The RiverRun International Film Festival is announcing its lineup of over 150 films. One of RiverRun's hallmarks is the exposure that it provides to North Carolina movie makers and their stories. One of this year's films makes a surprising culinary connection with a decadent delicacy that you don't typically associate with the South.
The short documentary Caviar Dreams takes a fast-paced and humorous look at the history of caviar. It uses animation, interviews, and some behind-the-scenes footage from Atlantic Caviar & Sturgeon Company, which is located in the Blue Ridge foothills.
The film was co-directed by Wei Ying. She's a graduate student in the Wake Forest University Documentary Film Program. She says the idea came from her colleague who had a simple caviar question.
“'Why is this food so expensive?' He just had that thought, then he came here, and found out that there's actually a Russian caviar farm in North Carolina. Which is really...I mean its weird, honestly. It's weird. So I think that's the starting point.”
Caviar Dreams is currently fundraising via Kickstarter to cover submission fees for more festivals.
RiverRun takes place at venues across Winston Salem, from March 30th through April 9th.