North Carolina people and places featured in RiverRun's 'Carolina Stories' film series

Friday is opening night for RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem.

This year's festival showings were culled from over 12,000 submissions. 

The Carolina Stories series features documentaries and narratives with regional connections. They may be by local filmmakers or highlight locations in the area, says RiverRun’s Interim Co-executive director Mary Dossinger. 

She says among the selections is the drama Inheritance, co-starring Austin Highsmith Garces, who grew up in Winston-Salem.

“We thought that was such a fun connection that we wanted to highlight that and bring her film back here so her friends and family would be able to celebrate it with her,” she says.

Documentaries in the series include American Coup: Wilmington 1898, about the racially driven violent uprising against the Black economic and political power structure in the North Carolina city.