Having announced the entirely female-directed first slate of films, the narrative and documentary feature competition lineups, and the Oscar-qualifying short film competition lineups, the Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is pleased to announce the 2015 festival features with Georgia ties.

Twelve of the features, including “Dante’s Down the Hatch” and “Good Grief Suicide Hotline,” come from local Georgia filmmakers and were shot completely in the Atlanta area. Others, such as “Old South” or “The Long Start to the Journey” prominently feature Georgian settings. Some films have little to do with Georgia story-wise, like “WildLike” or “Movement and Location,” but come from filmmakers who originally hail from Georgia.

Sixteen short films have Georgia connections. “Charming” and “CROW HAND!!!,” for example, were shot locally by local filmmakers. Others, such as “Bar” or “Frog’s Legs,” come from Savannah College of Art and Design students. These sixteen films will screen in shorts blocks or in conjunction with features during the festival.

Passes for the Festival are available for purchase now. Individual tickets go on sale later this month. The 39th annual Atlanta Film Festival takes place March 20-29, 2015.

Georgia-tied Feature Films:

Dante’s Down the Hatch

directed by Jef Bredemeier
USA, 2015, English, 91 minutes

Follow Dante as he closes one of Atlanta's most magical landmark restaurants, Dante's Down the Hatch. For 43 years, it was the only place you could dine inside an old pirate ship with live jazz while live crocodiles swam in a moat beneath your feet. Thousands of people chose to bring this place into their lives and make it a tradition with birthday celebrations, marriage proposals and many anniversaries. See why it lasted so long and how it touched so many lives. #Documentary #GAfilm #WorldPremiere
 

Divided Time

directed by W. Feagins, Jr.
USA, 2014, English, 55 minutes

How do you pursue your passion while raising a family? “Divided Time” captures the lives of nine fathers who share their experiences in parenthood and their pursuit of success in the music industry while being accountable to their families.
#Documentary #GAfilm
 

Female Pervert

directed by Jiyoung Lee
USA, 2015, English, 63 minutes

Phoebe is a lonely video game designer seeking a true connection in the modern world. Unfortunately, she doesn't relate to people like most in ‘normal society.’ So she starts seeing a therapist, she changes her diet and joins a book club. As her path to self-improvement unfurls, some of her more eccentric interests lead her down a darker path. She meets a few men along the way, hoping to spark a love connection. But her perversions are hard to suppress. Will she be able to change? Or will she accept her fate as a female pervert?
#Narrative, #GAfilm
 

Good Grief Suicide Hotline

directed by Sam Carter
USA, 2015, English, 86 minutes

Mark Reynolds, a fresh faced young idealist, decides to volunteer at a crisis counseling center in order to atone for inadvertently contributing to the death of a local hero. However, he soon discovers that the center is run by a con artist and staffed by a collection of low lifes, miscreants, and lunatics who have little interest in helping others when they could be helping themselves. Despite his best efforts to assist those in need, Mark is quickly sucked into the quagmire of deviancy that surrounds him. As a result he finds himself in a myriad of awkward situations and is forced to ask whether being a 'good guy' is worth all the trouble.
#Narrative #GAfilm #WorldPremiere
 

Imba Means Sing

directed by Danielle Bernstein
USA/Uganda, 2015, English, 75 minutes

Following Angel, Moses and Nina from the slums of Kampala, Uganda through a world tour with the Grammy-nominated African Children's Choir, “Imba Means Sing” showcases these extraordinary characters as they travel from one extreme to the other. The story is told from the children’s perspectives on their one shot journey from poverty to education. The film is an intimate look at how each child processes the joys and challenges of this life-altering opportunity.
#Documentary #GAfilm #WorldPremiere
 

In Our Son’s Name

directed by Gayla Jamison
English, 2015, English, 65 minutes

“In Our Son's Name” follows Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez over more a decade as they struggle with grief and search for meaning after their son, Greg, is killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Their remarkable transformative journey takes them through public opposition to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, testimony for the defense at Zacarias Moussaoui's sentencing trial, friendship with Moussaoui's mother, work with convicted felons, and speaking out against anti-Muslim actions and the death penalty. This intimate, one-hour documentary challenges conventional concepts of justice and healing, and reveals the potential of trauma to inspire, not defeat, the human spirit.
#Documentary #GAfilm #WorldPremiere
 

Janey Makes a Play

directed by Jared Callahan
USA, 2015, English, 79 minutes

Follow 90-year-old Janey as she writes and directs her latest original, socially relevant community theatre production. Battling through the current recession, the colorful troupe of faithful townspeople cope with their struggles by telling their story on stage. Janey continues to serve as a mouthpiece for truth through her next play focusing on this David and Goliath-sized battle. Experience the troupe’s creative process, while catching a glimpse of the current state of small-town America.
#Documentary #GAfilm #WorldPremiere
 

The Long Start to the Journey

directed by Chris Gallaway
USA, 2015, English, 70 minutes

“The Long Start to the Journey” follows filmmaker Chris Gallaway on his personal attempt to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail and to learn what the trail means to individuals he meets along the way. Chris (or 'Frost' as he comes to be known on the trail) meets hikers young and old with wildly disparate backgrounds, 'trail angels' who provide food and support along the way, and an assortment of wildlife that make the journey much more exciting. This is a personal story of struggle and perseverance as well as a historical account of the origins and cultural relevance of the Appalachian Trail.
#Documentary #GAfilm #WorldPremiere
 

