CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A new film festival for the Carolinas, Film Fest 919, has attracted several of the fall's most talked about movies.

The five-day event kicked off Wednesday October 3 at the Silverspot Cinema in Chapel Hill with a screening of Academy Award winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron's new movie, Roma. Two of the film's stars, Marina de Tavira and newcomer Yalitza Aparicio, walked down the red carpet to attend the premier. Afterwards they took audience question about their experience on set."

"It was very challenging but Alfonso is so generous" said Tavira about her experience working with the acclaimed filmmaker. "He is not a man of a lot of words but his direction is always exact."

The film wound up being among the most talked about at the festival, with an additional screening being added later in the weekend. Roma will be released through Netflix on December 14.

 

Throughout the weekend, various other filmmakers and screenwriters stopped by to discuss their work with eager audiences. On Thursday, October 4, Karyn Kusama introduced her newest film, the dark crime noir Destroyer starring Nicole Kidman.

"Some people find this film uncomfortable, some find this character uncomfortable," she stated before the screening started. However, the audience seemed largely thrilled by Kusama's dark, violent revenge thriller and eager to here her discuss everything from working with Kidman to being a women in a male dominated industry. Destroyer hits theaters December 25.

 

 

 As the weekend progressed, two other films emerged as audience favorites alongside Roma. Ironically, one of them was actually called The Favourite. The raunchy period piece comedy, about two women (Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz) scheming against each other to win the trust of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) in the 18th Century. Both screenings of the film drew large crowds and thunderous laughter. In talking with critics, it was one of their favorites as well. The Favourite hits theaters November 23.
 
 
The closing film of the festival, Green Book, was another crowd pleaser. One of its screenwriters, Brian Hayes Currie, come for a brief Q&A with audiences who waited until the final night to see the film. Green Book is based on the true story of a New York bouncer (Viggo Mortensen) who takes a job driving a renowned black pianist (Mahershla Ali) through the deep south on a two-month concert tour. There was already talk of Oscar buzz for the movie after its first couple showing, though a section of the critics-crowd seemed a bit dubious. In any case, Green Book, proved to be one of the most wildly popular titles among traditional crowd. Green Book hits theaters November 21.

Saturday, October 6 also featured two seminars on screenwriting and business incentives for film industry.

Spectrum News Text and Email Alerts Sign-up

Get the latest news, sports and weather delivered straight to your inbox. Click here to sign up for email and text alerts.