Cosmic Rays

03/24/2026

Thank you for an extraordinary 8th edition of Cosmic Rays Film Festival! 📽️✨

Special thanks to our program partners and lead sponsors Orange County Arts Commission & Eno Arts Mill North Carolina Arts Council LEVEL retreat UnionDocs and Fatwood Studio NC! (We will share more about Fatwood’s special Cosmic Rays programming soon!)

And, of course, thank you to Chelsea Theater for serving as our screening venue and for continually supporting Cosmic Rays and films that are formally inventive, speak with a personal voice, and are inspired by the possibilities of film as art.

03/19/2026

As part of Cosmic Rays Film Festival, our program partners and sponsors Fatwood Studio NC are hosting a Saturday afternoon that includes artist talks/presentations, exploration, and a microcinema installation space on wheels! Learn more below and RSVP at the following link: https://fatwood.studio/field-study-cosmic-rays-film-festival-2026/

03/18/2026

Passes for the 2026 Cosmic Rays Film Festival are available until 12 PM today (March 18)!

Individual tickets to program blocks will remain available pending capacity up until showtimes. ✨Low ticket warning for Saturday blocks!

All info and passes and tickets at Chelsea Theater website: https://www.thechelseatheater.org/cosmic-rays-2026

See you this weekend!

03/16/2026

📽️♥️

For groundbreaking cinema, Cosmic Rays is a must attend festival!

The Festival (8th Edition) presents several programs of short films made by filmmakers from North Carolina and around the world that are formally inventive; speak with a personal voice; and are inspired by the possibilities of film as art.
Want a full pass? Passes still available until March 18!

📽Details ➡ Cosmic Rays X Chelsea Theater

03/14/2026

⚡️ Cosmic Rays Programming Announcement!

On Saturday, March 21, Cosmic Rays Film Festival program partner and sponsor Fatwood Studio NC presents FIELD STUDIES, a day of in-depth exploration from a selection of the artists featured at this year’s Cosmic Rays Film Festival!

🎟️ Free by reservation to Cosmic Rays passholders; others by suggested onsite donation. Reservation link and details below. 👇

📽️ On Saturday, March 21, Chapel Hill’s Fatwood will host three sessions on artist practice and the world of experimental film: with Nicky Tavares, Linda Scobie, and Magda Bermudez. Fatwood will also be hosting the CINEBUS highlighting the installation work of Charlotte Taylor.

📽️ Schedule:

✨11 AM: Nicky Tavares
Nicky Tavares is a multimedia artist. Tavares will share insights into her process through a close look at A Telephone for God, featured in the festival program The Call, alongside a broader reflection on the tools and forms she draws upon to meet each new idea.

✨12:30 PM: Linda Scobie
Next, we welcome filmmaker, programmer, and projectionist Linda Scobie, whose rhythmic and flickering film Crystal Palace screens in the festival’s Sunday program.

📽️ After Linda’s session, take a moment to wander around Fatwood, explore the CineBus, grab a snack, and enjoy a quick BBQ before our final conversation.

✨ 2:45 PM : Magdalena Bermudez
Our final session features filmmaker and educator Magdalena Bermudez, whose essayistic films explore the entangled relationships between humans, nonhuman animals, and technology.

📽️ Throughout the day, visitors are encouraged to explore Charlotte Taylor’s installation inside the CINEBUS, a converted school bus that functions as a collectively run mobile microcinema, gallery, and workshop space!

⚡️ RSVP in advance: fatwood.studio/field-study-cosmic-rays-film-festival-2026

03/13/2026

Join us for the 2026 Cosmic Rays Film Festival! Full festival pass sales end on Wednesday, March 18! Passes give you access to 30+ films over three days, March 20-22, at the Chelsea Theater. We’ll see you soon!

03/08/2026

Passes now on sale for the 8th edition of Cosmic Rays Film Festival! Join us March 20 - 22!

We have an amazing program of 30+ experimental, essay, first person, and artists' film...screening over three days at the Chelsea Theater in Chapel Hill, North Carolina!

More info and passes here: https://www.thechelseatheater.org/cosmic-rays-2026

Cosmic Rays is a volunteer-run nonprofit experimental film festival. Thank you to our generous sponsors and program partners Orange County Arts Commission & Eno Arts Mill North Carolina Arts Council UnionDocs LEVEL retreat and Fatwood Studio!

11/08/2025

📽️⌛️Last days for the 2026 Cosmic Rays Film Festival open call! Submission deadline is next weekend, November 16!

Share and spread the word! Submissions accepted on our FilmFreeway page: https://filmfreeway.com/CosmicRaysFilmFestival

✨ Cosmic Rays is an annual celebration of non-commercial short films that extend the idea of film as art…a festival of experimental, essay, first person, and artists’ films. ✨

11/03/2025

Counting down to the submission deadline for the 8th edition of Cosmic Rays Film Festival! Visit our FilmFreeway page to learn more and share your work: https://filmfreeway.com/CosmicRaysFilmFestival

Cosmic Rays is an annual celebration of short films (20 minutes maximum length) that expand our idea of what film is and what it can be....experimental, first-person, essay, and artists' films.

Submission deadline is November 16, 2025...and save the date for the 2026 fest! March 20-22 in Chapel Hill, NC at the Chelsea Theater!

📽 Video image excerpt from Cosmic Rays filmmaker J.M. Martínez

10/18/2025

Cosmic Rays is accepting film submissions! Visit our FilmFreeway page to learn more and share your work: https://filmfreeway.com/CosmicRaysFilmFestival

"Cosmic Rays is a wonderfully well-curated experimental film festival that combines exciting work with a great community spirit." - ✨ 2025 Cosmic Rays Filmmaker

And save the date for the 8th edition of Cosmic Rays: March 20-22 in Chapel Hill, NC at the Chelsea Theater.

09/13/2025

Sunday, September 14, catch our 2025 touring program at UnionDocs! More info and tix at UnionDocs website: https://uniondocs.org/event/2025-09-28-cosmic-rays-you-dont-know-me/

Each year, Cosmic Rays curates a selection of work from the festival to tour at a variety of museums, universities, micro-cinemas, and other screening venues.

YOU DON’T KNOW ME
A selection of films from the 7th Cosmic Rays Film Festival.

What happens to our bodies in an age of disembodiment? A program of short experimental films about the roles our bodies play, the data they generate, the avatars they adopt, and the traces they leave behind. Films that ask if we’re evolving into something new, or just heading for extinction.
Total Running Time: 82 minutes

Examining the roles and the records our bodies leave behind.