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ATLFF Alumni Spotlight: Don-Dimitri Joseph

was scrambling from the Plaza Theatre to the Tara Theatre and all the parties and hangouts in between. And every time I saw Don, he threw me a grin and asked if it was a good time to talk. I told him to give me a beat, and I would as soon as possible. Finally, when the tides went in a bit, I finally did something I should have done sooner but was glad I waited to give it the proper time he deserved, and I spoke with the Director, Producer, and star of the ATLFF’24 Episodic Short, Last Option.

Don-Dimitri Joseph gets it. I don’t remember when I met him. Truthfully, my memory of the ATLFF’24 is a blur. But I’m fairly sure it was the first night. I was stalking. My eyes were staring at the badges hanging around everyone’s neck. Looking specifically for one’s reading “Filmmaker.”

The ATLFF Marketing Team, which I’m a proud member of, had a mission: Find filmmakers and talk to them about their film on camera. And when I met a fella named Don, I don’t even think I finished my question before Don replied, “Absolutely!”

Now, despite not remembering when I met Don, I do remember not being able to conduct the interview at that moment. So I told him I would catch up with him. He flashed that smile that graced movie and television screens worldwide, and we parted ways.

For the next few days, I was scrambling from the Plaza Theatre to the Tara Theatre and all the parties and hangouts in between. And every time I saw Don, he threw me a grin and asked if it was a good time to talk. I told him to give me a beat, and I would as soon as possible. Finally, when the tides went in a bit, I finally did something I should have done sooner, but was glad I waited to give it the proper time he deserved. I spoke with the Director, Producer, and star of the ATLFF’24 Episodic Short, Last Option.

Fast-forward to a couple of weeks ago. The Marketing Team had a new mission: Talk to ATLFF alums and find out what they were up to.

I knew who I needed to talk to. Here is a transcript from my interview with Don-Dimitri Joseph. It happened the night that his latest acting release, the Apple TV show…Well, you’ll see.

Keith Hannigan

Hi, everybody. I am Keith Hannigan, the Community Engagement Lead for the Atlanta Film Society and the Atlanta Film Festival. Tonight, I have the privilege and honor of speaking with Atlanta Film Festival 24 #ATLFF24 alum Don-Dimitri Joseph, whose film Last Option was shown during our Episodic Showcase at this year's festival. Don. Welcome. Thank you for your time.

Don-Dimitri Joseph

No, thank you. Thank you for having me, bro.

It's an absolute pleasure. I loved your film. It was great. Or I'm sorry. I loved your pilot. And you tell me now, Don, you're an actor, producer and director.

DDJ

Yes. Yes. I am an actor, producer, and Director. I started off as an actor and then transitioned into producing because we were like others who made our own projects. After that, it was my first foray into directing last year.

Okay. Well, we'll talk about your acting quickly because, folks, tonight at midnight, something huge is happening for Don. Don, I give it to you.

DDJ

Yeah. Lady in the Lake comes out on Apple TV, directed by Alma Har’el. She is a visionary director. She directed Honey Boy as a feature, and this is her first foray into showwriting a TV show. She's, you know, phenomenal working with on set. I play a character named Johnny in the first two episodes. Byron Bowers who plays Slappy Johnson, his crew. And we had a really good time on set in our first episode. A lot of it was just doing a lot of improv, which was interesting and fun. The second episode was just us having a good time together. Yeah.

Well, Don, you didn't mention the star of the show.

DDJ

Natalie Portman.

An Academy Award-winning actress. Natalie Portman, correct?

DDJ

Yes. Yes.

Did you have any scenes with her?

DDJ

I didn't have any scenes with her, but I had scenes with Moses Ingram, and she's a phenomenal actress.

Now, I did some extensive research on you, which means I went to your IMDB page. You've acted in 32 pieces, correct?

DDJ

I mean, I don't remember the number.

It’s 32, trust me, I counted. What was the most popular thing you've done?

DDJ

Probably Lady in the Lake, the one that's coming out now. I mean, I've done Gotham Knights, Gotham Knights was pretty cool. Opposite Misha (Collins) from Supernatural. That was a great little time. And then, yeah, I'm not sure, really. I guess BMF. People are familiar with that show. I was in an episode, and it was fun as well. But also, at the same time, the projects that we've made, you know, I love those projects, and those are some of my most favorite projects that I've ever done.

Well, that's a beautiful segue, my friend, because we'll discuss Last Option. I love it. My wife loved it. You not only acted in it, you not only produced it, but you also directed it. Now, tell me what that was like.

DDJ

Yeah. It's so awesome when you get to make projects with your friends. My friend, A.J. Fitzgerald, wrote the script. We've known each other for close to a decade, and we've been making movies for close to that amount of time together. And I remember there was a movie I was able to be a part of. He got inspired, and we knew that we wanted to make a fun movie. And he wrote Last Option in 15 minutes. He had the script written down in 15 minutes! The guy is brilliant to me. I always say he has a brilliant mind, and I just love working with him. And even more than that, I love our friendship. The funny thing with this project (Last Option) is that he wrote it years ago. I want to say about like 2018, 2019 around that time. But we basically shelved it because we were working on other stuff. And then we were like, yo, we're going to shoot a project that I ended up writing, which was Bonnie. It's like a project about a foster care kid, and I was trying to raise money for that, but the money didn’t come through because I actually ended up booking Lady in the Lake. So, I had to fly out to Baltimore, and the traction for the money that I was raising fell apart. So we're like,” What can we do for a little bit of money and that we can just, you know, make it happen?” And we brought up Last Option. We shot that for $1200 in three days.

And yeah, we were able to put that together in a fun way. We brought together some of our friends, Candice Marie Singleton. I have been friends with her for close to a decade, and she moved up here to Atlanta from Miami. And that's where we all met. And it's just been awesome. Just, you know, making projects with your friends and the friendships that we're able to build on set, too.

And like with my DP Cam Nails, he is going to be DP for the next project that I'm shooting next month, which is called Heart To See. It is just beautiful to see how we can enjoy these working relationships and friendships. You know what I mean? I think it's always fun when you get to work with people who bring their A-game, but are also excellent at what they do.

I do. And I'm glad you brought up Heart To See. We’ll get to that shortly because my friend here is doing a crowdfunding campaign on Seed & Spark. I want you to donate to his film because he's a brilliant filmmaker. And for those who haven't seen Last Option, well, what is it about?

DDJ

Yeah, it's about a guy named Daniel who can see into the future, and he uses those abilities to commit burglaries. It’s a sci-fi buddy comedy. It's an adventure film, you know. It's a film that wanted to tackle the platonic relationship between him (Daniel) and the lead, Josie. Josie’s like this eccentric homeless person, and she's breaking into the same house he's breaking into.

But it's a fun project, and we're looking to expand it. We're trying to shop around and get the funds to make that project as well.

DDJ

Well, I have to ask you. I mean, I work for the Atlanta Film Festival. So what did you think? You were a part of the festival this year, and it was huge. What were your impressions?

DDJ

Yo! I love the Atlanta Film Festival! Atlanta Film Festival is the best film festival. Do you know what I mean? From the way everything was curated to the way they treated the filmmakers, to the parties, to the get-togethers, to the way every single aspect of the film festival was run, it was top-notch. The people that I was able to meet were amazing, the food was great, you know, every aspect of the film festival was phenomenal, and connecting with you was great. Do you know what I'm saying? So it was just pretty cool meeting great people throughout the festival from day one to literally the end and even at the launch party. The Launch Party was phenomenal. You know? So I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it! The hope is that we get the actual green light for Last Option, that that would be like the premiere, you know, for us, you know what I'm saying? So, yeah.

Well, it's awesome too, because we celebrate independent film. We support and celebrate independent film. And independent filmmakers are a community. And one thing that we try to do at the festival is bring everybody together. I'm a writer, you know, I want to be around other writers. I want to be around other visionaries. I want to be around other filmmakers. We all, at one point or another, got that chill moment, that goosebumps moment while watching a film, whether we were little kids or adults or all the space in between. And sharing that common bond, whether you're an actor, a producer, a director, a writer, whatever the case may be, because they're all their folks. You go to the Atlanta Film Festival, and you're surrounded by them, like at the Launch Party, which was off the hook. It kind of took us back. My God, this is way bigger than we thought it would be. But it was awesome, too, because it was just like, wow! This is really showing you that the independent film industry is just bursting at the seams with these amazingly talented, gifted, passionate, and driven folks such as you.

So I say that to ask you something. What was it that grabbed you? What film just grabbed you, whether you were an eight-year-old at the theater or watching a TV show, and you were like, my God, I need to do this?

DDJ

You know, I think it's interesting, right? Because it's like growing up, I wasn't necessarily ever thinking that I'd ever be in this industry, I'd ever be in this world of filmmaking. But I remember there was one time, even as a kid, just watching Blade, I was like, wow! A black man is on screen as a vampire. That's pretty cool, you know? And I was really young just seeing it and just enjoying it. And then fast forward to seeing all the different films such as Remember the Titans and, you know, seeing these performances that were just so alive and rich was just like, wow, this is pretty cool. And then there was one day I was in middle school. I was getting ready for school. I looked in the mirror and wondered if I wanted to be an actor. It was just a thought, but I remember I had that one thought, and then it was just like, I don't know.

But it was later, I was in high school just doing my thing, and my guidance counselor ended up putting me in Drama 2 randomly. And my mind is just like, I've never taken a drama class in my life. And the funny thing is, literally, we're in class, and we're doing all the exercises, and one of them, they're like lay down on the floor, close your eyes. Imagine this scene is happening. But next thing I know, I'm falling asleep, and I'm just like, yeah, this isn’t for me. So I'm not even doing the exercise. I'm just sleeping in class because I didn't really know what this was.

But later on, around my freshman year of college, my friend and I went to an audition at church, and it was for a play called Jesus of Nazareth. And he was like, do I want to audition? And I was like, sure, I guess. I really have nothing to do. And then, I went to the audition, and I got the role that I auditioned for. Ever since then, I have been doing theater, being alive in front of people, and just experiencing the project and the play and just everything with the audience. It was so powerful it created the acting bug in me and the passion to just keep going with this art of creating films and being a part of moving stories.

So that’s the first time you smoked the drug, for lack of a better phrase. I know for actors in particular, if you ask them what world they would love to live in, I think the majority of them say stage because there's such a rush that comes from performing in front of a live audience every night. So, what got you into film?

DDJ

Let's make movies, you know? Let's make our own projects. Let's shoot stories that we want to tell. Because there were times when I wanted to do plays… But at the same time, I saw the opportunity with film and TV to reach even more people with stories that can change lives.

And I feel like I'm in this world to change lives, to impact lives, to help somebody have a better day, you know? But if somebody was dealing with something and they felt bad and they came in and watched a movie that I was part of or helped make, and then their days uplifted, that right there makes me feel like, wow! That right there is amazing; you know what I'm saying?

I love that answer. I know you were saying it means so much to you to have a community. You know, a lot of people say you've got to be a part of a community. You have to start your own community, find people around you, find others, work with writers, find writers' groups, etc. I mean, if you ever see the Steven Spielberg documentary, you find out who his friends were when he was first making films, and it's like, he was friends with Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, and George Lucas.

You're like, okay, well, I saw his clique of people. How do I find my clique? How did you find your community? How do you find your clique?

DDJ

I will say Facebook.

Really, how?

DDJ

For example, AJ is one of the first people to come to mind. I met him at a church event, and we just connected there, and then we added each other on Facebook. But fast-forward one day, and I was like, “Hey, I'm setting up a writer's group. Does anybody want to join?” He responded to it, and then a couple of other people responded.

And then, from those people who responded to it, we started going to Starbucks weekly and reading up and, you know, working on different prompts and creating different short stories and scripts and all that. And then there were certain friends I also met at auditions. I met Candice at an audition. I met a friend of mine named Adebiyi at a Home Depot audition.

So, another friend, Isaac, and I met him at an audition. So, like actors, I've met at auditions. Writers, I've met at different places and Facebook, and then just knowing that, like, I feel like I'm a vision-filled person, and I have a lot of vision in terms of like, what is possible and what can be accomplished in the projects that we can tell and the stories that we can create to change people's lives.

Certain people definitely draw to it, and I'm drawn to it, and then I'm drawn to their vision as well. And I think, you know, we gravitate towards one another, and we know that we want to just make fun and impactful stories. And we're not in it to be famous or anything.

We're in it to change people's lives. We're in it to make an impact. We're in it just because we love it. There's this love for this craft. This is love for film, love for acting, love for storytelling. And I feel like I gravitate towards those people who know that they're doing this, you know, for purpose, and then are enjoying it, have fun with it.

That’s beautiful. It's funny; you made me think of the movie America Fiction. Have you seen it?

DDJ

No, no. With Jeffrey Wright?

Yeah, it's sensational. And I watched it, and as soon as I'm done watching it, I'm telling everybody, I'm telling my wife, I'm like, I will watch it again right now with you if you watch this with me. That night, I'm reading the script because you're like, I got to see how this all started.

And the reason why—and I don't know if you feel this way—is that there is no medium on Earth that gets you, moves you, speaks to you, and sings to your soul like cinematic storytelling. So, I have to ask you, since you’re attracted to visionaries, what do you see for the future of cinematic storytelling?

