Calendar of Events
Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
Saturday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.
Benedict Cumberbatch as The Grinch? Yes, please! Your holiday season isn’t complete unless you’ve spent time with this beloved curmudgeon. What will happen in this exciting, suspenseful, and, quite possibly, joyful holiday caper? Join us on Saturday, December 14th at 2pm to find out! This free film is rated PG and runs 90 minutes.
Free Holiday Movie Night
Elf
SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA’S COMING! I KNOW HIM!
Show: 7pm
Rated PG
FREE
Fully seated
Come to Fleetwood’s for a sneak preview of the action/comedy feature “Killer Raccoons! 2! Dark Christmas in the Dark!” 8pm
On a cold Christmas Eve, former mild-mannered college student Casey Smallwood is released from prison after serving ten years for underage drinking. Eager to get out of town, he plans to meet his longtime pen pal on a train to Washington, D.C., but after the holiday express enters the winter wilderness, it’s hijacked by an angry gang of domestic terrorists and highly-intelligent, government-trained raccoons! Not one to back down from a raccoon fight, Casey joins forces with a porter on the train to fight the terrorists and help bring down a top secret, raccoon-controlled, military laser satellite!
The long awaited sequel to the Overbites Pictures and Troma Entertainment cult classic “Coons! Night of the Bandits of the Night” is finally here! “Killer Raccoons! 2! Dark Christmas in the Dark” is a send up of several bad action movie sequels, using plot elements from “Under Siege 2: Dark Territory,” “Die Hard 2” and “Speed 2: Cruise Control.”
Tickets $10, will be shown as a double feature with a surprise second film. Also meet and greet with the creators after the screening!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sneak-preview-screening-of-killer-raccoons-2-tickets-83112873843
Saturday, Dec. 21 at 1 p.m.
It’s that time of the year…for our annual screening of The Muppet Christmas Carol held in our auditorium! We’ll have treats and beverages. Bring your sleeping bag, blanket, or pillow if you want to sit or lie down in the front to watch. Chairs will be out as well. Program is free, all ages are welcome.
The holidays don’t stop at Aloft! Join us on Thursday, December 26 at 8 p.m. to celebrate most wonderful time of the year by watching a holiday classic: Christmas Vacation. Munch on small bites, sip on cocktails and enjoy complimentary popcorn while indulging in the holidays. We hope to see you there!
Wednesday, Jan. 22 – Documentary Film on the History of Lynching in America
- Always in Season – This 2019 film, produced and directed by Jacqueline Olive, won the Special Jury Prize for Moral Urgency at the Sundance Film Festival. Reporting on four American communities where descendants of victims and perpetrators are working together to heal, the film explores the lingering impact of more than a century of lynching African Americans and connects this form of historic racial terrorism to racial violence today – 7 p.m., Highsmith Student Union Grotto.
Connection. A word that by definition means to join together to establish a link, so as to provide access and communication. Connect Beyond Festival has established that link and is using music, film, and storytelling to create connections. More than just an event, Connect Beyond Festival is a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice. Our goal is to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.
Lauded as “Asheville’s version of SXSW” (Ashvegas) this event is perfect for those who are looking for a more dynamic festival experience – one that prioritizes exploration and participation just as much as entertainment. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, to engage with others, and want to leave a festival with more than just a hangover, Connect Beyond Festival is just the place to be.
Connection. A word that by definition means to join together to establish a link, so as to provide access and communication. Connect Beyond Festival has established that link and is using music, film, and storytelling to create connections. More than just an event, Connect Beyond Festival is a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice. Our goal is to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.
Lauded as “Asheville’s version of SXSW” (Ashvegas) this event is perfect for those who are looking for a more dynamic festival experience – one that prioritizes exploration and participation just as much as entertainment. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, to engage with others, and want to leave a festival with more than just a hangover, Connect Beyond Festival is just the place to be.
Connection. A word that by definition means to join together to establish a link, so as to provide access and communication. Connect Beyond Festival has established that link and is using music, film, and storytelling to create connections. More than just an event, Connect Beyond Festival is a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice. Our goal is to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.
