Southern Agenda

Lens on the Lowcountry


Beaufort has long played a role in filmmaking history, serving as a backdrop to such classics as Forrest Gump, The Big Chill, and The Prince of Tides. But the charming coastal town also stakes a claim in the film industry’s future through the annual Beaufort International Film Festival. From February 18 to 23, veteran and aspiring filmmakers from the South and beyond screen their work in front of some 15,000 festivalgoers. Every morning at 9:00, the show begins: Documentaries, short films, animations, and comedies start rolling in the 450-person-capacity Center for the Arts. “The atmosphere is just electric,” says Ron Tucker, who has codirected the festivities along with his wife, Rebecca—and conducted a post-screening Q&A session with each filmmaker—for the past nineteen years. Of more than five hundred entries, only about fifty-five make the cut, and an advisory panel that includes South Carolina native Andie MacDowell and filmmaker Julie Dash names the winners in a slew of categories (there’s also an Audience Choice award). “We choose films that are story-driven, and that make an impact,” Tucker says. “We want the audience to stand up and cheer, to laugh or cry, or get so angry they want to take action.”

beaufortfilmfestival.com