Past Festivals
Past Festivals
The Charlotte Film Festival has been bringing independent cinema to Charlotte since 2006. Every festival is archived here: who was on the jury, who won, and what we wrote about it.
Founded in 2006 to give established and emerging filmmakers a weekend to showcase their work, the festival found its permanent home at the Independent Picture House in 2022 after the Manor Theatre closed in 2020.
2026 Charlotte Film Festival
September 22 – 27, 2026 · 18th edition
Jury Award winners · Audience Award winners · Patel Award · 2026 Jurors · Filmmaker Spotlights · Browse the 2026 program
2025 Charlotte Film Festival
September 23 – 28, 2025 · 17th edition
Jury Award winners · Audience Award winners · In the news · Filmmaker Spotlights · Browse the 2025 program
2024 Charlotte Film Festival
September 24 – 29, 2024 · 16th edition
Jury & Audience Award winners · Meet the 2024 jury · Browse the 2024 program
2023 Charlotte Film Festival
September 27 – October 1, 2023 · 15th edition
What I Saw at the 2023 Charlotte Film Festival · A Q&A with the festival programmer · Browse the 2023 program
2022 Charlotte Film Festival
September 28 – October 2, 2022 · 14th edition · The first festival at the Independent Picture House.
Browse the 2022 program · WBTV: CFF at IPH for the first time
2006 – 2021
The Charlotte Film Festival was founded in 2006 to give established and emerging filmmakers a weekend to showcase their work for industry peers and independent film fans. It is presented by the Charlotte Film Society, a nonprofit formed in 1982 that for decades held its screenings and events at the city’s independent theaters, including the Manor Theatre, Charlotte’s last art house, which opened in 1947 and closed in 2020 during the pandemic. The Society salvaged the Manor’s seats, curtains, and popcorn machine and built them into the Independent Picture House, which opened in NoDa in June 2022, and that September the festival moved into its permanent home.
