I Have Never Been to a Film Festival

October 5, 2026

I have never been to a film festival. I mean, why would I? I’m a Business student whose preferred form of entertainment is live music. After the first couple days of the Charlotte Film Festival, that all might be changing. Blink, and I’ll be shooting my own short film and using my operational business know-how to draft contracts and manage a set. But for now, I’m an IPH intern experiencing my very first film festival — what a treat.

During my time at the Festival on Tuesday and Thursday, I had the pleasure of seeing feature film MEMO; a narrative shorts segment entitled “Heart of Gold” featuring Confessions, Full Fat, In Between Your Hands, Joan, Magan’s Fare, MIDDLING, One More Spin, Private Browser, Sunshine Triangle, and Tandem; documentary feature KIKUYU LAND; and feature film TRULY NAKED. Along with watching films, I attended the Daily Talk series and learned a lot through the experiences of filmmakers.

My heart and my brain are truly in processing overload. A constant state of buffering, if you will. I’ve laughed, gasped, rolled my eyes, cried — a bit loudly according to another Festivalgoer (whoops). I didn’t know I was capable of feeling all of these emotions within the span of a couple hours, until now.

Beyond the emotions I have experienced in the movie theater, my role has allowed me to mix and mingle with other Festivalgoers, filmmakers, staff, and even members of the Board. I have felt so embraced by this community and I can’t wait to watch more films as the week continues.

This Festival has left me feeling very human. Which has been a welcomed reminder.