DDJ

Future of cinematic storytelling…

Is it shorter films? Is it in the world of TikTok, where my 17-year-old has an attention span of less than 45 seconds?

DDJ

Yeah, Yeah. No, that's a great question, man. Honestly, I think it's independent storytellers and independent filmmakers. You know, so many articles came out literally specifying how there's been a 40% drop in productions that are being made and people who have lost their jobs and now have to do other work outside of the industry because of the lack of productions being shot.

Meanwhile, independent filmmakers are rising up. I think I even saw something about Netflix saying that now they will be branching out towards independent filmmakers and considering their projects to be brought onto their platform. And I think that's a beautiful thing because, as an independent filmmaker, if I can shoot a feature film for $25,000, I will make the best movie that we can possibly make as a team.

And honestly, even with TikTok, I've seen some cool things happen. But I will say, though, I think they tried to test a three-minute service that was out for a while and shut down because people still want to go to movies. People actually enjoy a cinematic masterpiece. People want to be able to go to the cinemas. I think the future is independent filmmakers telling stories at a budget level that isn't necessarily a blockbuster, you know?

Great answer. And I want to point out something you mentioned earlier about how you found your community on Facebook. One of the classes that we offer at the Atlanta Film Society is Genre Feature Screenwriting, and we have one coming up.

Ruckus and Lane Skye, two accomplished filmmakers and screenwriters, teach the class. After you finish the class, you have a page devoted just to all the people who attended it.

Another community builder is using the Atlanta Film Society. Every third Tuesday of the month, shameless plugging right now, every third Tuesday of the month at Manuel's Tavern, we have Eat, Drink, and B-Indie, which we always have a theme for the night, but immediately thereafter words, we have about an hour for everybody to network.

And there are people like Don who go there. So whether you’re an actor, producer, director, or writer, it doesn't matter. They're all there. Anybody watching (or reading) this right now, use us. Use the Atlanta Film Society, use the Atlanta Film Festival, and let us help you achieve your dream.

At least we can put you in front of people who are like you. And speaking of people like you, I have to ask you something. Given where you are now, what would you say to you ten years ago? Would you want to speed up the process if you could give yourself a piece of advice that would possibly get you further along in the process at a faster rate?

Or would you be like, you know what, kid, take your time? You need to experience some things.

DDJ

Yeah, I definitely would allow myself to still take that time. But at the same time, experience life at a rate where you’re taking in everything around you. And I say that because I know there are moments where I wanted to learn how to play an instrument, and I didn't do it when I should have. And I think that would have benefited me. Not to say, I still can't do it, which I still can't. But I think I would have told myself, “Hey, Don, you know, yo, learn as much as you can, get better at the craft in your life that you love, but at the same time, don't necessarily let the acting be everything.”

You know what I mean? Because everything else around you helps develop the acting. And if I'm a better musician, I'll be a better actor. I can take that into the acting. I can take on a character who knows how to, you know, play the piano. La La Land is one of my favorite movies. Ryan Gosling kills it as a pianist and jazz musician. You know what I'm saying?

So, I think I just experience life and learn as much as I possibly can, enjoy every single moment, and enjoy the people around me. I lost my grandma a couple of years ago; I just wish I had spent more time with her, you know?

So spend more time with the people around you, learn from them, and hear their stories. And I think, yeah, it wouldn’t even necessarily be about the acting, but it'd be about the people that you love and the experiences that you are able to experience.

Beautiful. I was chatting with the writer, not the writer of the book Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk), but the writer of the screenplay Fight Club (Jim Uhls). And I asked what one thing in your life helped you become a better writer. And he goes, I took acting classes, and I was like, no kidding. Aaron Sorkin, who is usually everybody's screenwriting’s favorite writer, was an actor who started out as an actor. So, just be well-rounded.

But I have to ask you, whether it be a kid watching or an adult who has stories to tell, what would be a piece of advice you can give them to help them get to where you're at today?

DDJ

Don't be afraid to tell those stories. You know, I'm the type of person that I really need to make it happen. If you can implement that in your life to make it happen, that will help you get further than you would have thought. Because I think about it like this, with Last Option, that was a film that we made, but if we didn't make it, I wouldn't be in this interview with you. You know what I mean? I wouldn't be sitting here right now having this conversation with you. I wouldn't have been able to be at that film festival and have that on my resumé now, and not only for me, but every single person who worked on that film wouldn’t have had it on their resumé.

For example, I know AJ's life has benefited from being a part of that festival. The people that he's been able to meet, especially as a writer, and the connections that he's been able to make as a writer have been a blessing because we decided to make that movie. So it's like for anybody who's watching and is afraid. Hey, if you have to do it afraid, do it afraid. But know that you’re taking that first step; that's what matters.

That’s all that matters. Like the crowd watching your film, right? And speaking of crowds, let’s talk about the film you're crowdfunding for, which is Heart to See. Now, you're not playing one role because God forbid you only play one role in a film you're making or being a part of. Usually, you're wearing multiple hats. So, what roles are you playing in the film?

DDJ

I ended up writing the script, and I'll also be producing, directing, and starring in the film.

Look at you. Now, this is your first time writing.

DDJ

First official time. I'd say that we're actually getting a project out that I really put some time into writing. Yeah.

You told me something earlier. Tell everybody what you did. You kind of experimented with storytelling to get to where you are now with your TikTok, right?

DDJ

Yes. Yes. So it's very funny because it was before I wanted to test something out and build an audience. And I was like, I was seeing what was happening on TikTok, how people were, you know, just building crowds at such an audience at such a fast rate. I was like, I wonder if I could do that with the project, you know?

So I wrote a one-minute episode series. I was doing some funny videos and some creative and talking videos, encouraging videos, I ended up gaining a good amount of followers in a little bit of time. And then I just lost traction.

But then for that series, I started building a little bit too, but then the part that did suck, though, was that at the time, I didn't really know how to edit as well, so I was paying for an editor, and I was like I don't have $750 to pay for the rest of this stuff.

So, only a couple of episodes are up. I just wanted to test it out and see if I could build the audience. But at the same time, I learned how storytelling on social media platforms can go as well. And I'm proud to say I did it. You know what I'm saying? It wasn't the greatest writing. But I'm proud of the fact that I was able to do it, put myself out there, and do that.

But now, with this project, Heart to See, I believe with some of my best writing. I've grown as a writer and I've grown as an artist since then till now. And I'm just thankful that I’m doing it. I was afraid but I did it. And I'm proud of the fact that we are here now.

And a lot of people have read the script for Heart to See so far. They're really digging it. There are some things that we're still tightening up, but for the most part, it's a pretty solid story.

What is the story about?

DDJ

Iit's about this guy named Zack on his 30th birthday. And his aunt shares with his mom how he looks like his dad. So that opens up Pandora's box for him. But the only thing is he's never met his dad. And he wants he wants to meet him for the very first time before he goes blind. So it's a heartfelt family drama.

And yeah, I think it's a proof of concept for a feature as well. We have an amazing cast and crew. Markuann Smith and Christina Horn are involved in the project. Christine, she's an amazing actress. She leads Hollywood Bound Actors. She's been in BMF. So many amazing projects as well. Snowfall. She's great. When I say she's one of the best actresses I've ever seen, I'm super thankful that she decided to be a part of this.

And Markuann Smith, he's he actually created this one show called Godfather of Harlem that’s on Epix and stars Forest Whitaker. So he's part of this project, and I'm thankful that he's a part of it, too.

And we just got some really cool people because, of course, they’re Korstiaan Vandiver, Dario Harris, and the homie Corwin Tuggles. So it's just some amazing friends as well because I love working with the same people, too, you know. And people I know are going to put in great work.

Well, you have a Seed & Spark campaign going right now?

DDJ

Right now.

Where can people get more information?

DDJ

Yeah, if you go to our Instagram page, HeartToSeeFilm, and click the link in the bio, the link, and it'll take you directly to the page. On that page, you can choose whichever incentive you want, whether that be $10, so you know, $1,000, or even if you want to give $5.

But there are many incentives that you can get with the giving towards the project. And yeah, man, so we are aiming to raise this film by the end of August, and going into production next month.

Awesome. Congratulations. Thank you. Not only for being who you are, which is a hell of a man, but also for being an Atlanta Film Festival ‘24 Alumnus, for being a working actor, and for trying to inspire people via your stories. So, if they want to keep up with what you're up to, how can people follow you on your social handles?

DDJ

Yeah, thank you, bro. Don- Dimitri Joseph and that's on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X).

More than anything, I want to say thank you for your time. And before we go, we all have to say congratulations to you, by the way, on being a newly married man.

Welcome to the world of Till Death Us Party. I have one last question: Is she a fan of your work?

DDJ

She is, man. When I say she is, she's amazing. I mean, this. This woman is amazing, as is the case with Last Option. I will tell you this, she watched that movie with me at least a thousand times when I was editing, and I was like, does that sound good? Is that cut too quickly? Like, does that work? Does that flow good? Like, I just fixed the audio, can you hear the white in the background?

She literally sat and watched the whole film from beginning to end in my editing. And man, just her support. I love that woman so, so much. And yeah, I'm thankful that she chose to marry me because, man, she. She's amazingly beautiful.

Well, thank you again, my friend. I appreciate you.

DDJ

Thank you.

And for any filmmaker watching, whether it be the Atlanta Film Festival ‘24 or any years prior, and you would like to be part of this series, which we will be doing with our alums, you can email me at keith@atlantafilmfestival.com. You can check out everything we're doing at the Atlanta Film Society by going to atlfs.org. And, of course, the 49th Atlanta Film Festival is coming next April.

You can check that out on atlantafilmfestival.com. On those pages, you'll find all of our social handles if you want to follow us, see what's going on, and see what classes we're offering. As I mentioned, we have these free networking events every month, EDBI. I really suggest people, you go to them. You'll not only learn things, but you'll meet people.

Wonderful people like my friend. So again, thank you. And take care, everyone.

So, what does Don-Dimitri Joseph “get”? I’ll pull this quote for you again:

“We're in it to change people's lives. We're in it to make an impact.”

He gets why he’s doing what he’s doing. He gets that it’s not about him; it’s about the people who come and spend their money and, more importantly, their time watching him do what he does. It’s about making them think, laugh, cry, whatever takes their minds off their bills, their kids' grades, the job they hate… He gets it.

And he gets that he’s not done, not by damn sight.

Written by Keith Hannigan

Laura Williamson 6/17/24 Laura Williamson 6/17/24

Moonshine Post Finishing Grant Unveiled at Atlanta Film Festival 2024: Empowering Georgia's Independent Filmmakers

Moonshine Post Production, in collaboration with the Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF), is proud to announce its latest initiative: the Moonshine Post Finishing Grants.

In an industry that has navigated a global pandemic, followed by industry strikes, Moonshine Post and its partners are dedicated to empowering filmmakers and supporting their creative endeavors. The Moonshine Post Finishing Grants provide crucial assistance to filmmakers, enabling them to bring their visions to life.

Atlanta, GA — Tuesday, May 14, 2024 — Moonshine Post Production, in collaboration with the Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF), is proud to announce its latest initiative: the Moonshine Post Finishing Grants.

The 2024 Post Finishing Grants were awarded to the Best Georgia Short and Best Georgia Feature at the 2024 Atlanta Film Festival. The grants are intended to provide color finishing for independent filmmakers that go through the Atlanta FIlm Festival official lineup. The first grant, valued at $4,000, will be awarded to a filmmaker who requires finishing for their short film; the second grant, valued at $25,000. The filmmakers who were awarded these grants were selected by the Atlanta Film Festival.

Past recipients of the grant, such as Kayla Johnson, 2022 ATLFF official filmmaker of the short, “I Am Jalaiah”, have praised Moonshine Post for its professionalism and dedication to nurturing emerging talents. Through initiatives like the Finishing Grant, Moonshine Post continues to uphold its commitment to fostering a vibrant and inclusive film community in Georgia.

Jenna Kanell and Raymond Wood (who won Best Georgia Feature for their film “Faceless After Dark”), along with Julio Palacio (who won Best Georgia Short for their film “Makayla’s Voice”) were awarded the grants on May 5, 2024 during the Atlanta Film Festival’s Filmmakers’ Brunch.

“Receiving the Georgia Film Award at the Atlanta Film Festival — an event I’ve been attending as an avid cinephile for nearly 20 years now — along with this Finishing Grant from Moonshine Post — another organization I’ve admired since (literally) day one — is an incredible honor, and one that I do not take lightly given the many talented filmmakers in the Southeast who are equally deserving of this level of support. As someone devoted to promoting inclusivity and equity both on-screen and off, I know that grants like these are crucial to helping us tell the kinds of stories that need to be told, and we are endlessly grateful for Moonshine’s continued support of homegrown, grassroots, independent filmmaking,” recent finishing grant winner, Raymond Wood, said.

Drew Sawyer, founder and Managing Partner of Moonshine Post, emphasizes the importance of community support in nurturing Georgia's creative economy. "I wouldn’t be here if my mentors and colleagues didn’t pay it forward," Sawyer said, highlighting the collaborative spirit that defines Georgia's film industry.

Christopher Escobar, Executive Director of Atlanta Film Society and ATLFF, echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the role of grassroots initiatives in nurturing local talent. Through year-round programming and events like the Atlanta Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Society serves as a cornerstone of Georgia's filmmaking community.

