This year's closing night film was Carlos Cuaron's Rudo & Cursi and it was a tremendous success.

Even though Cauron has written and produced many movies in the past, this is actually his first time writing and directing his own project and he thinks he didn't do so bad. Actually, not bad at all, the movie has already been a great success in Mexico and will premiere in commercial theaters around the country shortly. However, Atlantans were amongst the few privileged enough to ask the director some questions themselves after the showing of the film, and later had the opportunity of drinking a beer with him and hear him crack a joke or two at the party.

Seeing Cuaron at the festival was actually very pleasing for many people, he seemed down to earth and very capable of having fun, joking around and carrying on conversations with admirers of his work. The audience at the showing was very diverse and despite the language barrier, and the author's insistence that the movie is actually a drama, the theater was filled with roaring laughter and lighthearted compassion for the characters in the story.

One of the star shorts of the festival was Transitions, directed by Atlanta-based Filmmaker Joe Binford. The movie, shot in 35mm, moved from scene to scene without a single cut. I caught Binford at the closing night party and asked him to tell us a little bit more about his film.

Video: From left to right Chris Holland & Heidi Van Lier

During Friday's Coffehouse Conversations at Starbucks, authors Chris Holland (Film Festival Secrets) & Heidi Van Lier (The Indie Film Rule Book), talked about the selection process if film festivals. 

These guys have had extensive experience selecting and judging for film festivals and now they give you the inside scoop on the DO's and DONT's that could get your film IN or most definitely OUT of a film festival.