Hickory – The 2026 Footcandle Film Festival will be held between September 18th and 27th, marking the twelfth year of the festival bringing films from around the world to the Hickory and Catawba County area and hosting discussions with the filmmakers who made them.
A complete schedule and list of the films, their descriptions, and trailers can be found on the festival website (www.footcandlefilmfestival.com).
On Saturday, September 19th, there will be a special outdoor film screening of the classic CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND on the SALT Block North Lawn (between the Catawba Science Center and the Hickory Public Library) serving as a kick-off to the upcoming festival week. The outdoor film is free and open to the public, with the film starting at approximately 7:30pm. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own seats or blankets.
The festival proper then starts with an opening night world premiere screening of the documentary RIVER WARRIOR on Wednesday, September 23rd at 7:00pm at the Carolina Theater in Downtown Hickory. The film was made by North Carolina filmmakers and received grant funding from the Footcandle Film Society from past festival proceeds.
The next day, the festival is hosting a “Filmmaker Symposium”, a free event at 3:00pm in the Hickory Community Theater where a panel of independent filmmakers will talk about the ins and outs of making movies, including how to acquire funding, how to cast your film, and how to distribute it once it is done. This event is meant for anyone interested in the world of independent filmmaking or just wanting to learn about the experiences of our local and visiting filmmakers.
At 7:00pm that evening, the festival will hold a free event also at the Hickory Community Theater to premiere short films produced during a weekend-long filmmaking competition the previous weekend. Filmmaking teams that participated in the FilmLAB competition will show their films for the first time, and audiences will get to help vote on their favorite to see which team wins this year’s award.
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 25th-27th, the festival will be showing films that were submitted by filmmakers around the world and selected by the festival screening committee. Over 400 films were submitted for consideration for this year’s festival and over 40 were selected to be shown during this year’s event. The films are a mixture of narrative and documentary films as well as feature-length and short films. All films over the weekend will be shown at in-person screenings at the Hickory Community Theatre in Downtown Hickory.
Many of the filmmakers will be joining the festival either in-person or virtually throughout the weekend to discuss their work with attendees in question-and-answer sessions.
Another special event of the festival is the Children’s Short Film Showcase, a collection of animated films from around the world. This free event will screen several short animated films all suitable for younger audiences. This special event will be held on Saturday, September 26th at 9:30am at the Hickory Community Theatre. This event is free and open to the public with no ticket needed in advance.
At 7:00pm on Sunday night, September 27th, there will be a Closing Awards Ceremony at the Hickory Community Theatre where winners from the festival will be announced. There will be twelve awards presented at this year’s awards ceremony, determined by a combination of panels of judges and audience voting. The event will announce the recipients of the 2026 Footcandle Filmmaker Grants, which are awarded to help fund upcoming North Carolina-based film projects.
Tickets can be purchased for any of the individual films or attendees can purchase a Festival Pass that allows them to attend any festival screening. The Filmmaker Symposium, the FilmLAB premiere event, the Children’s Short Film Showcase, and the Closing Awards Ceremony are all free and open to the public.
Tickets are now on sale for the public by visiting www.footcandlefilmfestival.com and clicking the link on the home page to view the schedule, read about the film selections, and purchase tickets or passes. Tickets can be purchased with credit or debit cards; taxes and credit card fees will apply. Tickets will remain on sale up through the weekend of the film festival.
For any questions about the festival please contact the film society at info@footcandle.org or visit the festival’s web site at www.footcandlefilmfestival.com.