The unveiling of the Moonshine Post Finishing Grant at the 2024 Atlanta Film Festival exemplifies Atlanta’s commitment to supporting its filmmakers and fostering a thriving creative ecosystem. As Georgia continues to dance through challenges, Moonshine Post remains dedicated to pouring back into the community and supporting the next generation of Georgia filmmakers.

For more information about the Moonshine Post Finishing Grant and other initiatives, please contact Brooke Sonenreich, Events and Education Director at Moonshine Post.

Media Contact:

Brooke Sonenreich

brooke@moonshinepost.com

(305) 298-5785

About Moonshine Post Production

Moonshine Post Production is a leading post-production company based in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to providing high-quality services to filmmakers of all backgrounds. With a commitment to nurturing local talent and fostering a vibrant creative community, Moonshine Post is proud to support the next generation of Georgia filmmakers.

About Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF)

The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is one of the largest and longest-running film festivals in the United States, celebrating the best in independent cinema from around the world. Founded in 1976, ATLFF showcases a diverse range of films and hosts industry events, workshops, and networking opportunities for filmmakers and enthusiasts alike.

Laura Williamson 5/18/24 Laura Williamson 5/18/24

ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL + CREATIVE CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES 2024 AWARD WINNERS AND EVENT RESULTS

The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference (ATLFF) is proud to announce the award winners for the 2024 festival, which took place from Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024.

ATLANTA, GA (May 17, 2024) — The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference (ATLFF) is proud to announce the award winners for the 2024 festival, which took place from Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024.
Today’s announcement recognizes filmmakers in 15 categories for their achievements and cinematic excellence. Winners of the Narrative Short, Animated Short and Documentary Short Jury Awards not only proudly took home their awards, but now also qualify for the 2024 Academy Awards®. Now in its fifth decade, ATLFF is one of only a handful of film festivals worldwide that is Academy Award-qualifying in all three categories (live-action short, animation short, and documentary short subject).

Most award winners were chosen by distinguished jurors from all backgrounds across the film industry. The Audience Awards were determined by in-person attendees.

This year, Michael Showalter, director of “The Idea of You” was presented with the Rebel Award. The Rebel Award honors someone who has shunned the typical industry expectations and paved their own path, in defiance of both norms and naysayers. This award is inspired by Atlantans who haven’t been afraid to break the mold, speak out and create change.

Additionally, Bill Duke, Director of “DEEP COVER” was honored with the Ossie Davis Award for Innovation in Filmmaking. Named in honor of one of Georgia’s most beloved and distinctive film talents, this award recognizes creative excellence and dynamic contributions to the art of cinema while also promoting human dignity and social justice.

With 118 countries represented in the selections, more than 24% of films had ties to Georgia filmmakers. The 142 total creative works from submissions featured diverse filmmakers who continue to uplift voices and stories from around the world. Of the selections, 49% are directed by filmmakers who identify as female or non-binary, and 59% are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). Eleven Marquee screenings combined Hollywood star power with the best of independent film.

Continuing with a hybrid model of in-person screenings and digital screenings, the 2024 event drew in over 20,000 total attendees. Over 16,000 people attended 153 screenings, panels, and events held primarily at The Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre with select events at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Fox Theatre and Fulton County Airport in addition to a variety of restaurants and bars across the city, during the 11-day festival. An additional nearly 4,000 people streamed screenings from ATLFF’s virtual catalog of 142 films and 13 virtual Creative Conference workshops, panels, or Masterclasses.

With over a dozen of the in-person screenings selling out, the virtual presentation of the film catalog also proved to be a success. More than three months’ worth of content was streamed during the festival, with viewers in 32 U.S. states, and 10 countries across four inhabited continents.

A full list of jury members with brief biographies is included below, as well as film information for all award winners and honorable mentions.

The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference took place from April 25 - May 5, 2024. ATLFF is currently accepting submissions for the 49th annual festival, which is confirmed to take place April 24 - May 4, 2025.

More information can be found at https://www.atlantafilmfestival.com/submit.

2024 ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS

SPECIAL AWARDS

The Rebel Award:

Presented ToWinner: Michael Showalter, Director of “The Idea of You”

Ossie Davis Award for Innovation in Filmmaking:

Presented ToWinner: Bill Duke, Director of “DEEP COVER”

JURY AWARDS

Best Documentary Feature:

Special Mention: HAPPY CAMPERS, dir. Amy Nicholson

Winner: AMAKKI, dir. Célia Bousebaa

Best Narrative Feature:

Jury Special Mention: ATIKAMEKW SUNS, dir. Chloe Leriche

Winner: THE BATTLE, dir. Vera Egito

Best Animated Short:

Winner: THE SUN IS BAD, dir. Rachel Mow

Best Documentary Short:

Winner: GOODBYE MORGANZA, dir. Devon Blackwell

Best Narrative Short:

Jury Special Mentions:

ONE HAPPY CUSTOMER, dir. WATTS (Jenna & Tripp Watt)

MR. BOLD, dir. Aiman Mimiko

Winner: SHUT UP AND FISH, dir. Raul Sanchez & Pasqual Gutierrez

Best Cinematography (Presented by Panavision and Light Iron):

Jury Special Mention: THE BATTLE, Cinematographer - William Etchebehere, dir. Vera Egito

Winner: ATIKAMEKW SUNS, Cinematographer - Glauco Bermudez, dir. Chloe Leriche

Georgia Feature Film Award:

Winner: FACELESS AFTER DARK, dir. Raymond Wood

Georgia Short Film Award:

Jury Special Mentions:

DEFINITELY NOT A MONSTER, dir. Brea Cola Angelo

PRELUDE OF A STORY, dir. Ashley Salman

Winner: MAKAYLA’S VOICE, dir. Julio Palacio

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Feature Audience Award:

Winner: THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY, dir. Tyson Horne, Ryon Horne

Short Audience Award:

Winner: MAKAYLA’S VOICE, dir. Julio Palacio

SCREENPLAY COMPETITION

Feature Screenplay:

Feature Screenplay Winners: “Belonging” by Liz Fields, “HEARTRACE” by Will Bermender, and “Lo & Em” by Claire Audrey Aguayo

Pilot Screenplay:

Pilot Screenplay Winner: “Gallatin” by Ryan Skinner

Short Screenplay:

Short Screenplay Winner: “Handle With Care” by Allison Orr Block

JURORS

Narrative Feature Jury:

Jessica Chriesman, Director of Education - Sidewalk Film Festival

Jessica Chriesman is an award-winning filmmaker based in Birmingham, Alabama. She has worked as a director, producer, researcher, and/or cinematographer on projects for Twin Cities Public TV, Southern Foodways Alliance, Vox Creative, Alabama Public Television, Dirty Robber and more. She is the Director of Education and Outreach at Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema where she plans learning opportunities through the lens of film and media. In 2021, Jessica was named a Morgridge Acceleration Program Fellow working with the Jane Goodall Institute on their storytelling strategies. She has served as a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alabama State Council on the Arts and as a juror and programmer for film festivals across the South. Most recently, she programmed the Mississippi Made films for the 2024 Oxford Film Festival. She has led storytelling and filmmaking classes and workshops at UAB, Georgetown, and the University of Florida, and for the Jane Goodall Institute Africa Programs staff in Kigoma, Tanzania. Her films have screened across the United States and internationally.

Ryan Prows, Director, Writer

Ryan is a filmmaker, a gentleman, and a bon vivant par excellence. Or as Jason Bailey of The New York Times puts it: “Prows has a singular, gonzo energy and delirious sense of cinematic style.”

He won a Student Academy Award for NARCOCORRIDO, his thesis film at the American Film Institute, and his cult debut feature film LOWLIFE was hailed by audiences and critics alike. “The lean, brutal, surprisingly affecting package of Ryan Prows' feature debut LOWLIFE is a seriously nasty treat.” - The Hollywood Reporter.

LOWLIFE was released through IFC Midnight, and made several Best of the Year and Top Ten lists, drawing favorable comparisons to PULP FICTION and the early work of Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino himself called the film “a real stroke of genius” and praised its writing and originality. Seriously.

V/H/S/94, a recent entry in the wildly popular horror franchise, was a New York Times Critic's Pick, named on Variety's list for Best Horror Movies of 2021, and was a blockbuster hit for Shudder as the service's biggest premiere ever. TERROR, Ryan’s segment, was named the #1 V/H/S segment across the entire franchise's six film history by Dread Central. “TERROR is a playful, lo-fi lark directed with humor and visual invention by Ryan Prows.” - New York Times

Ryan resides in Inglewood, CA with his lovely wife Megan and his absolutely perfect baby Marvel.

Jermaine Johnson, Manager / Academy Award Nominated Producer - 3 Arts Entertainment

Jermaine Johnson is a manager and Academy Award-nominated producer at the Beverly Hills-based 3 Arts Entertainment. Originally from New Jersey, he graduated from Rutgers and has spent over ten years building an impressive client roster in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago (and is currently spearheading 3 Art’s expansion into Atlanta). He was featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s 35 Under 35 Next Gen 2020. Jermaine was an Executive Producer on the Image Award-nominated series FROM SCRATCH, currently streaming on Netflix, and is a Producer on Cord Jefferson's TIFF Audience Award winner and Academy Award-nominated film AMERICAN FICTION starring Jeffrey Wright.

Jermaine represents a wide variety of writers, directors, journalists, and comedians from many different backgrounds. Amongst these clients are Attica Locke (FROM SCRATCH, LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE, award-winning author of BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD), Azie Dungey (UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT, SWEETBITTER, TWENTIES), Cord Jefferson (Academy Award Winner for AMERICAN FICTION, Emmy award winner for WATCHMEN, SUCCESSION, THE GOOD PLACE), Julia Bicknell (YELLOWJACKETS, THE HAUNTING, 13 REASONS WHY), Justin Hillian (THE CHI, SNOWFALL), Jia Tolentino (TRICK MIRROR), Leann Bowen (WGA and Emmy winner for TED LASSO) and more. He prides himself on finding fresh voices in places where others don’t often look and giving them a platform to share their unique points of view and opinions.

Documentary Feature Jury:

Alexandra Fredricks, Non-Theatrical Distribution & International Sales

Enthusiastic about functioning as a bridge between creators, industry, and audiences — Alexandra Fredricks handles Non-Theatrical Distribution and International Sales at Oscilloscope Laboratories, a Brooklyn-based independent film distribution company founded in 2008 by Adam Yauch. Previously, she held the positions of Programming and Operations Senior Manager at Metrograph and Film Screening Operations Manager at the Doha Film Institute (DFI). She has over 15 years of international experience in film exhibition organizations and festivals in New York, Qatar, Canada, Australia and The Netherlands, and has served over the years on a number of Jury and Screening Committees, and as a talent liaison for New York Film Festival (NYFF).

Darcy McKinnon, Documentary Producer

Darcy McKinnon is a documentary filmmaker based in New Orleans, whose work focuses on the American South and the Caribbean. Recently released projects include A King Like Me and Roleplay, premiering at SXSW 2024, Commuted (PBS, 2024), Algiers, America (Hulu, 2023), Under G-d (Sundance 2023), Look at Me! XXXTENTACION (SXSW, Hulu, 2022) and The Neutral Ground (Tribeca, POV, 2021), recipient of LEH Documentary of the Year 2022. Current projects in production include Jason Fitzroy Jeffers’ The First Plantation, A King Like Me, Abe Felix’s Turnaround, CJ Hunt’s Unlearned and Suzannah Herbert’s Natchez. Her work has been on POV, Reel South, LPB, Cinemax and Hulu, and has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, CPH:DOX and more. Darcy is an alum of the Impact Partners Producing Fellowship and the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellowship, and a recipient of American Documentary’s Creative Visionary Award in 2023.

Larisa Apan, Programming Director

Larisa Apan is the Director of Programming for Montclair Film + The Clairidge. Originally from Romania, she currently resides in New York where she has been involved in the film industry for over a decade, including positions as a Senior Programmer for Hamptons International Film Festival and Sarasota Film Festival. Prior to that she worked on several award-winning shorts that screened internationally at festivals, including: Tribeca, TIFF, Austin, and SXSW. For several years she worked with Academy Award®-winning documentarian Murray Lerner, helping to manage his production company as well as overseeing the digitization of his archive for the Library of Congress. She has also collaborated with both Hamptons International Film Festival and I.F.P. (now Gotham) to select the screenplays for the HIFF Screenwriters’ Lab and I.F.P.’s Emerging Storytellers Lab.

Narrative Short Jury:

Adesola Thomas, Filmmaker, Festival Programmer, East Coast Producer at Letterboxd

Summer of 2023, Adesola wrote and directed Ola Ola (9 min), a comedy short about a surprise reunion between two queer Nigerian cousins that’s been distributed by indie-streamer, No Budge and screened by Millenium Film, Southern Fried Queer Pride, and Deeper Than Movies in London. Adesola is a 2024 Bleecker Street BIPOC Mentorship Fellow, a 2024 Sundance Press Inclusion Initiative Fellow, and a proud member of the New York Script Supervisors network. She enjoys 1st AD’ing music videos, dancing at parties, and swimming with friends.