Lauded as “Asheville’s version of SXSW” (Ashvegas) this event is perfect for those who are looking for a more dynamic festival experience – one that prioritizes exploration and participation just as much as entertainment. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, to engage with others, and want to leave a festival with more than just a hangover, Connect Beyond Festival is just the place to be.
Connection. A word that by definition means to join together to establish a link, so as to provide access and communication. Connect Beyond Festival has established that link and is using music, film, and storytelling to create connections. More than just an event, Connect Beyond Festival is a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice. Our goal is to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.
Lauded as “Asheville’s version of SXSW” (Ashvegas) this event is perfect for those who are looking for a more dynamic festival experience – one that prioritizes exploration and participation just as much as entertainment. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, to engage with others, and want to leave a festival with more than just a hangover, Connect Beyond Festival is just the place to be.
Connection. A word that by definition means to join together to establish a link, so as to provide access and communication. Connect Beyond Festival has established that link and is using music, film, and storytelling to create connections. More than just an event, Connect Beyond Festival is a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice. Our goal is to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.
Lauded as “Asheville’s version of SXSW” (Ashvegas) this event is perfect for those who are looking for a more dynamic festival experience – one that prioritizes exploration and participation just as much as entertainment. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, to engage with others, and want to leave a festival with more than just a hangover, Connect Beyond Festival is just the place to be.
Connection. A word that by definition means to join together to establish a link, so as to provide access and communication. Connect Beyond Festival has established that link and is using music, film, and storytelling to create connections. More than just an event, Connect Beyond Festival is a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice. Our goal is to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.
Lauded as “Asheville’s version of SXSW” (Ashvegas) this event is perfect for those who are looking for a more dynamic festival experience – one that prioritizes exploration and participation just as much as entertainment. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, to engage with others, and want to leave a festival with more than just a hangover, Connect Beyond Festival is just the place to be.
You’re invited to The Collider’s Monthly Movie Night! For our first movie night, we’re excited to partner with Dogwood Alliance to bring you the award-winning documentary, Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?, an exposé of the biomass electric power industry. Come ready to learn about the threats forests across the South are facing from the biomass industry, and the people and policies responsible for its greenwashing. We’ll have snacks, drinks, and a Q+A with Dogwood Alliance’s Conservation Scientist, Sam Davis.
A life-long treehugger, Sam earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Science in 2015 at Wright State University and completed a postdoc at University of California Merced before leaving academia for greener forests. They are thrilled to be translating science into action with Dogwood Alliance.
The award-winning documentary tells the story of the accelerating destruction of our forests for fuel and probes the policy loopholes, huge subsidies, and blatant green washing of the biomass power industry. A dedicated group of forest activists, ecologists, climate scientists, and concerned citizens fight to establish the enormous value of our forests, protect their communities, debunk this false solution to climate change, and alter energy policy both in the US and abroad.
This film is more relevant to North Carolinians than ever before, with Enviva — the world’s largest wood pellet manufacturer — rapidly expanding its polluting, forest-destroying facilities across the state.
Connection. A word that by definition means to join together to establish a link, so as to provide access and communication. Connect Beyond Festival has established that link and is using music, film, and storytelling to create connections. More than just an event, Connect Beyond Festival is a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice. Our goal is to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.
Lauded as “Asheville’s version of SXSW” (Ashvegas) this event is perfect for those who are looking for a more dynamic festival experience – one that prioritizes exploration and participation just as much as entertainment. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, to engage with others, and want to leave a festival with more than just a hangover, Connect Beyond Festival is just the place to be.
A screening of the 2018 documentary “Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution,” followed by a group discussion.
This poetic film—shown in 3D—traces choreographer Merce Cunningham’s artistic evolution over three decades of risk and discovery (1944–1972), from his early years as a struggling dancer in post-WWII New York to his emergence as one of the most visionary and influential choreographers worldwide. Introduction and Q&A with Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator.
“What Kovgan’s utterly transporting film does, through a thoughtful and dynamic combination of curated material and new performances, is radiate the rapturous power of dance.”
