The 6th Annual Indigo Moon Film Festival will be held in-person and virtually Thursday, Oct. 7 through Friday, Oct. 15.

“The purpose of the Indigo Moon Film Festival is to showcase films from around the world before a diverse audience,” said Pat Wright and Jan Johnson, co-founders of Indigo Moon Film Festival.

“Film is an underrepresented cultural art in our community and by bringing it here we allow people to see the world through different eyes, enjoy entertainment, and be inspired and informed more than they normally would.”
Wright added that they are independent films that you would not see in regular movie theaters.

“Last year the event was 100% virtual due to COVID-19, but this year we found a way to safely social distance so we are having two in-person events at Segra Stadium and the rest of the event will be virtual,” said Wright.

The event kicks off Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. with a free Family Film Night in downtown’s Segra Stadium.

“We are screening Disney’s ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ and we hope that everyone will come out,” said Wright. “We will safely social distance and we are giving away free masks at the door.”

The opening night film, “Peace by Chocolate,” takes place Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in Segra Stadium. It is the story of a young Syrian refuge and his family who come to Canada to try to start over. The young refuge wants to become a doctor, but his family wants him to stay and help run the chocolate business.

“It is a really uplifting great film and it falls right in line with our theme this year ‘Diversity and Resilience,’” said Wright. “We will have a live question and answer session with the filmmaker, Jonathan Keijser, of ‘Peace by Chocolate’ after the showing of the film.”

“He has several short documentaries of this type of film and this is his first feature length film,” said Wright. “He is really excited about coming and helping to promote the film and I think they are getting a distribution deal with one of the big distribution groups too, so we are interested to hear more about that.”

Saturday, Oct. 9 thruugh Friday, Oct. 15 is the Virtual Film Festival. More than 80 films will be represented and their categories entail Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Student Films, Documentary Short, Narrative Short and
Animation.

Some of the films include “Dreams of Emmett Till,” “Adventures in the Time of Covid,” “In Jesus’ Name,” “Love & Coffee,” “Validation,” and more.

“The films will be available by website and you can purchase an individual ticket or buy a pass to look at all of them,” said Wright. “You can watch them on your computer, digital device and download the app on Roku, Fire TV Stick and Apple TV so you can watch it on your television.”

She added, “You get to watch it from the best seat in the house — your own, it is definitely safe from COVID-19, and you can watch all of the films you want for an entire week.”

GroundSwell Pictures is a 501(c)(3) with a mission of engaging and inspiring diverse communities by producing films, showing films, teaching filmmaking and supporting films that make a positive difference. “GroundSwell is the umbrella organization and Indigo Moon is one of the programs of GroundSwell,” said Wright. “We also create films that are of social significance, but right now we are focused on the Film Festival and creating films to make a positive social difference.”

Even though the film entry deadline has passed, the process of entering a film for the contest is done through a portal called FilmFreeway.

“The films that we are looking for are Narrative Features, Documentary Features, Student Films, Animation, Narrative Shorts, and Documentary Shorts,” said Wright. “We are going to open a new category next year for strictly North Carolina films.”

“We have received some awesome grant funding from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, Cumberland Community Foundation, and we have got so many great sponsors and supporters,” said Wright. “It is great because last year we hunkered down, did everything mostly in house, and had a couple of stalwart supporters, but this year we are reaching back out and people are happy to support us.”

“This event is our way of saying thank you to the community for their support,” said Wright. “We are looking forward to the film festival’s comeback.”

Ticket cost is $100 for VIP, $15 for a student pass, and $14 for three films or a film block. There is also a pay what you can option. Tickets are $5 for each film but you can pay as little as $3.

Masks will be required inside Segra Stadium. Food and beverages will also be available for purchase.

For more information call 910-309-6580 or visit the interactive website at www.indigomoonfilmfestival.com.