Jen Lynch, Director/Writer

Jen Lynch has been writing and directing film and television for more than two decades. Features, Boxing Helena, Surveillance and Chained, garnered attention and awards both in the States ans Europe. Jen has directed television for 15 years and is thrilled by it. From multiple episodes of the Walking Dead to four episodes of MONSTER: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Jen plays with dark notes. In multiple other shows, 911, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, American Horror Story, (seasons 6-12) she has been able to explore comedy and drama, while enjoying the world of stunts and visual effects. Jen authored a novel, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, for the series Twin Peaks, and In the documentary DESPITE THE GODS Jen’s struggle to make and ultimately lose a film in India is chronicled. Jen is 56 this April, and considers her daughter, Sydney Lynch, to be her finest production to date.

Documentary Short Jury:

Adam Harris Engelhard, Head of Production, Buffalo 8 | Producer

Adam Harris Engelhard is a film producer & former literary manager with over 10 years of industry experience. Starting his career at ICM Partners, Adam worked in the MP Talent department where he cut his teeth in film packaging. From there he worked for Academy Award winning producer Dan Jinks at CBS Studios. In 2016 Adam founded Mailroom Entertainment where he managed a roster of 15 budding writers and directors. He graduated from The University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and Business Administration. Currently he serves as the Head of Production for Buffalo 8.

Alexandra Kern, Filmmaker

She has produced commercial and independent acclaimed projects for artists such as Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, and Kendrick Lamar. Her directorial debut, the short documentary Wild Magnolias, is currently on its festival circuit having screened at Oscar-qualifying festivals. The short was honored by a special screening at the New Orleans Jazz Museum where it was offered a permanent stay in their historical archive. The film premiered online on Short of the Week and is also available on Aeon Magazine.

Matthew Hashiguchi, Documentary Filmmaker and Associate Professor

Matthew Hashiguchi is a documentary filmmaker and Associate Professor in Multimedia & Film Production at Georgia Southern University. His most recent documentary, THE ONLY DOCTOR, had its world premiere at the 2023 Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival and was broadcast nationally on PBS Reel South. His previous documentary feature, GOOD LUCK SOUP, had a national broadcast on PBS World’s America ReFramed, and received a 2016 Documentary Fund Award from the Center for Asian American Media and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He is a recipient of a 2019 Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund Award, a 2021 American Stories Documentary Fund from Points North Institute and CNN Films, and successfully installed an irrigation system in his backyard.

Animated Short Jury:

Lisa Ferrell, Filmmaker/Educator

Lisa Ferrell is a seasoned production professional whose background encompasses television series and film development and production/post production for television, film and digital content.

Lisa began her career as a Development Assistant in an Atlanta-based studio with a First Look Deal with a major network. She has gone on to has serve as Executive Producer for several of Atlanta’s foremost post production, motion capture and VFX facilities, including the Toronto-based SPIN VFX, and has helped create creative for some of the foremost advertising agencies and brands in the world. Most recently, Lisa worked with animation firm SLOTHIQUE as a Producer for the animated film MINE, which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival.

She has also worked in series and tele-film development for such companies as CBS, Lifetime Television/Hearst Entertainment, NBC and TBS. While at motion capture studio Giant Studios/Profile, she was involved in the post production of films that include New Line Cinema’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and Sony Imageworks animated holiday feature “Polar Express” directed by Robert Zemekis and starring Tom Hanks. She was also instrumental in creating the pilot episode for the long-running “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” series for TBS.

Lisa is a former President of the Georgia Production Partnership, serves on the Board of Directors for Film Impact Georgia and reimagineATL, is the Director of Education for the Milledgeville Eatonton Film Festival and serves on the Advisory Board of ASIFA South.

She is currently a Professor of Practice for Georgia State University’s Creative Media Industries Institute focusing on emerging technology.

Tiffany Kowalewicz, Production Manager

I have always loved art and animation and knew I wanted to be apart of that industry. I have worked in Production Management on film and television for the past decade or so. I studied at Savannah College of Art and Design where I received my BFA in Animation. Since then I have worked on multiple animation projects, working at multiples studios over the years including Laika, Blue Sky Studios and 9 Story Media Group. It’s always a wonderful experience to be apart of an animation project especially when you have such a passion for the artistry.

Marcus Rosentrater, Producer

Marcus Rosentrater is a two-time Emmy award nominated producer, director, editor, and animator with two decades of experience working in the film and television industries. For Floyd County Productions he has produced four seasons of “Archer” (FX Networks), two seasons of “Marvel’s Hit-Monkey” (Hulu), along with a number of pilots.

As an independent filmmaker he has produced and directed a feature film and directed, edited or produced over a dozen short films. Marcus’s versatility as a producer extends from development, to delivery, to launch. He is involved in the early stages of production, working with writers and writers’ rooms to dial in character, story, and make suggestions that will help production. Whether it be on set, in a studio setting, or in the voiceover booth, he has directed performances of the principal cast.

With experience producing live action and animation, Marcus has overseen projects with a variety of scope from those with multi-year schedules, international teams, crews in the 100s, and budgets in the millions; down to zero budget films based completely off found footage, and just about everything in between. These projects have brought a wide range of post-production experience from delivering to network television, streaming services, VOD, major festivals, and direct distribution online.

Through all this he is no stranger to navigating the terrain between the ambitions of various directors, show runners, and writers and the realities posed by production, network requirements, talent availability, etc. This hard work has earned Marcus numerous awards, including an Emmy win as the Animation Director of “Archer”, as well as an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Animated Program” as a producer.

Georgia Shorts Jury:

Benjamin Wiessner, Producer, Vanishing Angle

Benjamin Wiessner is a producer and VP of Sales & Distribution at Vanishing Angle. He was named to Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Indie Film in 2012 as part of ornana films, where he began producing and distributing shorts and features with partners across the world. He has produced short films in both hand-drawn animation and live action, with awards at festivals including SxSw and Sundance. He has also worked on numerous features with premieres at Sundance, Berlinale, SXSW, Cannes, and Tribeca, including producing and self-distributing THUNDER ROAD (SxSw 2018 Grand Jury Prize). He consults, mentors, and consoles numerous early career filmmakers. Raised by educators, he frequently speaks about filmmaking, distribution, and film marketing at film schools, festivals, and conferences from Cannes to Kazakhstan. In 2018, he co-founded the Short to Feature Filmmaking Lab and in 2020 he helped launch the Vanishing Angle Post Grant for short filmmakers.

Deborah Riley Draper, Writer and Director

Her debut film Versailles ‘73: American Runway Revolution opened New York Fashion Week and Toronto Fashion Week in 2012, then debuted on LOGO TV. Versailles ‘73 is the first intimate look at the infamous Palace of Versailles fundraiser, which gave birth to American Prêt-à-Porter, led by Black models. The film won the HBO Best Documentary at the MVAAFF. Draper also directed the award-winning documentary Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in 2021 and the short documentary OnBoard: The Story of Black Women on Boards, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Festival.

Vivian Bang, Actor, Writer, Producer, Filmmaker

Vivian Bang is most recently in New Line’s Feature: “THE PARENTING” alongside stellar ensemble cast including: Parker Posey, Brian Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Edie Falco, Brandon Flynn for HBO coming soon. She is the Co-Creator, Producer & Lead of the feature film: “WHITE RABBIT” which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2018 and distributed by Gravitas. She played Jenny in Netflix’s hit rom-com “ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE” with Ali Wong, Randall Park & Keanu Reeves. She was a series regular for 3 seasons on Warner Bros/ TBS sit-com: “SULLIVAN & SON” as well as played ‘Sun’, a Private Detective opposite Peter Stormare & Keanu Reeves on PopTV & Viaplay series: “SWEDISH DICKS” for 2 Seasons. Her acting credits include episode of HBO’s “ROOM 104”, Apple TV’s reboot of “Amazing Stories”. Bang also recurred on ABC’s: “BETTER OFF TED” as well as guested on numerous TV series: “GET SHORTY”, “FAMOUS IN LOVE”, “ATOZ”, “KATH&KIM”, “NUMB3RS,” “MONK”, “BECKER”, “HOUSE” “HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER”, "SEX & THE CITY". Other earlier works are “YES MAN” with Jim Carrey, “LITTLE BLACK BOOK”, Hal Hartley's “HENRY FOOL”, and the Oscar nominated short “OUR TIME IS UP.”

NYU Tisch Graduate, Vivian Bang was original member of New York’s performance troupe: BIG ART GROUP & performed in renown art institutions and toured internationally with “SHELF-LIFE” & “FLICKER” including: Festival d’Automne à Paris, P.S. 122 (NY), The Walker Arts Center (Minneapolis), The Wexner Center (Columbus), Pan Pan Theatre Symposium (Dublin), Fresh Terrain/UT (Austin), The Warhol Museum (Pittsburg),Künstlerhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt), Kaiitheatre (Brussels), Sommerszene (Salzburg).

Since moving to Atlanta over a year ago, she has started a performance group at the Plaza Theater called Performance Jam that has been used as development incubator for short films and have had performances all over Atlanta.

Georgia Feature Jury:

Chris Poche, Filmmaker

Chris Poché is a screenwriter with a hand in writing over twenty films for Paramount, Dreamworks, Sony, Fox/New Regency, and others, including work on Kung Fu Panda, Charlotte's Web, and Smallfoot. He also recently wrote and directed an indie feature, The True Don Quixote, starring Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen, Oh Brother Where Art Thou?) and Jacob Batalon (Spiderman: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War), which opened in 2019 and is now available on major streaming services. A reformed architect, he stubbornly lives in New Orleans with his wife and three boys.

Genevieve LeDoux, Creative Producer

Genevieve LeDoux left her position as Vice President of a nationally and internationally known architectural firm fifteen years ago when she was recruited by a former executive of Warner Brothers. Since then she has developed and creative produced children's content overseeing original concepts through completion as well as rebranding, and redeveloping well loved intellectual properties. She was an integral part of the creative development team on some of the most popular and successful children's television series in the world including Hasbro Studios', MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, GI JOE, Wildbrain's YO GABBA GABBA and Mattel's BARBIE and MONSTER HIGH. She was also one of the main development creators on the updated content for Kids II's BABY EINSTEIN pre-school series overseeing the entire three years of development and production. Most recently, she produced and directed a mini-pilot with her husband for the creators of the legendary purple dinosaur Barney.

Genevieve helped create and structure dozens of children's TV series from the ground up and was part of the original creative team and the main producer for Amazon's first preschool series, TUMBLE LEAF. The celebrated series earned numerous awards including BAFTA, ANNECY JURY AWARD, 3 ANNIE awards and 14 EMMY awards. She received the EMMY for Best Children's TV Series.

A founding board member of Georgia Film Impact, Genevieve lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two boys. She continues to work regularly as a creative consultant to guide companies and individuals in developing and producing fun, smart, and quality entertainment for kids and families. Together with her talented partner, VFX supervisor husband, Chris

LeDoux (Owner of Crafty Apes VFX), numerous animators and concept artists and composers, she is developing over a dozen of her own original series and owns and manages her own production company, Silver Comet Productions.

LJ Simpson, Film/TV Acquisitions Executive

LJ Simpson is an Atlanta native with nearly a decade of film/TV industry experience working in content acquisitions and programming strategy. Having worked at Turner Broadcasting--across the entertainment networks (TBS, TNT, TruTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and TCM)--HBO Max, HBO, and Tubi, LJ is highly acquainted with all genres of content and distribution formats.

Cinematography Jury:

Charlie Fisk, Director/Cinematographer

Growing up an isolated queer kid in the Catskill mountains, Charlie found solace in her imagination and began storytelling at a young age. An ex-Army sergeant turned Emmy award-winning filmmaker, she won the Audience Award at the ATLFF and Best Doc at LCFF for her documentary, THE FOUNDERS. She followed that film with four award winning short films LIMERENCE, THE LICK, RIDESHARE and THE MOTH. She directed the Emmy winning web series INTERSECTION and most recently she directed network episodes for Discovery and TLC. Her talents aren't confined to the director's chair, she also co-produced and edited MARGARET MITCHELL American Rebel for PBS, the feature film MAN MADE about trans bodybuilders and the short film HOME FIELD which premiered at Tribeca. As a cinematographer she has lensed shows for Magnolia Network, Discovery, Disney, ESPN as well as several short films and a web series. As a writer, her scripts have been selected for Stowe Story lab, Southern Producers lab, Cinestory lab and garnered recognition from Screen Craft and the Austin Film Festival. Beyond her professional achievements, Charlie remains a steadfast advocate for Atlanta's independent film community, generously supporting local filmmakers and the organizations that foster its vibrant creative environment. She believes deeply in the transformative power of storytelling both in practice and in consumption and sees it as a catalyst for profound change and connection within communities.

Matt Clegg, Cinematographer

Matt Clegg is a cinematographer from Richmond, VA. His love for visual storytelling has brought him all over the world lensing films, documentaries and commercials. Over the years he has had films premiere at Sundance, Venice, Toronto, and Tribeca film festivals. When not on set he is biking, gardening, or walking in the woods.

Victoria K. Warren, Filmmaker

Victoria is a Filmmaker and Cinematographer based in Atlanta, and working on projects from small independents and documentaries, to blockbusters worldwide. She is an ATLFF alum (V/H/S, Talk Show), and excited to explore & celebrate this year's selects in cinematography.

