MARCH 1, 2025
PRESENTED BY WAKE FOREST RENAISSANCE CENTRE FOR THE ARTS
2025 WAKE FOREST FILM FESTIVAL
WELCOME
The Wake Forest Film Festival was created from the dreams of three like-minded women with a passion to evoke social change in their community: Cathy Gouge, Wake Forest Renaissance Center for the Arts Manager (2015–2019), Gauri Singh, filmmaker and resident, and Kimberly Soden, Cultural Arts Board member (2018–2020). These women discovered they shared the desire to bring awareness to the fast growing, diverse community of Wake Forest by creating a film festival that would attract independent film artists from across the globe.
After numerous meetings and conversations, festival founders Gouge, Singh, and Soden were joined by other community volunteers and a committee was formed to launch the first Wake Forest Film Festival in 2019. That first festival featured films from across the globe and attracted filmmakers and industry professionals.
The year 2025 marks the sixth year of the Wake Forest Film Festival. The one-day festival features 14 films selected in four categories: student, documentary, feature, and short. Wake Forest welcomes filmmakers and industry professionals from across the United States and beyond to share their art of storytelling through the medium of film.
The festival would not be possible without the support of the Town of Wake Forest, our elected officials, the Renaissance Centre staff, the Town’s Communications team, and numerous volunteers. Thank you all for your contributions and dedication to the arts in our community.
We hope our festival will bring light to your world and that you leave the Renaissance Centre enriched, enlightened, and entertained. Enjoy the festival.
Isaac Duque Wake Forest Film Festival Director
2025 FILM FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
10 am – 12:45 pm BLOCK 1
BRAVE – How the mountains saved my life (24:24)
Pucks in Deep (13:32)
More Than Art (23:19)
Ordinary Things (1:30:00)
FILM MAKER Q&A SESSION
12:45 – 2:00 pm LUNCH
2:00 – 3:45 pm BLOCK 2
Sunshine in the Forest (24:06)
In Spite of Ourselves (19:25)
Belly of the Beast (17:55)
Slice of Life (4:15)
The Sessions (27:16)
FILM MAKER Q&A SESSION
4:00 – 5:30 pm BLOCK 3
Everything’s Kosher (1:20:00)
FILM MAKER Q&A SESSION
FINAL BLOCK | AWARD WINNERS
5:45 – 7:30 pm FIRST HALF
Just for Now (22:39)
Saffron Kingdom (1:22:00)
7:30 – 8:00 pm PODCAST | AWARD WINNERS
8:00 – 9:45 pm SECOND HALF
Heart of the City (22:20)
Our Movement Starts Here (1:22:00)
9:45 – 11:00 pm MIX & MINGLE | AFTER PARTY
BRAVE – HOW THE MOUNTAINS SAVED MY LIFE
DOCUMENTARY
Director Martin Sandin
Writer Martin Sandin
Producer Open Shop Film
Maria Granberg lives to conquer the world’s highest mountains. It’s her way of trying to understand herself better and evolve as a person. It’s also a means of coping with the darkness that comes and goes in life.
PUCKS IN DEEP
STUDENT FILM
Director Emily Doran
After trying out for the all-boys high-school hockey team, Rhea, a young goalie, must navigate her place in the sport amidst her mother and coach.
YOU’RE INVITED MIX & MINGLE
Please join us for an opportunity to Mix and Mingle with the filmmakers and industry professionals.
Saturday, March 1 | 9:45 pm –11:00 pm
Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts
Heavy Hors d’oeuvres | Everyone is invited! Please come.
MORE THAN ART
DOCUMENTARY
Producer Lejaun Williams
More Than Art is not just a documentary about art; it’s a story about resilience. It showcases Junior’s evolution as he confronts his fears, ultimately emerging stronger and more confident. The climax of the film sees the unveiling of his masterpiece, a tribute to the city of Charlotte!
ORDINARY THINGS
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Director Micah Caronna
Writer Jennifer Tobler
Producer Micah Caronna
After faking a wedding with her childhood best friend to please her mom’s dying wish, Dannie, an insatiable idealist, is faced with a dilemma when her mother is miraculously healed.
BLOCK 2
SUNLIGHT IN THE FOREST
STUDENT FILM
Director Yueh Yu
Writer Yueh Yu
Producer Noelle Ruckman
An old man about to hang himself in the Forest meets a little girl and starts their unlikely friendship.
IN SPITE OF OURSELVES
STUDENT FILM
Director Marlon Whigham
Writers Alexia Forsythe, Marlon Whigham
Producer Liz Guenther
After Elias and June meet on a bridge at their lowest moment, they agree to take a detour on their plans and spend the day together. The two strangers help each other realize why life, in all of its absurdity and darkness, is better than nothing at all during a chance encounter in Berlin.
BELLY OF THE BEAST
STUDENT FILM
Director Mary Louise Renegar
Writer Emma Chandler
Producer Ashley Binger
On a small, isolated ship, a researcher and his apprentice attempt to prove the existence of mermaids, but before they manage to lure the creatures to the surface, the apprentice unravels the dark truth of the experiment she has devoted herself to.
