Hey, y’all!  I’m sorry I’ve been gone for a while. I’ve been working on some other projects lately and the first few months of this year were…a lot.  I’m working through it, one day at a time.  One great thing that happened to me last month (Sat. Apr. 11, 2025) is that I attended the Queen City Culture Film Festival in Charlotte, NC!

I found out about the festival while checking out my childhood friend’s Facebook page.  A homie of his posted something about it on his feed, and it piqued my interest.  Charlotte is one of my favorite cities, and up until that point, I’d never been to a film festival before.  To top it all off, the tickets were hella inexpensive (the VIP tix were only $33.85)!

Despite all that, I still had reservations.  Times have been tough lately, and my money wasn’t always moneyin’.  I figured that although the tickets were a steal, I should save my money and just watch The Amateur at the theatre that weekend.  As time marched on and the weekend of the film festival got closer and closer, I assumed all the tickets were sold out anyway. 

However, I had a nagging feeling to check and see if any other seats were available.  Just as fate would have it, there were still tickets for sale.  Then it hit me:  I can see The Amateur later.  The film festival was only going to happen once this year, and after that, I’d have to wait until next year.  And why wait?  This was the perfect opportunity to do something fun and exciting.  As my life coach once told me, when you look back on your life, you’ll remember the great experiences you had, not how much money you saved.  Plus, I needed a change of scenery.  So I said, “What the hell,” and bought the tickets.  I’m so glad I did.

The film festival took place at the Ayrsley Grand Cinema, a gorgeous multiplex in the heart of Charlotte.  2025 marked the debut of the festival, so instead of the entire theatre being closed to host the event, all the attendees were placed in screen #14.  Before the event got underway, we helped ourselves to refreshments. In the meantime, the folks that spearheaded the event spoke on films that were made there in the Queen City. 

The festival officially started about 20 to 30 min. after we arrived, and it showcased short films that were no longer than 15-20 min.  Between the hours of 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM, my mother and I watched movies that had a range of genres from comedy, horror, faith based, and drama.  The films had a gamut of topics concerning family, coming of age, grief, vengeful classmates, relationships, and mental health.  My favorites were:

• The Presence of Absence – a film about a married couple coming to terms with their relationship ending; this movie brought about some great reactions from the audience; sadly, due to the technical issues, the gentleman that made this film was the only filmmaker that was able to give a short speech after it aired
• #millennials – a movie about, well, Millennials, who are trying to make more of their lives; being a millennial myself, this movie spoke to me, seeing as I’ve been in the same situations as most of the characters
• Daughters – a story of multiple generations within a family that explores the relationship between the mothers and daughters and also speaks on breaking generational curses; I felt like whoever made that film took notes from the relationship between myself, my mother, and my late grandmother and put it to film
• The Weight We Carry – this has to be my favorite out of all the films we watched; it’s about an overwhelmed, overachieving high school student and her overbearing mother; this movie also speaks on mental health and generational curses
• Roommates – a hilarious comedy about a young woman that has to find a new roommate after her former roomie/best friend gets engaged; she winds up in an arrangement that’s not exactly ideal, to say the least
• Not Quite Yet – a deep short about a young man who’s on the verge of a psychotic break; this movie actually made me cry; I know what it’s like to be trapped in your head like the main character was
• Letters – an attorney is reunited with her true love, a man who was incarcerated for 30 years

There was also another film I loved, but I left off the list. The reason being is, to be honest…I don’t know the title of it.  After the fifth or sixth film, I had to excuse myself to go to the restroom, and when I came back, this particular film was airing. Unfortunately, I missed the first few minutes.  Even though I missed the first part, I loved what I saw.  It depicted a man who lost someone he loved and was thinking that his life was worthless.  His other half—the more positive side of him—came to life and reminded him to love life and be kind to himself.  The movie ended with him literally throwing his burdens into the river and driving away, content.  This film made me cry, too.  

Mom and I enjoyed all the movies we watched…except one.  I’ll just reserve my thoughts on that one.  Sadly, we couldn’t stay for the entire festival.  We had to leave after 6:00 PM to get dinner and head back home at a decent hour. Where I’m from, the only way to get and from Charlotte is to travel a long rural road that’s EXTREMELY dark at night.  Thankfully, there was a gentleman who attended the festival that posted the winners on his Instagram page (props to mr_xcitement_ for posting the winners).  I was more than happy to see that the filmmaker for The Weight We Carry won an award!

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A post shared by Brandon “Chuck” Brown (@mr_xcitement_)

One small criticism of the festival is that the food wasn’t quite ready when the event started and, as my mother suggested, they should’ve had some champagne buckets with ice to chill the drinks.  Hot grape juice ain’t it, I’m sorry to say.  Neither is hot sangria.  Also, they may want to cater next year.  The food wasn’t bad, but it all fell on one sweet woman that was running the festival.  I know this, because I encountered her in the restroom and she told me how she prepared all the food herself.  She also complimented me for running up to the table to get my food.  I let her know my mom was the one who sent me up there. Once I said that, she told me, “I love your mama!”  LOL!  Back on subject, it had to be tiresome to cook all that food herself.  Plus, it didn’t look like it was quite enough to serve everyone. I noticed that one of the filmmakers bought food from the concession stand.

Another small criticism is the technical issues.  I know technology can have a mind of its own and shit happens, but man it was aggy to try to watch a film and constantly hear a voice say, “Connecting,” coming from the Bluetooth speaker.  Not only that, but some type of technical issue prevented all the filmmakers from speaking after his/her film ended.  I would’ve loved that.  Other than those two small inconveniences, the day was perfect.  I’d love to go back again next year!

––Written by Nadiya

Did you attend the Queen City Culture Film Festival in Charlotte this year? If you did, how did you like it? What short film was your favorite? Which was your least favorite? If not, what film festival did you attend? Cannes? Tribeca? Any lesser known ones? If you’ve never gone to a film festival, would you like to go? Let me know in the comments section!