Highlights from the 2025 Cucalorus Film Festival

Highlights from the 2025 Cucalorus Film Festival

This November, enjoy five days of independent films, live performances, and boundary-pushing art that celebrate creativity and community

By Emily Davis

Each November, downtown Wilmington transforms into a playground of creativity as the Cucalorus Film Festival fills theaters, studios and streets with film, performance and art. This year, Cucalorus 2025 will once again welcome filmmakers, performers and audiences from around the globe for five days of experimentation, connection and community. The jam-packed schedule runs from the 19th through the 23rd and includes more than 100 independent and international films, paired with a fringe-style lineup of live performances, installation art and workshops that elevate the event from a showcase of film to an interactive celebration of human innovation.

Long lauded for its spirit of boundary-pushing collaboration and hailed by MovieMaker Magazine as “one of the coolest film festivals in the world,” this year’s 31st annual Cucalorus will be no exception. Festivalgoers can expect a vibrant, eclectic experience spanning premieres, concerts, multimedia performances and more. Here are standout events that are sure to wow the audience.

Dance-a-lorus: Where Film Meets Movement

No Cucalorus would be complete without Dance-a-lorus, the festival’s beloved annual showcase at Thalian Hall. On Thursday, Nov. 20, this tradition returns, with filmmakers and choreographers joining forces to challenge boundaries and stretch the imagination through their collaborative works. The result: a one-of-a-kind performance that kicks the festival into high gear.

Dance-a-lorus creates a feast for the senses, blending live dance and projected film in real time. From abstraction to documentary, the works highlight the region’s most daring artists and celebrate the act of collaboration itself. Each performance serves as a reminder that Cucalorus is not simply about watching films but about creating intersections between art forms, communities and ideas.

The lineup includes numbers that are not only visually stunning but also inspire audiences to contemplate social issues, ecological challenges, the human experience and even the vastness of space. Thrilling technology allows artists like Stephen Featherstone to create “Stopgap in Stopmotion,” in which live-action and stop-motion animation techniques combine, and individual dancers step out of the photos and across tabletops until the whole company meets and performs in unison.

“When Things Fall Apart,” by filmmaker and choreographer SheaRa Nichihow, prompts the audience to ask how much (or how little) we really know about ourselves and the world around us. Dawn Westlake’s “Pooling” depicts an ill-advised leap of faith into the void. After the body breaks, a pooling of the deepest resources of the spirit reconstructs the man.

And that’s just a small sampling of what Dance-a-lorus has to offer. Audiences can expect bold visuals, dynamic choreography and moments of surprise as Dance-a-lorus once again sets the tone for the days to follow.

Suburban Nights: A Hometown Favorite

One of the most hotly anticipated screenings is Suburban Nights, a narrative feature by Wilmington filmmakers RJ and Natalie Buckley. The film follows June and Evan, new parents who have relocated from the West Coast to a Southern suburb. Hoping to reconnect with one another during a date night, the couple stumbles into surprising new connections with their home and neighbors.

For director RJ Buckley, the project is deeply personal. “This movie has been years in the making,” he said in a recent interview. The couple returned to Wilmington in 2020 to raise their growing family, and the film grew from both nostalgia and urgency. “I had wanted to make movies since I learned what a director was at age 10, but after over a decade in the film capital of the world, I never took the chance to make a feature. With our second child on the way, I realized it might be now or never.”

Shot across Wilmington in 2021, the film blends humor, intimacy and a distinctly local flavor. “Our footprint was very light, just me holding a camera and our two actors most days. Local businesses graciously opened their doors to us, and Wilmington became the true star of the picture.” The production was as much a community project as it was a personal one, with friends, family and even the Buckleys’ young daughter appearing on screen.

Buckley gives props to his outstanding cast and crew. “Everybody came with their A-games. Ariel Barber and Zach Kanner killed it as our leads. Meagan Kimberly Smith, Blake Berlin, Rose Leisner and Kevin DeWitt were stellar supporting cast members. Rose played triple duty as actor, boom operator and all-around team cheerleader. And it was a true family affair with our daughter, Louisa, appearing in several scenes in the film.”

Now, after years of post-production stretched thin by the demands of parenthood, the film will premiere at Cucalorus. “This film doesn’t happen without the town of Wilmington, without the faith of our family, friends and neighbors. It’s a love story to Wilmington in every single way.”

Humble in the Jungle with the Jungle Brothers

Another highlight comes Saturday, Nov. 22, at Bowstring Burgers & Brewyard, where the film Humble in the Jungle will screen, followed by a live concert with the legendary hip-hop group the Jungle Brothers. Directed by Rick Kelly, the film tells the story of Mike Gee, a plumber in Raleigh who also happens to be a founding member of the Jungle Brothers.

Kelly explains his inspiration: “I was inspired to tell our story because I saw a need to impress upon young people a different narrative about trades. Everyone can’t be a famous rapper or play in the NBA. Our message is that you can still follow your dreams but get a trade and have something to fall back on.”

Kelly met Mike while the two worked together as plumbers, discovering the hip-hop pioneer’s low-key humility and unmatched work ethic. “Mike would fly around the world on weekends, performing shows. He might land at one in the morning and still be crawling under a customer’s house at seven. I never met a man that humble and hard-working in my life.”

The film, shot by Director of Photography Michael Galinsky and edited by Landon Bost, was years in the making and spans pandemic disruptions, racial reckonings and Mike Gee’s induction into the Hip Hop Hall of Fame. “It’s been expensive and difficult, but I do this for the love, not the money,” Kelly said.

For Kelly, Cucalorus is more than a platform; it is family. “Dan Brawley and the Cucalorus community gave me my start. Without them, I would have given up. Coming back with this film feels like coming home.”

One ticket grants entry to both the screening and the concert, ensuring an unforgettable night that blends cinema, music and inspiration.

Reggie Watts: Closing Night at the Wilson Center

For festivalgoers craving the unexpected, closing night will deliver. On Sunday, Nov. 23, musician, comedian and actor Reggie Watts takes the stage at the Wilson Center for an evening of improvisational brilliance. Known internationally for his playful blend of music and comedy, Watts creates entire sets on the spot using his voice, looping pedals and boundless imagination.

Watts is widely recognized as the bandleader from The Late Late Show with James Corden and has performed at festivals like Bonnaroo, SXSW and Just for Laughs. Once hailed by The New York Times as “the most influential absurdist in comedy today,” his Cucalorus performance promises to blur boundaries in the most delightful and hilarious of ways.

With recent projects including his memoir Great Falls, MT, and a new streaming special Never Mind, Watts continues to expand his creative reach. His closing-night show is sure to send Cucalorus audiences out on a high note — laughing, singing and perhaps even scratching their heads, but that’s all part of the fun.

A Festival Rooted in Community

While capturing the boundless eclectic energy that defines Cucalorus, these four events represent only a slice of what the festival has to offer. With a glut of workshops, installations and screenings from around the world, the 2025 edition promises to expand the boundaries of cinema while keeping Wilmington as the beating heart of the festival.

For filmmakers like RJ Buckley and Rick Kelly, Cucalorus is both a stage and a homecoming. For international artists like Reggie Watts, it is a place to experiment and connect with audiences in new ways. And for longtime festivalgoers, it remains a celebration of creative magic in all its forms.

As Wilmington prepares to host another edition of Cucalorus, one thing is certain: The festival continues to spark not only an exploration of cinema but also a vibrant reminder of how art can bring us together, inspire growth and serve as a springboard for innovation.