—The Hollywood Reporter
Connection. A word that by definition means to join together to establish a link, so as to provide access and communication. Connect Beyond Festival has established that link and is using music, film, and storytelling to create connections. More than just an event, Connect Beyond Festival is a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice. Our goal is to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.
Lauded as “Asheville’s version of SXSW” (Ashvegas) this event is perfect for those who are looking for a more dynamic festival experience – one that prioritizes exploration and participation just as much as entertainment. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, to engage with others, and want to leave a festival with more than just a hangover, Connect Beyond Festival is just the place to be.
Connection. A word that by definition means to join together to establish a link, so as to provide access and communication. Connect Beyond Festival has established that link and is using music, film, and storytelling to create connections. More than just an event, Connect Beyond Festival is a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice. Our goal is to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.
Lauded as “Asheville’s version of SXSW” (Ashvegas) this event is perfect for those who are looking for a more dynamic festival experience – one that prioritizes exploration and participation just as much as entertainment. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, to engage with others, and want to leave a festival with more than just a hangover, Connect Beyond Festival is just the place to be.
UNC Asheville will screen the documentary, narrated by Jodie Foster, “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché,” at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3, in the Highsmith Student Union Blue Ridge Room. This event, part of the University’s Women’s History Month observance, is free and open to everyone.
UNC Asheville will screen the documentary, narrated by Jodie Foster, Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3, in the Highsmith Student Union Blue Ridge Room. This event, part of the University’s Women’s History Month observance, is free and open to everyone. A discussion, led by filmmaker, screenwriter and UNC Asheville Senior Lecturer in Mass Communication Anne Slatton, will follow the film.
About the film: This 2018 documentary that screened at the famed festivals in Cannes and Telluride, tells the story of a French pioneer filmmaker, who began her career in 1894, at the age of 21. One of the very first people to make a narrative fiction film, Guy-Blaché produced and directed over 1000 films throughout her career, experimented with sound, color-tinting, interracial casting, and special effects. Even before women had the right to vote, Blaché, in her actions and in her films, expressed female drives, desires and self-determination. But by 1919, Guy-Blaché’s career came to an abrupt end and she and her films were subsequently erased from film history for years. Pamela Green organizes her documentary like a detective story, interviewing over 90 people and tracking down not only some of her films but previously unknown documents and photos.
About the discussion leader: Anne Slatton teaches video production and film studies. Her television production work includes programming for PBS, National Geographic, and TLC. She is the leader of a 48 hour Film Project team which has won multiple awards including Best Film. Scholarly works include co-authoring Video Production Techniques, “Sofia Coppola” Women’s International Screenwriters Guide, “Lorraine Hansberry” Student’s Encyclopedia of Great American Authors. She also writes scripts for theatre and film.
Visitor Parking on the UNC Asheville Campus – Visitors may park in faculty/staff and non-resident lots from 5:00 p.m. until 7:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, and all day on weekends, holidays, and campus breaks. Visitors are not permitted to park in resident student lots at any time.
For more information, please contact Caitlin Manely in UNC Asheville’s Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, [email protected] or 828.251.6634.
– Connect Beyond Festival 2020 organizers announced today that the festival, slated for April 3-5, 2020, is officially postponed. With recent developments surrounding COVID-19 nationally and in North Carolina, we cannot in good conscience move forward with the festival as scheduled. The safety of our guests and participants is our number one priority.
Connect Beyond Festival’s annual weekend-long event, as well as similar micro-events on both coasts, intends to return in 2020. For our fans, tickets will be refunded upon request by visiting our website page and filling out a quick form to initiate the process before Sunday, April 12, 2020. For guests interested in attending our rescheduled future event at a later date, all remaining ticket holders will be offered (1) additional ticket of equal value to their original purchase.
– Connect Beyond Festival 2020 organizers announced today that the festival, slated for April 3-5, 2020, is officially postponed. With recent developments surrounding COVID-19 nationally and in North Carolina, we cannot in good conscience move forward with the festival as scheduled. The safety of our guests and participants is our number one priority.
Connect Beyond Festival’s annual weekend-long event, as well as similar micro-events on both coasts, intends to return in 2020. For our fans, tickets will be refunded upon request by visiting our website page and filling out a quick form to initiate the process before Sunday, April 12, 2020. For guests interested in attending our rescheduled future event at a later date, all remaining ticket holders will be offered (1) additional ticket of equal value to their original purchase.