Headshots and additional details for the 2024 Atlanta Film Festival can be found here.

Laura Williamson 4/30/24 Laura Williamson 4/30/24

ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL RED CARPET SCREENING OF “THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY”

The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference will host a red carpet Marquee presentation of “THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY” on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Pulling footage from an archive spanning the first fifty years of hip-hop as well as new interviews with Atlanta icons and genre luminaries (Killer Mike, Arrested Development, Goodie Mob, Lil Yachty, Jermaine Dupri), “THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY” tells the ongoing story of Atlanta’s undeniable impact on hip-hop.

WHAT: The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference will host a red carpet Marquee presentation of “THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY” on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Pulling footage from an archive spanning the first fifty years of hip-hop as well as new interviews with Atlanta icons and genre luminaries (Killer Mike, Arrested Development, Goodie Mob, Lil Yachty, Jermaine Dupri), “THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY” tells the ongoing story of Atlanta’s undeniable impact on hip-hop.

The screening is part of the 11-day film festival and educational conference that kicked off Thursday, April 25 and will continue through Sunday, May 5, 2024 at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre in Atlanta and virtually.

WHO: Media are invited to participate in red carpet interviews and photos immediately prior to the screening.

The Horne Brothers (Directors), Speech, Zaytoven, Jordan Victoria, Pastor Troy, Jason Orr, Dr. Courtney A. Hammonds, and Princess are expected to participate in red carpet photos and/or interviews prior to the screening.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Media Check In Opens: 6:00 PM
Carpet Opens: 6:15 PM
Screening Begins: 7:00 PM

WHERE: The Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306

MEDIA RSVP: Please contact ATLFF@ssmandl.com with your interest in covering on-site or in advance.

* * *

ABOUT ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL AND CREATIVE CONFERENCE

The Atlanta Film Festival is the annual centerpiece of educational and enriching film programming that is provided year-round by its parent organization, the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS). Now in its fifth decade, ATLFF is one of only a handful of film festivals worldwide that is Academy Award-qualifying in all three categories (live-action short, animation short, and documentary short subject). The film festival and 14th annual Creative Conference, which is the festival’s educational programming, will take place Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024 at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre in Atlanta and virtually.

This year’s lineup of 142 selected will feature diverse filmmakers who continue to uplift voices and stories from around the world, representing 118 countries with more than 24% of films with ties to Georgia filmmakers. Among the highlights of the festival are Opening and Closing Night Presentations, as well as 9 additional Marquee titles that combine Hollywood star power with the best of independent film.

The 14th annual Creative Conference, ATLFF’s popular educational programming extension, returns Tuesday April 30 - Friday May 3. The Creative Conference offers educational programming for upcoming filmmakers, festival goers, newcomers and members of the greater community alike to learn from industry experts. There are 32 in-person panels and 12 virtual panels planned during the 11-day festival.

ABOUT “THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY”

Pulling footage from an archive spanning the first fifty years of hip-hop as well as new interviews with Atlanta icons and genre luminaries (Killer Mike, Arrested Development, Goodie Mob, Lil Yachty, Jermaine Dupri), THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY tells the ongoing story of Atlanta’s undeniable impact on hip-hop.

Directed by: The Horne Brothers

Screenwriter: Ernie Suggs, DeAsia Paige, The Horne Brothers

Producer: The Horne Brothers, DeAsia Paige, Ernie Suggs

Executive Producer: Leroy Chapman, Andrew Morse

Cast: Killer Mike, Raphael Warnock, Arrested Development, Goodie Mob, Jason Orr

Cinematographer: Tyson Horne, Ryon Horne

Editor: Ryon Horne

Trailer

Schedule and tickets now available at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com

Full lineup can be found HERE.

To apply for press credentials, click HERE.

Press materials and assets, including press releases, logos, and film stills, click HERE.

Contact ATLFF@ssmandl.com for additional requests or questions.

Laura Williamson 4/25/24 Laura Williamson 4/25/24

48TH ANNUAL ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL RED CARPET SCREENING OF “POWER”

The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference will take place Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024 at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre in Atlanta and virtually.

Media are invited to attend the red carpet Marquee screening of “POWER” on Sunday, May 5, 2024.

WHAT: The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference will take place Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024 at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre in Atlanta and virtually.

Media are invited to attend the red carpet Marquee screening of “POWER” on Sunday, May 5, 2024.

About “POWER””: In the United States, police have been granted extraordinary power over our individual lives. The police determine who is suspicious and who ‘fits the description.’ They define the threats and decide how to respond. They demand obedience and carry the constant threat of violence. Thousands of these interactions play out in our cities and towns every day, according to real and perceived ideas of criminality and threats to social order—as decided by the police. Police make the abstract power of the state real.

“POWER” traces the accumulation of money, the consolidation of political power, and the nearly unrestricted bipartisan support that has created the institution of policing as we know it. The film offers a visceral and immersive journey to demonstrate how we’ve arrived at this moment in history, from the slave patrols of the 1700’s and the first publicly funded police departments of the 1800’s to the uprisings of the 1960’s and 2020’s. "POWER" premieres May 17 on Netflix.

Directed by: Yance Ford

Executive Producers: Jon Bardin, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Anya Rous

Producers: Yance Ford, Jess Devaney, Sweta Vohra and Netsanet Negussie

Starring: Wesley Lowery, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Paul Butler, Julian Go

WHO:

Director Yance Ford is expected to participate in red carpet interviews prior to the screening.

About Yance Ford: Ford is an Oscar-nominated director and producer based in New York City. His feature documentary film STRONG ISLAND premiered at Sundance in 2017 to critical acclaim winning a Special Jury Award for storytelling. The film was nominated for the Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards, where Ford made history as the first openly transgender director nominated for an Oscar. STRONG ISLAND received the Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Film, the Gotham Award for Best Documentary, and the Black Film Critics Circle Award for Best Doc; was nominated for a George Foster Peabody Award; and won for Best Direction, Best Debut, and Best Feature at the Cinema Eye Honors.

WHEN:

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Carpet Opens: 6:00PM
“POWER” Screening Begins: 6:30PM
Q&A with Yance Ford: Immediately following the screening

WHERE: The Tara Theatre | Jack Auditorium | 2345 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30324

MEDIA RSVP:

Please contact ATLFF@ssmandl.com with your interest in covering on-site or in advance.

For information on Opening and Closing Night red carpet screenings, please click here.

* * *

Schedule and tickets now available at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com

Full lineup can be found HERE.

To apply for press credentials, click HERE.

Press materials and assets, including press releases, logos, and film stills, click HERE.

Contact ATLFF@ssmandl.com for additional requests or questions.

Laura Williamson 4/25/24 Laura Williamson 4/25/24

48TH ANNUAL ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL OPENING AND CLOSING NIGHT RED CARPET PRESENTATIONS

The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference will take place Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024 at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre in Atlanta and virtually.

Media are invited to Save The Date(s) to participate in Opening Night and Closing Night red carpet screening events on Friday, April 26, 2024 and Saturday, May 4, 2024 respectively.

WHAT: The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference will take place Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024 at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre in Atlanta and virtually.

Media are invited to Save The Date(s) to participate in Opening Night and Closing Night red carpet screening events on Friday, April 26, 2024 and Saturday, May 4, 2024 respectively.

WHO & FILMS:

Opening Night Presentation of “THE IDEA OF YOU”

Director Michael Showalter is expected to participate in red carpet interviews and will receive the Atlanta Film Festival’s “The Rebel Award” in an on-stage presentation prior to the start of the film.

About: Solène, a 40-year-old single mom, begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet.

Directed by: Michael Showalter

Screenplay by: Michael Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt, Based Upon the Book by Robinne Lee Produced by: Cathy Schulman p.g.a., Gabrielle Union p.g.a., Anne Hathaway p.g.a., Robinne Lee, Eric Hayes, Michael Showalter, Jordana Mollick

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, Ella Rubin, Annie Mumolo

Closing Night Presentation of “SING SING”

Filmmaker Greg Kwedar and cast members Clarence 'Divine Eye' Maclin, John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield, Sean 'Dino' Johnson, and Jon Adrian ‘JJ’ Velazquez are expected to participate in red carpet interviews.

About: Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.

Directed by: Greg Kwedar

Executive Producers: Raúl Domingo, Michael Heimler, Michael Heimler, Larry Kalas Starring: Colman Domingo, Sean Dino Johnson, Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin, Paul Raci

WHEN:

Opening Night Presentation of “THE IDEA OF YOU”

Friday, April 26, 2024

● Red Carpet Check In Opens: 5:45PM - 6:00PM

● Red Carpet Interviews: 6:00PM - 7:00PM

● Pre-Screening Presentation of “The Rebel Award” to Michael Showalter: 7:00PM

● Screening Begins: 7:10PM

● Q&A with Writer/Director/Producer Michael Showalter: Immediately following the screening

Closing Night Presentation of “SING SING”

Saturday, May 4, 2024

● Red Carpet Check In Opens: 5:45PM - 6:00PM

● Red Carpet Interviews: 6:00PM - 7:00PM

● Screening Begins: 7:00PM

● Q&A with filmmaker and cast members: Immediately following the screening

WHERE: Both screenings will take place at The Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306

MEDIA RSVP:

Please contact ATLFF@ssmandl.com with your interest in covering on-site or in advance.

* * *

Schedule and tickets now available at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com

Full lineup can be found HERE.

To apply for press credentials, click HERE.

Press materials and assets, including press releases, logos, and film stills, click HERE.

Contact ATLFF@ssmandl.comfor additional requests or questions.

Laura Williamson 4/12/24 Laura Williamson 4/12/24

2024 ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES CREATIVE CONFERENCE PROGRAMMING FOR 48TH ANNUAL EVENT

Today, the 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) announced its lineup of Creative Conference panels, workshops, and conversations that will take place from Tuesday, April 30 - Friday, May 3, 2024. This will be the 14th year that ATLFF has curated a robust lineup of educational programming, known as the Creative Conference, as part of the annual film festival. This year, the Creative Conference will offer 32 in-person panels during the 11-day festival and 12 virtual panels post festival.

The educational workshops, panels, and conversations taking place virtually and in person from April 30 - May 3 will feature industry experts from across the country

ATLANTA, GA (April 11, 2024) — Today, the 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) announced its lineup of Creative Conference panels, workshops, and conversations that will take place from Tuesday, April 30 - Friday, May 3, 2024. This will be the 14th year that ATLFF has curated a robust lineup of educational programming, known as the Creative Conference, as part of the annual film festival. This year, the Creative Conference will offer 32 in-person panels during the 11-day festival and 12 virtual panels post festival.

The Creative Conference serves to educate, entertain, engage, and enlighten festival-goers by pulling back the curtain on film and television production. Festival filmmakers share how their projects got made, and industry professionals discuss their craft and the future of the industry. While offering a wide variety of topics, the conference spotlight is on acting, directing, and producing in Georgia.

“This year’s Creative Conference explores building community, developing homegrown projects, and supporting emerging filmmakers from development to post production.” said Linda Burns, a 30-year industry veteran and Creative Conference Director. “We’re excited to offer interactive events with Art of the Pitch and Crowdfunding to Build Independence from Emily Best at Seed&Spark, Improv: Learning to Pivot while Producing from Dad’s Garage, and the wildly popular and epic literary battle Write Club will wrap up the Creative Conference on Friday afternoon.”

Panels feature revealing conversations with some of the most admired and sought-after artists in their respective fields. Highlights include a discussion on the Art of Casting with Casting Society members Erica A. Hart (We Strangers, A Black Lady Sketch Show, That Damn Michael Che), Kate Geller (Bob Trevino Likes It, Molly and Max, Shiva Baby), and Rori Bergman (Powerbook III: Raising Kanan, Rabbit Hole, Retribution). Additionally, Production Designer Christopher Glass joins Molly Coffee, the Creative Director of Film Impact Georgia, for a 1-on-1 conversation about his career, his process, and how he gets the look that defines his projects including Ms Marvel, Amazing Stories, and The Jungle Book. SAG Actors Nelson Bonilla (Sacrifice, Ozark, Buried in Barstow), Mike Pniewski (Hightown, The Good Fight, Madam Secretary), Sharon Conley (Perimeter, NCIS: New Orleans, Rectify), Christina Kari (Law & Order: Organized Crime, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Queen Sugar), Kurt Yue (Will Trent, Haunted Mansion, General Hospital) and Donielle Hansley (Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead, BMF, Terror Lake Drive) share career advice, how they got their start, and how to build long term relationships in the industry. And panelists Nikka Duarte (Netflix’s The Liberator, Jeb Stuart’s Takeover, George RR Martin’s Night of the Cooters), and Glen Owen (Signing Day) will explore how to develop, pitch, raise funds, and sell original stories produced in Georgia.

As with the lineup of 142 selected works and Marquee screenings, the 2024 Creative Conference programming will highlight underrepresented filmmakers and stories. Panel topics will explore Animation and African Filmmaking, The Journey of Making ‘Color Book’ - Our First Feature - Sponsored by MPA, The Intersection of AI and Cinema: Innovations, Ethics, and the Future, Documentary Funding with ITVS, Cutting Edge Creativity: Voices from the Black & Queer Community, Mental Health and Parenting While Filmmaking, The Directing Challenge, and Latinas in Media among others.

