ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — The inaugural Asheville Film Festival was held from Friday, Aug. 15 to Sunday, Aug. 17 at the Masonic Temple in downtown Asheville and featured over 30 films, including several produced in Asheville.

Read more about Asheville Film Festival here.

Read about my five favorite films from the first festival:

5. “A HOUSE FOR MY FAMILY” (2024, 30 min., directed by Sean Breitkreutz)

“A House for My Family” is one of the most impressive displays of low-budget production design I have ever seen. The urban decay and accumulated garbage of the surreal seaside short is convincingly realized and consecrated by a committed lead performance from Spencer Bang. If we’re lucky, Sean Breitkreutz will one day get the chance to channel his “Eraserhead”-esque sensibilities and penchant for practical effects into a strong career in Hollywood horror.

(Courtesy: Nightwire Films)

4. “GENERATIONAL” (2025, 18 min., directed by Joseph S.S. Galyean)

The winner of five awards at the Asheville Film Festival – Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Narrative Short and Best Film – “Generational” was a sensational achievement for writer-director Joseph S.S. Galyean. The short packs an emotional punch as a tender examination of parenting, inherited trauma and blue collar exhaustion while cleverly wending together past and present to an unexpected unified finale. J.D. Starnes, an Aaron Taylor Johnson lookalike and onscreen empathy machine, was well deserving of his Best Actor accolade for his heartbreaking performance as a single parent doing his best.

(Courtesy: Blue Collar Pictures)

3. “BLACKLISTED: THE SACRED MAGIC OF BLACK CATS” (2025, The Fetzer Institute)

Shot at Asheville’s very own House of Black Cat Magic, The Fetzer Institute’s short documentary about discrimination against black cats and the magically-inclined folks who love them is a profoundly moving portrait of a unique Asheville establishment. “Blacklisted” is what all the best nonfiction shorts are made of: great B-roll, a subject worth examining and interviewees who know what they’re talking about. I was in tears by the end.

(Courtesy: The Fetzer Institute)

2. “THE CREPE CREEP” (2025, 9 min., directed by Jason Affolder)

It might be impossible to watch “The Crepe Creep” and its beautiful crepe-centric cinematography and not leave with a rumbling tummy. “The Crepe Creep” is a cute story about judgment and acceptance, but it really finds its legs, “The March of Progress” style, with its sense of humor. Every performer in the crepe cafe knocks their funny dialogue out of the park. Best of all, the story hinges on a walking fish man brought to life with charming practical effects, which is just speaking my language. There is not a sour note in the entire sweet “Crepe Creep” concoction. 

(Courtesy: Smoke & Metal Filmworks)

1. “SCRIPT TEASE” (2025, directed by Chad Thurman)

My favorite film from the first Asheville Film Festival was easily “Script Tease,” a fantastic one-sentence premise turned into a hilarious giallo-flecked screenwriter satire. “Script Tease” presents a world where aspiring screenwriters can dial an illicit phone line and be affirmed of the genius of their screenplay. Between its absurd editing techniques, sweaty performances and red-and-purple lighting, this phone number film was quickly dialed in to my number one spot.

(Courtesy: Workshed Animation)