By Ansley Peterson | Nov 14, 2025

Filmmaker and South Carolina native Tommy Faircloth is an innovator in the world of independent cinema and creative storytelling.

His outlet? The South Carolina Underground Film Festival, which he founded 11 years ago. 

He’s passionate about helping other creatives share their work and network with each other, no matter where they’re from or what genre they bring to the table. 

“I wanted to make the environment super welcoming, with people being super supportive of each other,” Faircloth said. 

Filmmaker Johnathan Riles, who had never attended the festival, was a winner this year. He felt the support.

Riles is the director and animator of “Froggy Style,” a mixed-media animation short about a pair of frog parents going through the process of accepting their child who is “more gender amphibious than expected.” 

Riles had been interested in the S.C. Underground Film Festival, or SCUFF, for years before getting the opportunity to screen his film this year. 

“There’s nothing better than having a space, no matter how weird your stuff is, to actually screen it and to also be in a community of artists that welcome that as well,” Riles said. 

How the festival got its start 

Tommy Faircloth went to the University of South Carolina, majoring in media arts, and has been working in horror films and TV since the 1990s. 

He was traveling the film festival circuit with his own films when he noted there was something missing for South Carolina, especially in the area of underground films. 

He classified underground films as “more rough around the edges, more exciting, like horror films and genre films – and more homegrown movies.” 

Faircloth had already launched a horror film festival in Columbia called Crimson Screen two years before the Underground Film Festival came to be. 

He said the festival was successful and that attending filmmakers wanted to participate, but with a genre other than horror. 

The festival originally began in Charleston, South Carolina, because of its appeal as a destination city that would help bring in filmmakers from many different places. 

Eventually, it moved to Columbia, and is held in the Columbia’s independent theater, the Nickelodeon, which was started in 1979 by two USC students and remains the state’s only nonprofit art-house theater.

“The filmmakers really enjoy the venue,” Faircloth said. “The projection is great and the sound is great.” 

The Underground Film Festival is listed among the top 100 festivals by audiences on FilmFreeway, the platform where filmmakers submit their work to thousands of festivals. 

Who attends the screenings

The festival, held in early November, is open to all submissions and welcomes anyone who has a unique story to tell. 

“People come in from Italy, Canada, all states, and Japan even,” Faircloth said. “Even though it is an international film festival … I wanted to have a spotlight for South Carolina as well.”

Filmmaker Ebony Wilson, from Columbia, has been coming to the festival since it began.

This year was the first time she screened one of her own works there, a short film called “Ryde.”

“I’m really glad to finally be a part of it,” Wilson said. 

She has been friends with Tommy Faircloth for a decade, and said she appreciates him as a pioneer for the local film scene. 

“It’s so important for the South Carolina filmmakers to feel like they have a voice – and an avenue and a venue and a festival that represents them – but also makes them feel like their stories are wanted,” Wilson said. 

The community aspect was evident in the Q&A with the filmmakers after each screening. Audience members could ask about the technical aspects of shooting a film as well as the creative process that went into it. 

Director and filmmaker Ryan Henry McKenian, from Los Angeles, was glad to show his documentary “Freak Bikes” to a live audience and be able to receive genuine feedback. 

“I was very pleasantly delighted by people’s interest and engagement,” McKenian said. 

His main goal with the festival was to find people who connect with mobility justice by sharing the story of an L.A. bicycle activist enjoying cycling with his son in Europe. 

McKenian was inspired to make the film because he is frustrated with Los Angeles being a car-centric city that lacks the infrastructure to support the safety of bikers. 

“I would love for people to take away how they might transform their own neighborhoods into something that’s more accessible by foot or by bike,” McKenian said.

Looking to the future

Film submissions for the next year open the Monday after the festival ends and stay open through mid-September of the next year. 

All submissions are screened and evaluated by the organization’s Preview and Selection Committee, which is appointed by the festival’s steering committee. 

Faircloth hopes attendees discover something new, whether about themselves or about filmmaking in general. 

He said it’s rewarding to watch the connections that are made over the weekend and to see people draw inspiration from each other. 

Filmmakers “can meet and end up collaborating on future projects,” Faircloth said.