Film Fest 919 is coming to Chapel Hill from October 3-7 and the inaugural five-day event will feature over 40 award-winning films at Silverspot Cinema in Chapel Hill.

“We were looking for a community that would be engaged and culturally attuned, sophisticated and intelligent,” said program director Claudia Puig in an interview with WCHL’s Aaron Keck. “So Chapel Hill was right at the top of that list.”

The film festival will kick off with “Roma,” which won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival.

Other notable films include Toronto Film Festival Peoples’ Choice Award winner “Green Book,” “Dogman” — featuring 2018 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award winner Marcello Fonte — and 2018 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters.”

The film festival will also include a meet and greet with several actors and filmmakers including “Roma” stars Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira, “The Grief of Others” and “A Bread Factory” director Patrick Wang and “All About Nina” director Eva Vives.

“A quarter of [the films being shown at Film Fest 919] are made by women,” said Puig. “Ten of them are made by people of color. A third of the films are foreign and they represent about seventeen countries around the world so it’s a really, I think, eclectic display of global cinema along with a lot of the films that are short-listed for Best Picture Oscar, Best Foreign Language Oscar, and best Acting Awards.”

More information on Film Fest 919, as well as a complete schedule of screenings, can be found at filmfest919.com.