ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — The second annual Asheville Film Festival will bring over 60 short films from all over the world to the Asheville Masonic Temple this August.
The Asheville Film Festival will take place over three days, Aug. 21-23, at the Masonic Temple, 80 Broadway St. in downtown Asheville. Around 300 people can be seated in the building auditorium, including festival filmmakers, many of whom will be in attendance.
Festival passes will go on sale soon. For more information, visit www.ashevillefilmfestival.org.
Time travel, gore and romance: The 2026 Asheville Film Festival
Over 180 films were submitted to the Asheville Film Festival this year. The 61 that made the cut were decided by over 30 festival filmmakers.
“We’re different than other film festivals because we’re a peer-judged festival,” explained festival director Sean Soboleski. “Because we had so many films submitted, everybody that made it through the first round of judging became a semi-finalist and was invited to become a peer judge.”
The final selections come from all over the world and all across the United States. In addition to 12 films from Asheville and North Carolina cities like Winston-Salem, Boone and Charlotte, competing titles include “A Little Goldfish,” from Iran, “Zona Cesarini,” from Italy, and “Just for Another Minute,” from Brazil.
Despite the diverse spread, Soboleski said a few shared themes emerged among the selected films.
According to the director, many movies about Tropical Storm Helene were submitted to the festival. Four were ultimately selected:
- “After Helene”, a documentary by Zoe Miller
- “Love Song for a Wailing Earth,” a dance film by Scott Kirschenbaum
- “Songs of the Storm,” a two-chapter documentary by Caroline Aylward and Aaron Stone
- “Tah-Kee-Os-Tee,” an experimental short by Jarika Johnson
“These films are a few short examples of how we’ve come together as a community, as neighbors and also how some of us have processed our grief and that trauma from the storm,” Soboleski said.
There are also a large number of horror films on the program. The night of Aug. 21, festivalgoers can look forward to “Feral Friday,” two film blocks featuring scary, weird and experimental movies. Gore-averse viewers should steer clear.
Science-fiction will be represented at the festival, as well.
“It’s strange, we had a number of film [submissions] about time travel,” Soboleski laughed. “So many, that I want to say we have more than one film in the festival about time travel.”
Last year, the Asheville Film Festival programmed a block called “Seeking Connection,” which featured films centered around relationships.
“There are always a number of films that are about relationships. It’s just a common theme, whether it’s a romance, or a drama or even a comedy. Or a combination of those,” Soboleski said. “Last year and this year, we received a lot of films that are basically about relationships. So, we’re gonna redo the ‘Seeking Connections’ block again.”
Even if the category is the same, the movies will feel different, the director promised.
“It will have a little bit of a different slant,” Soboleski said.
Every film competing at the 2026 Asheville Film Festival
- “A Game in the Dark at Midnight,” Atlanta, Georgia
- “A Little Goldfish,” Iran
- “After Helene,” Asheville, N.C.
- “An Eternal Sound,” Winston-Salem, N.C.
- “Bloom,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Compass Point,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Crazy B!*# h,” Los Angeles, California
- “Curtains,” Woodstock, New York
- “Distant Dreams,” Columbia, Kentucky
- “Doc Watson, One of the People,” Boone, N.C.
- “Eye For An Eye – The Short,” Cave Creek, Arizona
- “Fairy Tale,” Sunnyside, New York
- “For Your Future Wife,” Indianapolis, Indiana
- “Forget Me Not,” Astoria, New York
- “Gladiator Baby,” Iran
- “Going Home,” Los Angeles, California
- “Greensboro Massacre,” Greensboro, N.C.
- “Highway 251,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Holidays with Catfish,” Waynesville, N.C.
- “Honoring Long Person,” Cherokee, N.C.
- “Houdini II: A Beautiful Day to Die,” United Kingdom
- “Imago,” N.C.
- “Intertwined,” Charlotte, N.C.
- “Iridescent,” Evans, Georgia
- “Just for Another Minute,” Brazil
- “Love Song for a Wailing Earth,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Masterpiece,” Ocala, Florida
- “Ms. Rossi Meets the Mob,” Santa Clara, California
- “One More Spin,” Charlotte, N.C.
- “Origin,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Prayer for Change,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Resonancia,” New York, New York
- “Settlement,” Burlington, N.C.
- “Songs of the Storm,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Static Skies,” Charlotte, N.C.
- “Steelvolution,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Sticks & Holler,” Charlotte, N.C.
- “Sweet Dreams,” Raleigh, N.C.
- “Tah-Kee-Os-Tee,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Tandem,” Raleigh, N.C.
- “Temporia,” Greenville, South Carolina
- “The Bauk,” U.S.
- “The Border at Tolstoi,” Toronto, Ontario
- “The Damned Thing,” Charlotte, N.C.
- “The Drive,” Asheville, N.C.
- “The Fabulous Flocks,” Decatur, Georgia
- “The Other Roe,” Santa Barbara, California
- “The Rabbit Ballet,” Greensboro, N.C.
- “The Sessions,” New York, New York
- “The Solution,” Clyde, N.C.
- “Thickly Settled,” Wendell, Massachusetts
- “Through Hardship,” Asheville, N.C.
- “Toxic Tampons,” Greenville, South Carolina
- “Trevor Lies,” N.C.
- “UN-DEAD,” Wilmington, N.C.
- “Unheard Voice,” Wilmington, N.C.
- “Unqualified,” Tampa, Florida
- “Voyager,” Birmingham, Alabama
- “Whole,” Gastonia, N.C.
- “Wildfire Kitchen,” Waynesville, N.C.
- “Zona Cesarini,” Italy
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