ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — An Emmy Award-winning filmmaker is returning to UNC Asheville to screen a dark comedy filmed largely in Western North Carolina.

The university will host a free screening of “Gunfighter Paradise,” written and directed by 2013 graduate Jethro Waters, on Friday, Oct. 23.

The event will be from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Blue Ridge Room of Highsmith Student Union. Waters will answer questions from the audience after the film.

Set in North Carolina, “Gunfighter Paradise” follows a hunter who returns home after his mother’s death. But his return takes a strange turn as he encounters mysterious visitors and unsettling visions.

For Waters, the film is a critique of Southern culture and a tribute to the region where he grew up.

“‘Gunfighter Paradise’ is an exploration of the modern American south and a critique of the religious psychosis that dominates the culture. It is also a love letter to the beauty and poetry of the south, particularly the parts of North Carolina that I grew up in,” Waters said.

“Nearly all of the film was shot around Asheville, Swannanoa, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Piedmont region.”

Waters graduated from UNC Asheville in 2013 with a degree in international studies. He has worked as a director, cinematographer, editor and producer.

In 2021, he received a Midsouth Emmy Award for “F11 and Be There,” a documentary about photographer Burk Uzzle, known for his work with Life magazine and Magnum Photos.

Waters’ work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and NPR.

Following the screening, Waters will take questions about the movie, his creative process and his work as a filmmaker.

The event is sponsored by the UNC Asheville Alumni Association and the university’s Department of Mass Communication.

Admission is free and open to the public. Visitors who park on campus must register their vehicles.