Mountain Lights

We are building a world-class film festival for filmmakers and stories rooted in or inspired by the American Southeast. Coming to Black Mountain in 2027.

06/26/2026

Fuel Storytelling. Strengthen Community.

As a fiscally sponsored project, MOUNTAIN LIGHTS directs 8% of every tax-deductible donation to regional food security efforts through Nourish Appalachia and the Black Mountain Tailgate Market. We are proud to support our local food system right here in Black Mountain.

06/23/2026

MOUNTAIN LIGHTS is rooted in Black Mountain, a small town in Appalachia. In the 1930's Black Mountain College helped shape one of the most influential creative communities in American history. ⛰️🎬

Through MOUNTAIN LIGHTS Film Festival we're focused on carrying some that legacy forward. Creating space for storytellers, filmmakers, and community to gather.

For more on the history of BMC visit the Black Mountain College Museum ( Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center ) in downtown Asheville and check out the documentary 'Fully Awake' for a glimpse into the experimentation, artistic expression, and connection that defined Black Mountain College.

Credits:
1 - Leap Ahead, Courtesy Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina
2 - 'Fully Awake" Dir(s) Cathryn Davis Zommer, Neeley House
3 - Josef and Anni Albers, from “Germans on Faculty at Black Mountain School,” Asheville Citizen Times , December 5, 1933. The Josef an Anni Albers Foundation.
4 - BMC Studies Building early 1940's, Courtesy Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina

06/18/2026

📽 Why a film festival?! 🎬

06/16/2026

Who is behind MOUNTAIN LIGHTS?! 👀

A small but mighty team of folks working hard to bring a world class film festival to Black Mountain to honor and celebrate stories from the American South.

We do need your help tho! Do you have a passion for film and building community? Do you have a background in marketing? Operations? Sponsorship? DM us!

06/10/2026

Our THREE-DAY LIVE FESTIVAL will be held August 21st-23rd, 2026 at the Asheville Masonic Temple in beautiful downtown Asheville, North Carolina. Our festi...

06/09/2026

✨️ Cinema Treasures: History of the Black Mountain Pix Theatre 📽

1] This 1960s photograph shows the Pix Theatre in downtown Black Mountain. Under the ownership of Lee Hiltz, the theater opened on East State Street in 1924 as the New Theater. In 1946, following Hiltz's death, his widow, Bertha Nell Crawford Hiltz, sold the theater to her son Albert J. "Laddie" Terrell Jr., and his wife, Harriette M. Terrell. Renamed the Pix Theatre around 1968, the venue continued to operate into the 1970s until it was torn down. The present-day site of the Pix Theatre is now sadly the Black Mountain Town Square parking lot.

2] Via Nathan Padgett - "This picture of my dad was taken from the Pure Oil station (present day ) with the Pix theater in the background circa 1963.

3] Leaflet ad for upcoming screenings at The Pix, probably around 1955

06/04/2026

🎬 Film community: An empathy machine

"For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us." - Roger Ebert

📸

06/02/2026

🎞 👉 👉👉 There is lots of amazing film work in development and premiering out in the world from our local community at the moment!

What projects are you working on? What work do you have your eyes on in the southeast?!

05/14/2026

A beautiful place on earth.

We are working hard to create our year one festival in Black Mountain NC on April 2027.

MOUNTAIN LIGHTS is a world-class festival for filmmakers and stories rooted in or inspired by the American Southeast.

05/12/2026

For us cinema is communal. We are slowly building over here at MOUNTAIN LIGHTS 😉

Stills From:
1. Koyaanisqatsi
2. The Crow
3. Man with a Movie Camera
4. The Thin Blue Line

Music:

Address

Black Mountain, NC

Website

https://www.mountainlights.org/

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