Movement and Location

directed by Alexis Boling
USA, 2014, English, 96 minutes

Kim Getty is an immigrant from 400 years in the future, sent back to modern day Brooklyn to live out an easier life. She's built a new identity in this time that nearly satisfies: she has a full time job, shares an apartment with a roommate, and is falling in love. But when she finds two other people from the future—a 15-year-old girl and Kim's own long-lost husband—Kim must fight to keep the life she once had from destroying the life she built here.
#Narrative #GAfilm
 

Old South

directed by Danielle Beverly
USA, 2015, English, 54 minutes

In a historically black neighborhood in Athens, Georgia, a college fraternity traditionally known to fly a confederate flag moves in and establishes their presence by staging an antebellum style parade. "Old South" follows the neighborhood struggle over three years, while both communities fight to preserve their historical legacies against an evolving cultural backdrop in the South—and the nation as a whole.
#Documentary #GAfilm #WorldPremiere
 

Satanic Panic 2: Battle of the Bands

directed by Eddie Ray
USA, 2014, English, 50 minutes

Satanic Panic is back and bigger than ever! Now they have to juggle being the biggest band on the planet, secret government spy missions, growing egos and band rivalries as the Battle of the Bands approaches. All the while, their nefarious manager, Dick Dano, is still hellbent on sacrificing the band to the dark lord himself for his own personal gain. How much heat can these fake-Satanic-band-slash-real-government-spies take?
#Narrative #GAfilm
 

WildLike

directed by Frank Hall Green
USA, 2014, English, 104 minutes

Mackenzie, a troubled but daring teenage girl, is sent by her struggling mother to live with her uncle in Juneau, Alaska. Although Uncle seems like a supportive caretaker and friend, the relationship turns and Mackenzie is forced to run. Trying to make her way back to Seattle alone to find her absent mother, Mackenzie only winds up deeper in the Alaskan interior. Lost and with no one else to turn to, she shadows a loner backpacker, Bartlett, an unlikely father figure with scars of his own. Together, they cross the wilderness and discover sanctuary in the last frontier.
#Narrative #GAfilm

 

Georgia-tied Short Films:

American Hell

directed by Robert Bryce Milburn
USA, 2014, English, 7:30
A family's worse fears are realized when their apartment is invaded in the middle of the night.
 

Bar

directed by Jonathan Hartman
USA, 2014, 1:44
A thirsty traveler stumbles upon a bar in the woods, but nobody seems eager to let him in.
 

Charming

directed by John Brandon Delaney
USA, 2015, English, 13:20
A former child actor arranges a meeting with a stranger in a sleazy motel room. The two form a connection that will change her life forever.
 

CROW HAND!!!

directed by Brian Lonano
USA, 2014, English, 2:32
A Husband gets more than he bargains for when he picks up a mysterious crow totem off the ground, much to his wife's chagrin.
 

Frog's Legs

directed by Katie Tamboer
USA, 2014, 2:52
A dopey frog must escape from a crazy, one-eyed witch who wants to cut off his legs for a beauty potion.
 

Garbanzos

directed by Ammar Nassri
USA, 2014, English, 3:19
A farmer wakes up early to go get the last garbanzos in the universe. On his way back, he is faced with several obstacles that he needs to overcome in order for him to bring the garbanzos to his little daughter.
 

The Grey Area

directed by Ebony Blanding, Amber L. N. Bournett
USA, 2014, English, 17:20
Three She-Warriors spend a night together convincing their erratic friend to not crash a wedding.
 

Hitori

directed by Raymond Carr
USA, 2014, English, 11:48
In a universe made entirely of puppeteers, the puppet is always alone. “Hitori” is the story of a boy who is just trying to get back to where he came from.
 

Ir/Reconcilable

directed by Gabrielle Fulton
USA, 2014, English, 18:01
Lifelong drug abuser, Robye Porter, has stared down her demons. But now she must face a much scarier challenge: her family. As a repeat offender of emotional injury, Robye's homecoming leads us to wonder if there is space for the sobriety of forgiveness.
 

Little Cabbage

directed by Jen West
USA, 2015, English, 10:00
An eccentric composer in the 1950's is given a magical instrument that distorts her relationships.
 

My Big Brother

directed by Jayson Rayner
USA, 2014, English, 2:23
The reflections of a boy sharing a room and a childhood with his twenty-foot tall brother.
 

New Radiant

directed by Anna Spence
USA, 2014, English, 7:06
New Radiant is an experimental moving image piece which combines movement, composition and sound together to elicit an experience that rediscovers the ghost of technologies past. This piece blends video production machinery spanning 25 years to create an experience that's unable to be placed to one decade of time.
 

Public Enemy #1

directed by Anthony McHie
USA, 2015, English, 9:33
When two bumbling cops take off in pursuit of their vaguely described suspect, they uncover a conspiracy that points all the way to the white house.
 

Starlight

directed by Tamarind King, Shir Wen Sun, Marisa Tontaveetong, Yu Ueda
USA, 2014, English, 3:51
A feral cat explores the bizarre landscape of the last drive-in theater in Atlanta, Georgia.
 

Thundercluck: Chicken of Thor

directed by Paul Tillery IV
USA, 2014, English, 3:14
This is the story of Thundercluck, the viking chicken with the power of thunder. The short film tells of his birth, his conquests, and his legacy.
 

The Underpants Lamb

directed by Katie Tamboer
USA, 2014, English, 4:39
Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece grew hand-made, preshrunk, pink polka dotted underpants!
 

What’s in a Name

directed by Daniel Robin
USA, 2014, English, 12:00
Daniel Robin is mistakenly booked for a flight under the name Robinowitz (which was actually his grandfather’s name). This coincidence leads him to examine his Jewish identity.