Block 2 viewer discretion is advised*
SLICE OF LIFE
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Director Nick Laws
A day in the life of a silent, deadly killer... and his friend.
THE SESSIONS
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Director Vince Eisenson
Writer Alexander Julian III
Producer Alexander Julian III
In this crime driven, pilot episode, we meet a therapy group for murderers where someone is bound to snap.
*Warning: some of the films in Block 2 may contain themes of suicide, harsh language, or mature content. Viewer discretion is advised.
EVERYTHING’S KOSHER DOCUMENTARY
Director Adam Fried
Editor Jonny Stern
Producer Adam Fried
Adam, a divorced, Jewish father originally from Chicago, embarks on a journey to fulfill a promise to his only daughter never to abandon her. Living in a small, German town steeped in the shadows of antisemitism and Nazi history, Adam attempts to open a Jewish deli, to establish a link to his upbringing and try to find comfort and connection in his town.
ABOUT THE AWARD SCULPTURE
The 2024 Wake Forest Film Festival awards were created by artist Jordan Parah. The awards are miniature replicas of the sculpture, “Dancing in the Moonlight,” that currently lives outside the Renaissance Centre welcoming all who visit. The nine-foot sculpture is created from painted stainless steel and was on display in Roanoke, Virginia and Pitt County, NC, before finding its permanent home in Wake Forest. “Dancing in the Moonlight” was purchased in 2022 by the Public Art Commission of Wake Forest with funds donated from the Friends of the Wake Forest Library.
2025 WAKE FOREST FILM FESTIVAL
ARE YOU A FILMMAKER?
Would you like to see your film up on the big screen? WAKE
OPPORTUNITIES TO ARTISTS
Award sculpture to winners | Official selection & winner laurels awarded
The Wake Forest Film Festival (WFFF) invites filmmakers to share their vibrant, diverse and original works. The WFFF welcomes submissions of features, shorts, fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and more.
Keep an eye out for film submission deadlines for the Wake Forest Film Festival in 2026!
For more information, contact Wake Forest Film Festival director, Isaac Duque 919.435.9458 | iduque@wakeforestnc.gov
THANK YOU TO OUR 2025 VOLUNTEER FILM JUDGES
Gauri Singh
Kim Soden
Mary Petretich
Joanna Siaw
April Cannon
Debbie Dunn
EléJah Carter
Andrew Kaveler
Mengyao Mia Zhang
Nickea Griffin-Crepsac
Dr. Chester Branch, MFA, MA
Gary Ushino
Candace Davis
Debra Horton
Roger Pyle
Kaya Hassell
Adam Kirk
Claudia Davis
Anleigh Hall
Khepra Hetep
FINAL BLOCK
JUST FOR NOW
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
Directors Victor Kuchmaner, Elliot Wilks
Writer Victor Kuchmaner
Producer Victor Kuchmaner
Jessica has just found out she may have made the biggest scientific discovery of not only her life, but the history of mankind. While celebrating her success at her best friend’s diner, she meets Isaac, a charming man who is curious about her monumental achievement. Their flirtatious conversation takes a left turn as Jessica is forced to make a life changing decision that will alter her reality.
SAFFRON KINGDOM
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Director Arfat Sheikh
Writers Arfat Sheikh, Marium Khalid, Katie Leaman
Producer Arfat Sheikh
Inspired by actual events, Saffron Kingdom delves into the Kashmir conflict through the lens of a family’s journey from Srinagar in the 1990s to Atlanta in 2019. The narrative starts with young Masrat, who witnesses the violence of insurgency during her childhood. By 2014, as an adult, Masrat faces a devastating turn when her husband is abducted, forcing her to flee to America with her young son, Rizwan.
HEART OF THE CITY
STUDENT FILM
Director Will Harvest
Producer Paula Riofrio
A cinematic portrait of five Winston-Salem locals on the street, as they share a lifetime of wisdom from struggle.
FINAL BLOCK
OUR MOVEMENT STARTS HERE
DOCUMENTARY
Director John Rash, Melanie Dang Ho
Writer John Rash
Producer John Rash , Melanie Dang Ho
The story of a rural community in the American South that inspired the environmental justice movement and articulated the concept of environmental racism in 1982 by fighting the state of North Carolina’s toxic landfill.
LIVE PODCAST
The audience will have the opportunity to experience a genuine conversation with the 2025 Wake Forest Film Festival filmmakers. The podcast will be led by Isaac Duque, the Wake Forest Film Festival Director, and the creator and host of the soon to be released “I’ve Heard Some Stories” podcast where he speaks to friends and guests about success, struggles, passion, and all the things that make life interesting. He will be speaking to this year’s Award Winners. This year’s Winners encapsulated the spirt of the festival through moving stories that enrich, enlighten, and entertain. Come join us and be a fly on the wall in this year’s Live Podcast.
