Cucalorus Film Festival taking place in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, from November 13 to 17, 2013, unveiled its full 2013 schedule of screenings, artistic interventions and parties. More than 200 features, docs and shorts will be presented as part of the Magnolia, Vanguard, Voices, Works-in-Progress, Midnight Madness and Shorts Programs. The festival opens on Wednesday with Dance-a-lorus, a growing program of performances, screenings and workshops exploring the intersection between dance and film. 

Set in Florida but lensed in the Wilmington area late last year, Michael Maren’s directorial debut, A SHORT HISTORY OF DECAY, will have its Southern US Premier. The dark comedy had its World Premier last week at the Hamptons Film Festival. Former Wilmington resident Linda Lavin delivers a solid performance as a mother and wife struggling with the realities of Alzheimer’s.

REDWOOD HIGHWAY, directed by Gary Lundgren (Calvin Marshall, CucFF 2009), features a beautiful performance from Shirley Knight, who plays a woman struggling with her increasing lack of independence in her later years. 

Fresh from its World Premier at the Toronto Film Festival, Ingrid Veninger’s THE ANIMAL PROJECT, a charming ensemble comedy, will have its US Premier on Friday, November 15. Full of inspiring surf footage and a touching testimony to local surfing legend Jack Viorel, BOUND BY SEA (directed by Nate Daniel) will have its World Premier on Saturday, November 16.

Foreign language Academy contenders BORGMAN (Netherlands) and BOY EATING THE BIRDS FOOD (Greece) join Scandinavian deep sea diving thriller PIONEER on the list of 31 international films. SXSW audience award winner SHORT TERM 12 returns to the festival (Director Destin Cretton’s short of the same title screened at Cucalorus in 2009). BLUE RUIN headlines the Midnight Madness program and charming comedy THE ZIGZAG KID fills the festival’s new slot for a Sunday afternoon family film (ages 11 and up).