All Creative Conference content, other than in-person panels, will be available for streaming worldwide during the entire 11 days of the festival. In-person panels will not be offered virtually. Festival badges are on sale now at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com or by clicking here.

The full list of programming for this year’s Creative Conference can be found below. As previously announced, ATLFF’s 2024 lineup of 142 selected works, presented in person or virtually, can be found on the festival’s website here.

Applications for press credentials for ATLFF 2024 are now open and can be submitted here. Press materials and assets, including past press releases, logos, and film stills can be found here.

2024 CREATIVE CONFERENCE LINEUP

IN-PERSON PROGRAMMING AT THE HISTORIC PLAZA THEATER

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

The Rej (Upstairs) - 11:30am - 1:00pm

Animated, Music Video, and Experimental Filmmaker Roundtable

Festival Filmmakers discuss their approach to these projects - the process, art, challenges, and joys of making these types of films.

Moderator: Director/Writer Hannah Patterson (Late to the Party)

Panelists: Texas Smith (Yes! Yes! A Thousand Times Yes!), Sebastien Abou-Chakra (VAINGLORIOUS), Anna Winter (Islets of Langerhans)

The Mike (Upstairs) - 11:30am - 1:00pm

Producing Low Budget Features

Indie producers, working in the under $1M budget range, share their struggles and tips for successfully developing, fundraising, producing, and distributing work with limited budgets.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director Linda Burns

Panelists: Luke Williams (Hold the Fort, The Murder Podcast, A Band of Rogues), Leanna Adams (Christmas with Jerks, The Worst Couple), Tim Reis (Adult Swim Yule Log, Hold The Fort, Bad Blood), Michelle Riviera (Blurred Lines), Diego Silva Acevedo (Hunting Souls)

The Lefont (Downstairs) - 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Casting Call

Join Fox 5’s Casting Call host Tess Hammock as she discusses all things casting from extra roles to guest starring, recurring, and series regular speaking parts with casting directors, an agent, and an extras casting company.

Moderator: Tess Hammock - Fox 5

Panelists: Jen Kelley and Rita Harrell - Big Picture Casting, Sam Ikhwan - People Store, and Rose Locke - Rose Locke Casting

The Rej (Upstairs) - 1:30pm - 3:00pm

The Future of Indie Film in ATL

Local filmmakers discuss the challenges of making art, paying the bills, and building the financial infrastructure in Georgia to keep indie filmmaking sustainable.

Moderator: Camilo Diaz - Producer/Writer/Director (The Old Lady & The Boxer)

Panelists: Kristina Arjona (Christmas with Jerks, Mi Casa, Max), Glen Owen (Signing Day - State Line Films), Cash Robinson (Uncle Honker, Nobody Wants to Be Here, Nobody Wants to Leave), Molly Coffee (Come Correct, Jenna Gets an Abortion, Fear Haus)

The Mike (Upstairs) - 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Post Production In The Age of AI & Remote - Sponsored by Moonshine Post-Production

Join Moonshine Post as they discuss creative approaches and techniques across the full post pipelines of feature, series and advertising. Emerging technologies and the remote landscape demand that artists and producers embrace innovation, and upskill their collaboration tool kit to maintain the craftsmanship and apprenticeship that propels our industry.

Moderator: Drew Sawyer - MPP, Co-Founder, Moonshine Post-Production

Panelists: Gennifer Allen - Social Media Strategist, Kristina Kromer - Editor, Grant Reynolds - Colorist, Chris Nicholson - Sound Mixer, Caleb Wood - Post Producer

The Lefont (Downstairs) - 3:00pm - 4:30pm

The Art of the Pitch

Founder and CEO of Seed & Spark, Emily Best, shows you how to frame and pitch your story effectively and efficiently to showcase your project in a way that grabs attention.

Moderator: Emily Best - Founder and CEO of Seed&Spark

The Rej (Upstairs) - 3:30pm - 5:00pm

At the Intersection of Race & Sexuality: Bringing Authenticity To Our Work

Exclusively featuring Black and Queer voices, this panel delves into the complexities of maintaining authenticity while working in commercial and industry spaces while navigating independent and personal projects. It explores the unique challenges and strategies for Black and Queer creatives to stay true to themselves in an industry that often demands conformity.

Moderator: Jazelle Foster - Actor, Acting Coach & Media and Marketing, Specialist

Panelists: Ava Davis - Transwoman (The Duchess of Grant Park, What is Art?, Holy Irresistable), Onyx Keesha - Producer (Fatal Attraction, For My Man, The Calling)

The Mike (Upstairs) - 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Short Filmmaker Roundtable (1 of 3)

Festival Filmmakers discuss writing and directing shorts, and how they got their projects made.

Moderator: Jonathan Banks - ATLFS Filmmaker-In-Residence (Young Kings - Best Georgia Short Film at the 2023 ATLFF)

Panelists: Neal Reddy (Barely Breathing), Dominick Cormier (Don't Wipe Your Tears), Thang Ho and Danielle Nebeliuk (The Last Black Dinosaur), Joshua C. Okwuosa (OKEM), A. Kate Espada (I Could Just Die, and That Would Be All Right)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 1ST

The Rej (Upstairs) - 11:30am - 1:00pm

Film Impact Georgia - Grant Winner Roundtable

Past grant winning short filmmakers discuss the submission process, the support the program provides, and how the grant helped push their project over the top to get made.

Moderator: Melissa Simpson - Education Director, ATLFS and ED, Film Impact Georgia

Panelists: Sabrina Saleha, Erika Miranda, Ciera Thompson, Shandrea Evans, Jeremy Thao, Andrew J. Lee, Hannah Patterson

The Mike (Upstairs) - 11:30am - 1:00pm

Podcast to Film: How Podcasting is IP Gold for Hollywood

Three screenwriters / producers from the film world discuss their success in the podcasting realm, how they got started, and how they hope to or have converted that success into a big budget deal.

Moderator: Mykal Alder June (Stones Touring Party, Too Much Information, Where Were You In ‘92?, TENDER BLOODSPORT)

Panelists: Jeff Keating (Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, PeeWee Gaskins Was Not My Friend), Dan Bush (Tomorrow’s Monsters, The Mantawauk Caves, The Passage), Nick Tecosky (13 Days of Halloween, 12 Ghosts, The Mantawauk Caves)

The Lefont (Downstairs) - 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Lenders, Investors and Other Financial Animals - Sponsored by Fieldpoint Private

Hang out with a panel of experts to explore the challenging world of film finance. Learn terminology, different ways to fund projects, what is needed for funding, and successful best practices. Panelists also discuss small business loans for anyone looking to purchase gear, vehicles or warehouse space.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director Linda Burns

Panelists: Film Finance Segment - Russell Holland - President & Chief Executive Office (Fieldpoint Private), Charles Andros - Founding Partner, President & Chief Investment Officer, Producer (Bay Point Advisors), Andrew Kotliar - Partner, Producer (MEP Capital), Deborah Moore - Freelance Film Production Executive, Producer

Personal and Small Business Bootcamp Segment - Russell Holland - President & Chief Executive Office (Fieldpoint Private), Neill Kelly - Consumer Lending Manager (Fieldpoint Private), Amanda Price - Chief Risk Manager (Fieldpoint Private), Derek Grayson - Managing Director, Banking Advisor (Fieldpoint Private)

The Rej (Upstairs) - 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Improv: Learning to Pivot while Producing

Producers constantly have to shift their plans and mindset while putting out fires and solving problems. The only sure thing on set is that something will go wrong. Improv is all about turning problems and mistakes into something wonderful if you're willing to roll with whatever is thrown at you. Members of Dad’s Garage teach you how to use improv skills to seamlessly pivot while producing.

Moderator: Jon Carr - Executive Producer, Dad’s Garage

Panelists: Kevin Gillese (How to Ruin The Holidays), Ron Emile - former Dad's Garage Artistic Director (My Spirit Told Me), Megan Dahl (Lily’s Mirror, The Arbalest)

The Mike (Upstairs) - 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Comics to Film: How Graphic Fiction Is Shaping Hollywood

Comics have taken Hollywood by storm. Panelists discuss seeing their work adapted for the screen, making the jump from the comics to the world of film and TV, the differences between the two mediums, and the challenges the writers have faced when writing a film and TV script as opposed to a comic book.

Moderator: Nathan Cabaniss - Writer and Filmmaker

Panelists: Writer Van Jensen (DC Comics + various other publishers; his debut novel Godfall was recently acquired by Ron Howard and Imagine TV); Writer / Director / Actor Paul Jenkins (comics veteran with a near forty-year career working for every major publisher, in addition to shepherding various film, TV, video game and new media initiatives); Writer Robert Venditti (longtime DC Comics writer; his indie comic The Surrogates was adapted into a Bruce Willis movie in 2009)

The Lefont (Downstairs) - 3:00pm - 4:30pm

Crowdfunding to Build Independence

Seed&Spark has the highest crowdfunding campaign success rate of any funding platform in the world. They share 100% of the information you need to build a successful campaign, as well as a career-long action plan most likely to create a lasting, flourishing, direct relationship with your audience. You’ll learn how to find and activate your audience, structure your crowdfunding campaign and pitch video, pick the right goal and incentives, and much more beyond marketing the campaign itself. Because after all, it isn’t just about crowdfunding: it’s about career building.

Moderator: Emily Best - Founder and CEO of Seed&Spark

The Rej (Upstairs) - 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Short Filmmaker Roundtable (2 of 3)

Festival Filmmakers discuss writing and directing shorts, and how they got their projects made.

Moderator: Seth Adam Wilder

Panelists: Moon Lee Ferguson (Skettel), Paras Chaudhari (the girl with the om tattoo), Jenna D’Angelo (I Didn't Mean To Say I Love You), Carlos Aviles (Rainbow Sun), Brea Angelo (DEFINITELY NOT A MONSTER), Giovanni Tortorici (Buster's Onion)

The Mike (Upstairs) - 3:30pm - 5:00pm

CineCampATL: Meet the 2023 Class of Youth Filmmakers

ATLFS CineCampATL program breaks students into small groups, and with guided instruction and collaboration, they complete a 1-5 minute film. Former students talk about the program and what they learned from the process of creating their film “Squeaky Clean”.

Moderator: Melissa Simpson - Education Director, ATLFS

Panelists: Jaira Wingfield-Green 12th grade at Druid Hills High School, Keatin Monaghan - 11th Grade at North Atlanta High School, Micah J. Gary - 12th Grade at School of the Arts at Central Gwinnett HS, Madison Hatfield - Pre-production Instructor

THURSDAY, MAY 2ND

The Rej (Upstairs) - 11:30am - 1:00pm

ATLFS Filmmaker-in-Residence Program

Learn about the Atlanta Film Society’s Filmmaker in Residence Program and meet this year’s filmmakers. Learn about the projects they hope to accomplish and how the program hopes to help them succeed.

Moderator: Melissa Simpson - Education Director, ATLFS

Panelists: Crystal Jin Kim and Jonathan Banks

The Mike (Upstairs) - 11:30am - 1:00pm

Documentary Filmmaker Roundtable (1 of 2)

Documentary Directors discuss their projects, their process for documenting their stories, and the challenges and joys of shooting documentaries.

Moderator: Jazmine Hudson - Media Industries Scholar, GSU

Panelists: Caroline Josey K (Seven Acres and a Church), Demetrius Lewis (Map to the Sirens), Lev Omelchenko (Olive)

The Lefont (Downstairs) - 12:00pm - 1:30pm

The Directing Challenge

Using the same actors, but different props, wardrobe, and back stories, see how uniquely each director in the challenge can offer you completely dissimilar versions of the same screenplay.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director Linda Burns

Panelists: Directors Janlatae’ Mullins, Lou Simon, and Carrie Schrader, Actresses Rose Bianco and Suehyla El-Attar

Screenwriter: Nick Tecosky

The Rej (Upstairs) - 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Content Creation & Filmmaking: Blurring Lines, Shaping Futures

Content creators and filmmakers, who either specialize in one field or straddle both, focus on the evolving landscape of content creation, its impact on the traditional film and television industry, and what this shift means for actors, directors, and filmmakers. They address the changing perceptions around content creation and its role in shaping the future of entertainment and storytelling.

Moderator: Jazelle Foster - Actor, Acting Coach & Media and Marketing Specialist

Panelists: Tony Talks - Content Creator, Elisee Junior St Preux - Filmmaker & Community Artist (Sour Peaches, Before We Had Insomnia, Lorikeet), Shayla Racquel - Director / Writer (Keke Palmer's KeyTV Series Heaux & Tell, The Cuzzin M Show, The Off-Brands) Raquel M R Thomas - Creator / Director / Producer /Writer (TRANSworld Atlanta, Below the Rim), Kristina Arjona - Director / Producer (Christmas with Jerks, Mi Casa, Rumspringa)

The Mike (Upstairs) - 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Documentary Filmmaker Roundtable (2 of 2)

Documentary Directors discuss their projects, their process for documenting their stories, and the challenges and joys of shooting documentaries.

