The Asheville Film Festival is produced by the City of Asheville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department in conjunction with the Asheville Film Festival Committee.
Phone: (828) 259-5800 Fax: (828) 259-5606

 When it comes to movies, Asheville’s star truly shines! In the early days, Thomas Edison traveled to the Esmeralda Inn in nearby Chimney Rock to film shorts for his New Jersey studio. To celebrate 1921, Conquest of Canaan was shot entirely in the city and opened the door to features like Tap Roots, the 1948 epic with Susan Hayward and Van Heflin making love in Mississippi pines recreated in nearby Black Mountain. The Swan, a 1956 release, filmed at Biltmore Estate, starred Grace Kelly and Alec Guinness, followed by Thunder Road, a 1958 salute to moonshine and Robert Mitchum. In 1979, Being There, with Shirley McClaine and Peter Sellers, became the prophetic Forrest Gump of the Reagan years.

The early 1990's saw Michael Mann trading the pastels of Miami for the deep shadows of our mountain greenery when he brought the 1992 version of The Last of the Mohicans to the contemporary screen. Railroads were wrecked with amazing realism when Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones battled for the winner’s square in 1993s The Fugitive.

In 1996, Asheville turned its downtown into a Gay-Day Parade starring Jack Lemmon and James Garner as they romped through My Fellow Americans. Then in 2001, Hannibal Lecter celebrated one more last meal in Hannibal, the 2001 salute to nouvelle cuisine. Patch Adams loved our mountains, Songcatcher turned their beauty into song, and then Robert Redford and Helen Mirren filmed The Clearing in our backyard.

Self Magazine calls us America’s Happiest City and AARP said we're one of the best places to retire, while Rolling Stone had choice words about our eccentricities. But we'll let you discover the hidden depths of the city by yourself while you celebrate the movies of the 21st Century!

Resources
We're thrilled that you've noticed the beauty of our mountains, our eclectic architecture, and the world-renowned Biltmore Estate as the possible backdrop for your project. For further information about filming your production in this area, please contact the City of Asheville Parks & Recreation, Cultural Arts Division at 828-259-5800 or visit the following website links:

www.blueridgemotionpictures.com
www.wncfilm.net
www.ncfilm.com

Just some of the productions filmed in Western North Carolina include