurant, with the open bar sponsored by Midnight Moon and Sweet Water. Be sure to check out the nine clever Best-Picture-Cocktails created by Joel Finsel and Ian Murray of Manna. These cocktails aren’t your grandmas usual gin + tonic. One cocktail consists of .5 oz. Midnight Moon white, ½ oz. Midnight Moon Apple Pie, 2 oz. lemon sour, and West Indies orange bitters. Can you guess which film this cocktail belongs to??? Hint: Apple Pie.

Find out during An Evening on the Red Carpet, taking place on Oscar Night, February 24, 2013, 7pm at Screen Gems Studios. Join in on the fun and purchase your single tickets or discounted couples tickets now. See you on the red carpet.

So you’re joining us for An Evening on the Red Carpet, eh? Read below for some helpful information.
Today’s topic: PARKING AND DRESS ATTIRE!

Upon arrival to Screen Gems Studios, guests will park in the Fincannon Parking Lot or in the overflow parking area off of “One Tree Hill Way“, located near Sound Stage #7. Wilmington Trolley Company will have a trolley circling the lot throughout the entirety of the night, shuttling guests between the parking lot and Sound Stage number #3!

It’s no surprise that one of the most crucial activities during the upcoming Cucalorus Fundraiser, An Evening on the Red Carpet, is just the obvious—THE RED CARPET!! Guests will have the chance to strut their stuff, pose for the paparazzi’s blinding flashes, stop for a chat with the style judges, and brag about “WHO” they are wearing. At the end of the night, style judges Jess James, Michael Ussery, and Jesse Williams will announce the Best Dressed Man and Best Dressed Woman. Each winner will receive a $300 ALL-ACCESS Pegasorus Pass to Cucalorus 2013!

But with all of that said…WHAT does one wear during this “creative black-tie” event? Hmmmm. You want our advice? Come comfortable. Whether you GET WEIRD with it or dress it down, you won’t be the only one. Ladies can expect to see everything from knee-high skirts to funky cocktail dresses to traditional ball gowns! As for the gentlemen, coat and button-down is the norm, tie optional. Although wild bow-ties and suspenders are encouraged. Remember that fancy polk-a-dot prom dress you only wore once? Or how about that bold zoot-suit you got at the thrift shop that’s been aging next to your Dockers? Well, dust it off folks, because it’s Oscar season!

The Red Carpet will be featured at the annual Cucalorus Fundraiser, which will be held on Oscar Night, February 24, 2013, 7pm at Screen Gems Studios. Join in on the fun and purchase your single tickets or discounted couples tickets now. See you on the red carpet.

SHHHHH…do you hear that? That’s the BOOM of the upcoming Silent Auction at this year’s annual Cucalorus fundraiser, An Evening on the Red Carpet! Upon check-in at the event, each guest will receive an exclusive number to use for the Cucalorus Silent Auction. Wondering what’s in store for this year? Feast your eyes upon a few of these super secret Silent Auction leaks…