Moderator: Robyn Hicks - Assistant Professor of Film & Digital Media at University of North Georgia

Panelists: Majiye Uchibeke (I Am More Dangerous Dead), Kasey L. Martin (A Synonym for Art: Rodgric J.), Ashley Salman (Prelude of a Story), Conner Hall - Editor (Citizen Sleuth)

The Lefont (Downstairs) - 3:00pm - 4:30pm

Developing Features and TV Shows in Georgia

Panelists explore how to develop, pitch, raise funds and sell original stories that will shoot in Georgia. They'll showcase projects they have in development as well as the features and TV shows they’ve successfully produced.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director Linda Burns

Panelists: Nikka Duarte (Netflix’s The Liberator, Jeb Stuart’s Takeover, George RR Martin’s Night of the Cooters), Glen Owen (Signing Day - State Line Films)

The Rej (Upstairs) - 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Latinas in Media ATL: Keeping the Conversation Moving Forward in Film & TV

Journalists, Actors, and Executives discuss how to expand representation and inclusion in the media, film and television landscape, the importance of cultural storytelling, and how to overcome typecasting.

Moderator: Daniela Cintron - Journalist, Editor, and Producer highlighting underrepresented communities

Panelists: Rose Bianco - Actress (Cobra Kai, Minx, The Sandman), Lina Ramirez Mills - Head of Commercial Department at People Store, Erik Francisco Medina - Moxie Collective, Operations and Marketing Lead, Roger Payano - Actor (Manhunt, Celia, P-Valley), Richard Perez - Director and Screenwriter (It Stays With Us)

The Mike (Upstairs) - 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Key Elements of Impact Campaigns

This interactive workshop will glean from 25 years of learning and innovation from Working Films, one of the very first organizations created to connect documentaries and social change. The session will cover key elements of impact campaigns.

Moderator: Hannah Hearn - Impact Coordinator and Fellowships Lead, Anna Lee - Director of Learning and Development

FRIDAY, MAY 3RD

The Rej (Upstairs) - 11:30am - 1:00pm

Meet the ATLFF Programmers

Come meet the ATLFF film and screenplay competition programmers to learn a little about them as fellow humans, what they love about their jobs, common mistakes filmmakers make when submitting, and what they look for when screening films and reading screenplays.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director Linda Burns

Panelists: Jon Kieran, Jennica Carmona, Astin Rocks and Melissa Simpson

The Mike (Upstairs) - 11:30am - 1:00pm

Writing Character Driven Films

Writers / Directors Lane and Ruckus Skye discuss how they develop and write story through character.

Moderators: Lane and Ruckus Skye (The Devil to Pay, Becky, Rattle the Cage)

The Lefont (Downstairs) - 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Acting for a Living

Actors with over 2 decades of experience with starring, recurring, and special guest credits will discuss where they started, how they developed their craft, and how to build relationships with directors, producers, and casting directors.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director Linda Burns

Panelists: Nelson Bonilla (Sacrifice, Ozark, Buried in Barstow), Mike Pniewski (Hightown, The Good Fight, Madam Secretary), Sharon Conley (Perimeter, NCIS: New Orleans, Rectify), Christina Kari (Law & Order: Organized Crime, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Queen Sugar), Kurt Yue (Will Trent, Haunted Mansion, General Hospital), Donielle Hansley (Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead, BMF, Terror Lake Drive)

The Rej (Upstairs) - 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Film Festival Strategy

Film festival strategy is integral to your success on the festival circuit. From choosing which larger, local, and smaller festivals to apply to, to researching what those festivals have played before, from marketing your screening when not traveling to the festival to how to make boots on the ground matter, this conversation will cover all this and more.

Moderator: Melissa Simpson - Education Director, ATLFS

The Mike (Upstairs) - 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Curating Classics

There's never been a better time for repertory programming and Atlanta's film audiences are enjoying a wealth of opportunities to enjoy the communal experience of watching films together. Join local experts who are part of the growth of classic programming happening locally to hear about the resurgence and importance of classic and niche programming.

Moderator: Greg Bishop - Creative Manager, The Plaza Theater

Panelists: Rocco Shapiro and Sean Valdivieso - Wax & Wane, Matthew Booth & John Robinson - Videodrome, Richard Martin - Programming Manager, The Plaza Theater

The Lefont (Downstairs) - 3:00pm - 4:30pm

Write Club: Festival Edition

High Octane Brain Boxing at its Finest. WRITE CLUB is the world's greatest combative philanthropic literary bloodsport, featuring only the most audacious and fearsome of writers and performers. Started in 2010 at the Hideout in Chicago by Our Illustrious Overlord Ian Belknap, WRITE CLUB has been operating in Atlanta since 2011. WRITE CLUB is: 3 bouts of 2 opposing writers arguing 2 opposing ideas for 7 minutes apiece. Audience picks a winner.

Viceroy: Nick Tecosky

The Rej (Upstairs) - 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Narrative Feature and TV Pilot Festival Filmmaker Roundtable

Festival Filmmakers discuss their projects, how they were able to get them made, their experience while making them, and their hopes for the future.

Moderator: Crystal Jin Kim - Filmmaker in Residence, ATLFS

Panelists: Don-Dimitri Joseph (Last Option), Christian Meier (The Murder On Cape Melancholy), Win Marks (Do You Say What You Mean?), Jenna Kanell (Faceless After Dark)

The Mike (Upstairs) - 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Short Filmmaker Roundtable (3 of 3)

Festival Filmmakers discuss writing and directing shorts, and how they got their projects made.

Moderator: Vivi Chavez - Producer and Actress

Panelists: Sam Hahn (Billy & Mac), Melissa Bayer (The G-Spot), Samuel Laine (Free Lunch), Alice Barros (A Forgotten Place), Matthew S. Alaniz (Ten To One)

VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING

Available for viewing May 6th-12th

Animation and African Filmmaking

Join us for an exceptional conversation with the Annie award-winning filmmakers of Kazazi Moto: Generation Fire, a Disney+ animated shorts anthology. This action-packed sci-fi anthology presents 10 futuristic visions from Africa inspired by the continent's diverse histories and cultures.

Moderator: Sue-Ellen Chitunya, Producer

Panelists: Tendayi Nyeke - Executive Producer, Ng'endo Mukii - Writer / Director (Enkai), Shofela Coker - Writer / Director (Moremi)

The Art of the Assistant Director

DGA Assistant Directors discuss how they got their start, how they transitioned upward, the demands and joys of the job, what makes a great assistant director, and all the fun that comes with being an AD for film and television.

Moderator: JD Taylor, DGA 1st AD (Candy Cane Lane, American Underdog, Teen Wolf)

Panelists: Matt Rawls - 1st & 2nd AD (Abbott Elementary, Westworld, The Morning Show), Christophe Le Chanu - 2nd AD (Candy Cane Lane, Hawkeye, Coming 2 America), John Bonaccorse - 2nd AD (Flaming Hot, Tulsa King, Stranger Things), Ben White - 2nd AD (Blue Beetle, The Staircase, Red Notice), Jessie Sasser White - 2nd AD (They/Them, Safety, Watchmen), Steve Windle - 2nd 2nd AD (Barbie, Teen Wolf: The Movie, Rise), Nate Patterson - 2nd 2nd AD (The Color Purple, Doom Patrol, Swagger), Nate Galesic - 2nd 2nd AD (Pain Hustlers, Blue Beetle, Ghosted)

The Art of Casting (CSA)

Casting can make or break your production. Join members of the Casting Society to learn about the fascinating Art of Casting and how you can make choices that are the best fit for your next production.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director Linda Burns

Panelists: Erica A. Hart (We Strangers, A Black Lady Sketch Show, That Damn Michael Che), Kate Geller (Bob Trevino Likes It, Molly and Max, Shiva Baby), Rori Bergman (Powerbook III: Raising Kanan, Rabbit Hole, Retribution)

Production Design with Christopher Glass

Molly Coffee interviews Production Designer Christopher Glass about his career, where he got his start, his process, and how he gets the look that defines his movies, TV shows, and commercials.

Moderator: Molly Coffee

Panelist: Christopher Glass (Ms Marvel, Amazing Stories, The Jungle Book)

The Journey of Making ‘Color Book’ - Our First Feature - Sponsored by MPA

The Atlanta Hometown team of writer/director David Fortune and producer Kiah Clingman competed amongst four other finalists to win the highly competitive 2023 AT&T Untold Stories Award worth $1 million dollars and year-round mentorship to produce their feature film. They share their production journey and the story of a devoted father learning to raise his son — who has Down Syndrome — following the passing of the family matriarch. The Atlanta-set picture is like Fortune’s prior films in that it finds power in normalizing the themes of compassion and intimacy set in inner-city communities.

Moderator: Sue-Ellen Chatuyna, Producer

Panelists: Director David Fortune, Producer Kiah Clingman

Exploring the Intersection of AI and Cinema: Innovations, Ethics, and the Future

Join us for a groundbreaking panel discussion that delves into the dynamic intersection of generative AI and the cinematic world. This panel will explore how emerging AI technologies are reshaping filmmaking, from scriptwriting to post-production, and will address the profound ethical questions they raise. We will start with a look at historical milestones of AI in cinema, such as the early days of CGI in films like 'Tron' and 'Jurassic Park,' and progress to current innovations like deepfake technology and real-time CGI generation.

Moderators: Laila Harrison - Experimental Filmmaker and Harim Leon - Producer

Mental Health and Parenting while Filmmaking

Being a parent is hard enough, but being a parent and a filmmaker is a huge challenge. Panelists discuss how they strive for a work life balance, share resources for support, and explore ways to keep their mental health in check as filmmaking parents.

Moderator: Erin Bernhardt - Director of Common Pictures, The Edward E. Haddock Jr. Family Foundation

Panelists: Keoni TeTawa Bowthorpe - Director / DP, Aloha Cinema, Tchaiko Omawale - Tchaiko of House Omawale, Second of Her Name, Mother of Flame, Seeker of Truth, Breaker of Chains, Nomadic Fairy Inc., Amanda Edwards - Mental Health Coordinator and Intimacy Coordinator

Documentary Funding and Production - In Conversation with Royd Chung from ITVS

Do you love documentaries? Have a great idea for one? Join us for an engaging conversation to learn about how documentaries are funded and produced for public media. Royd Chung, Vice President of Production of ITVS, the largest co-producer of independent documentaries in the United States, shares open calls for funding, the types of projects they support, best practices for applying to their programs, and their distribution platforms, as well as the disruptions ITVS has seen in the distribution landscape.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director Linda Burns

Panelists: Royd Chung - Vice President of Production of ITVS

Cutting Edge Creativity: Voices from the Black & Queer Community

This panel showcases the diverse and innovative perspectives of Black and Queer artists across different mediums. It emphasizes the richness and originality within the Black and Queer community, often the unsung inspirations in mainstream culture. Panelists will discuss their unique paths in the industry, the challenges of intersectionality, and their vision for a more inclusive and evolving creative landscape.

Moderator: Jazelle Foster - Actor, Acting Coach & Media and Marketing, Specialist

Panelists: Raquel M R Thomas - Creator / Director / Producer / Writer (TRANSworld Atlanta, Below the Rim), Tony Talks - Content Creator, Adrianna Cherelle - Screenwriter, Reality TV Producer (10 Years in 40 Seconds, Black Ink Crew), Tery Wilson - DP / Editor (Push, New Gotham)

Southern Film Festival Roundtable

Senior film festival representatives as well as southern funders will converse on nurturing Southern filmmaking talent. They’ll discuss the spectrum of opportunities and challenges in the SE, and speak on fostering creative environments where artists can excel and go to the next level.

Moderator: Jen West

Panelists: Chris Escobar - ED, Atlanta Film Society, Dan Brawley - ED, Cucalorus Film Festival, Jessica Chriesman - Education Director for Sidewalk Film Festival, Kimel Fryer - ED, Indie Memphis Film Festival, Clint Bowie - Artistic Director, New Orleans Film Society, Patricia Ferguson - ED, A Pecan Pickling Short Film Festival, Molly Coffee - Production Designer and Co-Founder / Past Creative Director, Film Impact Georgia, Christopher Everett - Artistic Director, Southern Documentary Fund

Black Women Forging Their Own Paths

Join a group of emerging and mid-career black women filmmakers for a candid conversation sharing their respective journeys in an industry that often isn't easily welcoming to them. They'll share their experiences of how they have fiercely navigated the industry to champion stories that are dear to them while also maintaining their integrity.

Moderator: Sue-Ellen Chatuyna, Producer

Panelists: B. Monét - Director, Producer, Writer (Black Girls, Ballet After Dark, Phases of the Moon), Idil Ibrahim - Producer, Director, Writer (The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, In Her Element, Little America), Jamila Jordan-Theus - Producer (Fantasy Football, Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts, Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street)

How to Start Work as an Extra in Film and Television

Working as an Extra is a great way to start your acting career, learn about how a film set works while getting paid, or to make a little extra money as a retiree. Learn about what makes a great extra, how to find work, what is expected of you, and how to get hired back.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director Linda Burns

Panelists: Patrick Ingram - Extras Casting Atlanta

Laura Williamson 4/1/24 Laura Williamson 4/1/24

2024 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Winners

The Atlanta Film Society is pleased to present the 2024 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Winners. The following pilot, short, and three feature film screenplays are the chosen few from a pool of 1,555 submissions. These winning authors will receive a cash prize for their phenomenal work and invaluable mentorship opportunities to hone their craft and strategize the next steps in their careers. Please join us in congratulating these impressive authors and wishing them well as they continue their journey in the film industry.

