Grand Motoring Film Festival puts car culture in the driver’s seat

HILTON HEAD, S.C. (WTOC) - Hilton Head Island is shifting into high gear for an upcoming film festival that puts car culture front and center.

The 9th annual Grand Motoring Film Festival was born when organizers noticed there were no film festivals in North America centered around the automobile industry. The festival blends car culture and cinema with a car show and evening of documentaries and short films about cars.

Festival organizer Guy Smith says the rise of both the automobile and film industries are intertwined.

“A lot of people may not realize in the late 1800s and early 1900s both of these things really came to market. So you had early silent films coming out at the same time that cars were starting to come on the scene and replace the horse and buggy,” Smith said. “You would have filmmakers like Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle who would shoot movies and use these new cars in their films.”

Smith pointed to one of cinema’s most famous automotive examples: the DeLorean time machine from the “Back to the Future” trilogy.

“You had this quasi-failed car company. They decide to put in the script that the time machine is a stainless steel DeLorean, and it becomes this iconic vehicle,” Smith said. “Not just for car hobbyists, but for cinema.”

Festival lineup features DeLorean documentary and IndyCar premiere

The festival is headlined by “88 MPH: The Story of the DeLorean Time Machine,” a documentary showcasing how the car became an icon in cinema. It will also feature the world premiere of the short film “Return of the Champ,” starring IndyCar driver Will Power. The film explores the psychological toll professional drivers face.

The Grand Motoring Film Festival takes place October 31 at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina on Hilton Head Island from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are available here.