A record number of people attended this year’s Cucalorus Festival, organizers announced Tuesday.
 
Attendance figures for the festival, at its core a film festival in its 23rd year, came in at nearly 19,100 for more than 200 events during the five-day run earlier this month, according to a news release.
 
The festival switched this year from its Cucalorus Film Festival name to the shortened moniker to reflect expanded efforts in its events outside of film screenings. This year Cucalorus Stage covered performance-focused events, and Cucalorus Connect reorganized the festival’s business and tech-focused conference.
 
“… the Cucalorus Connect Conference delivered on early promises to shift the conversation about economic development in the region,” the news release stated, adding that Connect attendance doubled this year.
 
The festival, held Nov. 8-12, screened 301 films, “including 65 international, 35 narrative features, 18 documentary features, 194 short films, 41 music videos, and 5 projects from our Works-in Progress Lab,” the release stated. “Keeping the ongoing promise announced during last year's festival, half of all films presented at the festival were directed by women.”
 
“I think you'll see that we’ve just gotten started with Connect and that Stage has incredible potential here in Wilmington,” said Dan Brawley, the festival’s executive director. “Over the next five years, we expect Cucalorus to be a leader in shaping the region’s cultural and economic identity while also influencing indie film on an international level.”