This Discovery Channel documentary released in 2015, is full of beautiful and horrifying images that are not easily forgotten. From majestic whale sharks to slaughtered manta rays, the subjects of this new documentary reveal nature’s beauty and force viewers to confront the detrimental effects of human activity on the planet.
The documentary introduces its viewers to the Anthropocene, the geological age that began when human activities became a driving force for major geological changes. The film mixes cogent scientific facts with captivating images to convey the urgency of the crisis facing our planet—an emergency stemming from global climate change and mass species extinction.
Scientists predict that within the next 100 years, 50 percent of Earth’s species will become extinct if we continue down this path. Species go extinct regardless of human interference, but in the next decade alone, humans will drive other species to extinction ten times faster than normal.
Most of the film is dedicated to ocean quality because oceans are crucial to global stability. “When carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, between a third and a half gets absorbed by the oceans, making them more acidic,” said Louie Psihoyos, director of Racing Extinction, in the documentary. This increased acidity kills phytoplankton—the organisms responsible for producing half of the world’s oxygen supply—and harms many other oceanic creatures.
The film highlights recent and massive decreases in shark populations. The film also highlights the illegal market for shark fins in China, which claims the lives of 1.3 to 2.7 million sharks every year. Sharks have survived four mass extinctions in the earth’s history, but now human activity has decreased the shark population by 90 percent in one generation.
The documentary exposes specific ways that humans contribute to the changing geochemistry of the planet. According to Psihoyos, our livestock contribute more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than all direct emissions from the transportation sector. However, the film also recognizes our ability to solve these problems by providing pathways for people to live more sustainably: “If every American skipped meat and cheese just one day a week for a year, it would be like taking 7.6 million cars off the road,”
The film concedes that large-scale geological changes are not simple problems to solve, but it advocates for people to find a way to help alleviate the problem. Overall, Racing Extinction drives home the message that saving the planet is worthwhile by unveiling the hidden beauty of the earth. The film inspires its viewers to maintain hope and convinces them to see and hear the beauty and vibrancy of the world that surrounds them.
http://www.yalescientific.org/2016/03/documentary-review-racing-extinction/
Free documentary and community discussion of “Ay Mariposa,”
“Ay Mariposa” tells the true story of two women and a rare community of butterflies standing on the front lines in a battle against the US-Mexico border wall where the wall construction is devastating wildlife and human communities. Heather Rayburn of MonarchLover.org will host the event, which is sponsored by the Student Environmental Center at UNC-Asheville, the Western North Carolina Sierra Club, Asheville GreenWorks (Bee City USA – Asheville), Nuestro Centro, Hermanxs Orgullosxs en las Américas at UNC-Asheville, Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society, Carolina Natives Nursery, and Mountain WILD.
Free admission – donations welcome.
Details of why this is screening in Asheville: https://www.monarchlover.org/ecocide-on-the-border…
An evening of alternative music and experimental film screenings!
Films by filmmakers from around the world as well as local & national filmmakers. Special screening of short experimental films by Man Ray and Stan Brakhage, world acclaimed experimental filmmakers.
Are you a filmmaker? Submit by Mar 20 at:
https://filmfreeway.com/twinriversmediafestivalexperimental.
Experimental music will be provided by Mexican artist Cyn Los & Via Intercom from New York. Cyn Los creates organic rhythms and twisted journeys with old school keyboards and drums. Via Intercom is comprised of Stevie Jick & Maggie Colgan, an indie folktronica duo based in Brooklyn, NY, featuring homemade synths & other touch instruments to create their own original blend of analog & digitally-based sounds.
As we enter into an even vaster understanding of just how interdependent we are and how fast something travels between us all, we can appreciate the power of our interconnectedness. This can be seen in the thousands of cases in which a virus has impacted so much of our lives from travel, business, wellness and gatherings.
Fantastic Fungi is all about our interconnectedness and the common issues that we face as a species. We know that our biggest defense from these viruses is our own sense of wellbeing, our own immunity and the ability to live from a place of health and wellness both individually and collectively.
