Run & Shoot Filmworks has already enjoyed success with its Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival (the sixth annual event was held just last month), so the outfit has now elected to test the Charlotte waters. The Charlotte African-American Film Festival will be held this Thursday through Saturday at various area venues. The event kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Thursday with a reception at the Ballantyne Village Theatre, which will then be followed by "An Evening of Shorts" at 8:30 p.m. Other planned activities include an airing of two episodes of the Nickelodeon show The Backyardigans, a discussion and screening of the documentary The Souls of Black Girls, and an advance showing of the fall release The Express, starring Rob Brown as real-life college football hero Ernie Davis and co-starring Dennis Quaid and Charles S. Dutton. Costs, times and locations vary. Sept. 18-20. 877-993-8499. www.runandshootfilmworks.com.