The 9th Annual Cosmic Rays Film Festival will take place March 19–21, 2027, and its call for submissions is open through November 16, 2026. Filmmakers can submit noncommercial short films through FilmFreeway. The festival seeks experimental films, hybrid forms, and first-person stories that expand the possibilities of cinema. Formal experimentation is especially encouraged, with a high priority given to films that play with sound and image in unexpected ways. Now highly competitive, the festival receives an estimated 400 submissions each year and screens only about 10 percent of them. Audiences have grown to more than 300 people,
including fans, volunteers, partners, and filmmakers.
“…we put a high priority on films that play with image and sound in interesting and unexpected ways. We also value films that are personal. Films that speak with a distinctive voice.” — Bill Brown
In early October, the Cosmic Rays Film Festival was recognized as one of 30 local arts projects and organizations selected for a 2026–2027 grant by the Orange County Arts Commission and the North Carolina Arts Council. Founded in Chapel Hill in 2008 by French-American media artist Sabine Gruffat and landscape documentarian and experimental filmmaker Bill Brown, the festival emerged from a shared recognition that experimental cinema needed more consistent opportunities to reach audiences throughout the Triangle. They established the festival to showcase the kind of filmmaking they love.
Brown points to the Triangle’s “illustrious history of screening experimental cinema.” In the 1990s, there was the Flicker Film Festival, followed by the Hi Mom! Film Festival, started by UNC students. Duke’s Experimental and Documentary Arts program, established in 2012, has also supported artists and students from around the world. Today, local initiatives continue to collaborate to create more opportunities for experimental film, including Jim Haverkamp and Joyce Ventimiglia’s Strange Beauty Film Festival and Jeremy and Brendan Smyth’s Unexposed Microcinema.
“We also value films that are personal. Films that speak with a distinctive voice. Films that wander into the unexplored territory between genres; the in-between spaces between fact and fiction, poetry and prose, the seen and the unseen.” — Bill Brown Despite the challenges of sustaining a film festival over the years, Cosmic Ray has built a strong network of local arts partnerships that help shape the festival experience for filmmakers and audiences alike. The Orange County Arts Commission has been a steadfast supporter of the festival team. The Chelsea Theater provide spaces for screenings, Fatwood Studio provides accommodations for visiting filmmakers, while Level Retreat hosts a popular Sunday brunch for selected artists.
Beyond the annual festival, Cosmic Rays organizes a touring program that brings a selection of its favorite films to venues around the United States. Last year, the tour reached New York and Los Angeles. In 2027, audiences can also look forward to the return of Live Cinema! In these one-of-a-kind performances, filmmakers use film strips, projectors, instruments, and audio to create live works that unfold in real time. Each performance is unique, offering an experience that cannot be replicated. “Running a film festival has definitely informed how we think about our own filmmaking, and seeing so many great films every year inspires us as makers.” — Bill Brown