Fantastic Fungi Day:
More Global Than Ever
Watch Fantastic Fungi… At Home!
The messages of this film could not be any timelier, from the need to reconnect and understand the intelligence of nature, to partnering with fungi and our natural world to shift our consciousness. How prepared are we to face the pressing issues we have in our world?
We are facing a serious challenge, yet like the mycelium network we are adaptable. As a response to the worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus, we ask each community to take responsibility for establishing the best practice for them. We also know that we need to respond as mycelium and provide innovative ways of addressing these new challenges.
Join Us From The Safety of Wherever You Are.
In response to the Coronavirus we have decided to expand our reach and open the gates to the ever expanding movement of this film and provide an opportunity to people all around the world, no matter where you are located, to participate in Fantastic Fungi Day! Yes, we are creating an opportunity for everyone, wherever you are to view the film as well as tune into the post-screening Q&A. We have the ability to shift the way we are living in this world. Now is the time to tap into nature’s intelligence and come together as a worldwide audience seeking connection, hope and solutions.
With love and gratitude,
Louie, Paul and the FF Team
Synopsis:
Flailing 34-year-old Bridget (Kelly O’Sullivan) finally catches a break when she meets a nice guy and lands a much-needed job nannying six-year-old Frances (played by a scene-stealing Ramona Edith-Williams). But an unwanted pregnancy introduces an unexpected complication. To make matters worse, she clashes with the obstinate Frances and struggles to navigate a growing tension between Frances’ moms. Amidst her tempestuous personal relationships, a reluctant friendship with Frances emerges, and Bridget contends with the inevitable joys and difficulties of becoming a part of someone else’s family.
Director: Alex Thompson
Screenplay: Kelly O’Sullivan
Cast: Kelly O’Sullivan, Ramona Edith-Williams, Jim True-Frost, Francis Guinan, Laura T. Fisher, Lily Mojekwu
NR
106 min.
A NOTE FROM THE GRAIL MOVIEHOUSE
Thank you for watching ONCE WERE BROTHERS and Thank you to MAGNOLIA PICTURES! Between today and April 2, 100% of net proceeds from tickets sold will go back to the Grail Moviehouse thanks to Magnolia Pictures. From 4/3 on, Magnolia will split net proceeds 50/50. By viewing this great film, you’re not only supporting Grail Moviehouse during a difficult time, you’re also supporting amazing idependentfilmmaking and helping to bring the world together through film.
Synopsis:
Inspired by Robertson’s 2017 bestselling memoir Testimony, ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND is a confessional, cautionary, and sometimes humorous tale of Robertson’s young life and the creation of one of the most enduring groups in the history of popular music. The film blends rare archival footage and interviews with many of Robertson’s friends and collaborators, including Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Scorsese, Taj Mahal, Peter Gabriel, David Geffen and Ronnie Hawkins, among others.
Director: Daniel Roher
Cast: Robbie Robertson, Martin Scorsese, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal, Jann Wenner, Ronnie Hawkins, Van Morrison, Dominique Robertson
102 min.
R
A NOTE FROM THE GRAIL MOVIEHOUSE
Thank you for watching THE WHISTLERS and Thank you to MAGNOLIA PICTURES! Between today and April 2, 100% of net proceeds from tickets sold will go back to the Grail Moviehouse thanks to Magnolia Pictures. From 4/3 on, Magnolia will split net proceeds 50/50. By viewing this great film, you’re not only supporting Grail Moviehouse during a difficult time, you’re also supporting amazing international filmmaking and helping to bring the world together through film.
Synopsis:
In THE WHISTLERS, not everything is as it seems for Cristi, a police inspector in Bucharest who plays both sides of the law. Embarking with the beautiful Gilda on a high-stakes heist, both will have to navigate the twists and turns of corruption, treachery and deception. A trip to the Canary Islands to learn a secret whistling language might just be what they need to pull it off.
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Cast: Vlad Ivanov, Catrinel Marlon, Rodica Lazar, Antonio Buil
English, Spanish, and Romanian with English Subtitles
97 min
NR.