Feature Screenplay Winners

Belonging - Liz Fields

HEARTRACE - Will Bermender

Lo & Em - Claire Audrey Aguayocan

Pilot Screenplay Winner

Gallatin - Ryan Skinner

Short Screenplay Winner

Handle With Care - Allison Orr Block

Laura Williamson 3/22/24 Laura Williamson 3/22/24

2024 ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL UNVEILS KEY PROGRAMMING AND FULL LINEUP OF OFFICIAL SELECTIONS FOR 48TH ANNUAL EVENT, INCLUDING 27 WORLD PREMIERES

ATLANTA, GA (March 22, 2024) — Today, The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference (ATLFF) revealed key programming highlights, including the full lineup of selected works from more than 7,500 submissions. The film festival and 14th annual Creative Conference, which is the festival’s educational programming, will take place Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024 at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre in Atlanta and virtually.

While 118 countries are represented in the selections, more than 24% of films have ties to Georgia filmmakers. The 142 total announced creative works from submissions will feature diverse filmmakers who continue to uplift voices and stories from around the world. Eleven Marquee screenings will combine Hollywood star power with the best of independent film.

“We're so excited to be bringing another edition full of artful, challenging, and flat-out fun films to Atlanta this spring. When we make selections for ATLFF, we always follow our sense of discovery, of seeing what movies will be in the years to come. And we think anyone visiting the festival this year will come away knowing what we know, that cinema has a really rich future ahead of it.”
Jonathan Kieran, Programming Director, ATLFF

Kicking off a robust slate of Marquee programming that will be presented throughout the 11-day festival, the Opening Night presentation of director Michael Showalter’s “The Idea of You” will take place at the Plaza Theatre on Friday, April 26. Anne Hathaway stars as Solène, a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet.

The Closing Night presentation of director Greg Kwedar’s “SING SING,” will take place at the Plaza Theatre on Saturday, May 4. The film follows Divine G (Colman Domingo), imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, as he finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.

Some highlights of the Marquee programming from celebrated filmmakers and Hollywood studios announced today include narrative features “Brief History of A Family,” about a middle-class family whose fate becomes intertwined with their only son's enigmatic new friend in post one-child policy China; “I SAW THE TV GLOW,” about a teenager who’s just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show, a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own; and documentary “Luther: Never Too Much,” that chronicles the life of an iconic musical performer, from childhood musical talent to worldwide fame.

Since its founding, diversity in programming has been a cornerstone of ATLFF’s mission, demonstrated by their lineup of 29 feature-length films, 90 short films, and 22 creative media selections. Of these selections, 49% are directed by filmmakers who identify as female or non-binary, and 59% are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC).

Five specialty tracks will return to the 2024 festival including: New Mavericks, celebrating excellence in film from female and gender non-conforming directors and leads; ¡CineMás!, focusing on Latin American culture; Noire, uplifting Black filmmakers; Pink Peach, featuring films with LGBTQ stories and characters; and Georgia Films, highlighting productions with ties to the state of Georgia.

The 14th annual Creative Conference, ATLFF’s popular educational programming extension, returns Tuesday April 30 - Friday May 3. The Creative Conference offers educational programming for upcoming filmmakers, festival goers, newcomers and members of the greater community alike to learn from industry experts. There are approximately 32 in-person panels and 8 virtual panels, for a total of 40 unique educational offerings, planned during the 11-day festival. The Creative Conference lineup announcement is forthcoming.

This year, ATLFF will once again offer a mix of in-person and virtual screenings. Screenings will be held at the Plaza Theatre (1049 Ponce De Leon Ave NE) and The Tara Theatre (2345 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30324). All films (outside of Marquee) will be available virtually following the in-person events; the virtual screenings and events will be presented via Eventive.

The full schedule of films and events is available at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com and through the ATLFF 2024 app. Festival passes and badges are on sale now on the site for purchase here.

Applications for press credentials for ATLFF 2024 are now open and can be submitted here. Press materials and assets, including past press releases, logos, and film stills can be found here.

OPENING NIGHT PRESENTATION

The Idea of You
directed by Michael Showalter
United States // 2024 // English // 115 min
Solène, a 40-year-old single mom, begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet.
#Marquee, #NarrativeFeature

CLOSING NIGHT PRESENTATION

SING SING
directed by Greg Kwedar
United States // 2023 // English // 105 min
Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.
#Marquee, #NarrativeFeature

MARQUEE SCREENINGS

Brief History of A Family
directed by Jianjie Lin
China, Denmark // 2024 // Chinese // 99 min
A middle-class family's fate becomes intertwined with their only son's enigmatic new friend in post one-child policy China, putting unspoken secrets, unmet expectations, and untended emotions under the microscope
#Marquee, #NarrativeFeature

Evil Does Not Exist
directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Japan // 2023 // Japanese // 106 min
Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to nature.#Marquee, #NarrativeFeature

I SAW THE TV GLOW
directed by Jane Schoenbrun
United States // 2024 // English // 100 min
Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show - a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen's view of reality begins to crack.
#Marquee, #NarrativeFeature

Last Summer
directed by Catherine Breillat
France, Norway // 2023 // French // 106 min
Follows Anne, a brilliant lawyer who lives with her husband Pierre and their daughters. Anne gradually engages in a passionate relationship with Theo, Pierre's son from a previous marriage, putting her career and family life in danger.
#Marquee, #NarrativeFeature

Red Rooms
directed by Pascal Plante
Canada // 2023 // French // 110 min
The high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the puzzle: the missing video of a murdered 13-year-old girl, to whom Kelly-Anne bears a disturbing resemblance.
#Marquee, #NarrativeFeature

Thelma
directed by Josh Margolin
United States // 2024 // English // 97 min
When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.
#Marquee, #NarrativeFeature

Luther: Never Too Much
directed by Dawn Porter
United Kingdom, United States // 2024 // English // 101 min
Chronicles the life of an iconic musical performer, from childhood musical talent to worldwide fame. Explores his collaborations, influences, character and relationships with family, friends and fans.
#Marquee #DocumentaryFeature

Power
directed by Yance Ford
United States // 2024 // English // 85 min
Driven to contain threats to social order, American policing has exploded in scope and scale over hundreds of years. Now, it can be described by one word: power.
#Marquee #DocumentaryFeature

Seeking Mavis Beacon
directed by Jazmin Jones
United States // 2024 // English // 102 min
Investigates the disappearance and reexamines the legacy of one of the most influential Black women in technology.
#Marquee #DocumentaryFeature

NARRATIVE FEATURES

A Song for Imogene
directed by Erika Arlee
United States // 2023 // English // 104 min
Faced with an unexpected pregnancy, Cheyenne, a once free-spirited songwriter, flees in the night from her possessive boyfriend, Alex. Back in her rural hometown, Cheyenne faces her bitter mother and reunites with her vagabond sister, Janelle: now a single mother to a five-year-old son. The two rekindle their sisterhood and Cheyenne's forgotten dreams. Meanwhile, Alex discovers evidence of the hidden pregnancy and decides to chase Cheyenne down, challenging her to break a generational cycle of abuse. Immersive in its realism, A SONG FOR IMOGENE is a story of grit set against the grueling landscape of the American South that explores issues of abuse, trauma, and the female bid for independence.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeFeature

A Strange Path
directed by Guto Parente
Brazil // 2023 // Portugal // 83 min
A young filmmaker returns to his hometown and attempts to reconnect with his eccentric father as the pandemic rapidly accelerates across Brazil. Resuming their distant father-son relationship proves to be more complicated, however, as bizarre phenomena begin to fray the edges of their reality.
#¡CineMás!, #NarrativeFeature

African Giants
directed by Omar S. Kamara
United States // 2024 // English // 106 min
Over a weekend visit in Los Angeles, two first-generation Sierra Leonean American brothers navigate the changing dynamics of brotherhood after a surprise announcement.
#InCompetition, #Noire, #NarrativeFeature

Asog
directed by Seán Devlin 叶世民
Canada, Philippines // 2024 // Tagalog, Waray // 101 min
ASOG is a screwball tragicomedy starring a cast of real life Super Typhoon survivors. Jaya is a non-binary teacher whose career as a comedian hosting a late-night television show ended due to a climate disaster that devastated the Philippines. Picking up the pieces in their life, Jaya decides to travel across the country in hopes of winning a beauty pageant and the prize money that comes with it. But before they can leave, a chance encounter with Arnel, a student going the same way in search of family, complicates their solitary plans. As they travel seemingly countless miles together on foot, bike, and boat, the unlikely duo find themselves forever changed by each other and those they encounter on their journey.
#PinkPeach, #CinematographyCompetition, #NarrativeFeature

Atikamekw Suns
directed by Chloé Leriche
Canada // 2023 // Atikamekw, French // 102 min
On June 26, 1977, a vehicle drives into a river outside the Atikamekw community of Manawan in northern Québec. Two Whites survive the accident, but five Atikamekw lose their lives. The police conclude it was an accident, but for the victims' families, many questions remain unanswered. A historical and poetic story, a hybrid between documentary and fiction — SOLEILS ATIKAMEKW (ATIKAMEKW SUNS) is freely inspired by the dreams, impressions, and memories of the victims’ loved ones.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #CinematographyCompetition, #NarrativeFeature

Boca Chica
directed by Gabriella A. Moses
Dominican Republic // 2023 // Spanish, English // 97 min
As a young girl growing up in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, 12-year-old Desi is powerfully drawn to song and music by a famed ancestor with a musical legacy. Her handsome brother Fran lives in New York pursuing his music, too, while struggling to make ends meet. The long-awaited return of their cousin Elvis and his marriage festivities animate the family and community. But Elvis’ sinister machinations reveal that his business interests involve trafficking children. Threatened by the very people who should care for her most, Desi finds her voice among a group of underground rap artists. BOCA CHICA weaves richly drawn stories into a coming-of-age story of hope and discovery.
#¡CineMás!, #Noire, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeFeature

Do You Say What You Mean?
directed by Win Marks
United States // 2024 // English // 87 min
Aliyah, confident and easy going, quickly falls for a truck driver, Sean. Their relationship plays out in snapshots as they try to build a life together, but the more they try, the more they unravel.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaFeatureCompetition, #NarrativeFeature

Dragoons
directed by Reinis Ubelis
Latvia // 2024 // Latvian // 77 min
Father-to-be Pavel and his pregnant girlfriend Sabine spend their days living like nomads and breaking into houses in search of food and resources. Upon finding themselves lost in a mysterious forest, they seek refuge in a crumbling gothic manor inhabited by two aging siblings, the Dragoons. Soon they find that escape is impossible and Sabine's delivery is approaching. Haunted by the guilt of leading his girlfriend into a nightmare scenario and falling under the sway of the weird Dragoons, Pavel soon begins to question his own ability to separate reality from dreams.
#InCompetition, #CinematographyCompetition, #NarrativeFeature

Faceless After Dark
directed by Raymond Wood
United States // 2024 // English // 82 min
Following her breakout success as the star of a killer clown horror flick, Bowie now finds herself struggling to capitalize on her newfound semi-fame. But when she is held hostage by an unhinged fan posing as that same killer clown, horror becomes her reality as she fights to survive the night and escape before he completes his sinister plan to recreate the film’s fatal plot. Jenna Kanell from the TERRIFIER franchise gives a tour-de-force performance in this wild, gory ride.
#Georgia Film, #GeorgiaFeatureCompetition, #PinkPeach, #NarrativeFeature

Melk
directed by Stefanie Kolk
Netherlands // 2023 // Dutch // 96 min
Days after giving birth to a stillborn baby, Robin’s breasts start to produce milk. Unable to bring herself to throw it away, Robin makes the unusual decision to donate her milk. As her quest for a place to donate becomes more difficult than anticipated, more and more milk starts to crowd her freezer, relationship, and life.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeFeature

Mountains
directed by Monica Sorelle
United States // 2023 // Haitian Creole, English, Spanish // 95 min
Xavier, a Haitian demolition worker, is outgrowing the Little Haiti home he shares with his wife Esperance – a seamstress and school crossing guard – and their son Junior, a young adult pursuing a standup comedy career. MOUNTAINS is a multigenerational drama that explores the relationships between immigrants and their children, Miami’s own stratification of race and nationality, and the looming threat of gentrification.
#Noire, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeFeature

Poor Clare
directed by Blaine Redden
United States // 2024 // English // 119 min
Just before dawn, a strange man appears at Clare's door. The young filmmaker begins to see this man wherever she goes. She struggles to connect to those around her, to tell them what haunts her, until she meets a mysterious stranger who is intent on showing Clare what she's most afraid to see. Drawing from the rich and shadowy legacy of underground, cult, and trash film, POOR CLARE is a vivid and dreamlike vision etched in camcorder tape.
#InCompetition, #PinkPeach, #NarrativeFeature

The Battle
directed by Vera Egito
Brazil // 2024 // Portuguese // 84 min
Constructed of just 21 separate shots, THE BATTLE brings you inside the Philosophy School building of São Paulo University on a decisive day in October 1968, that came to be known as the Battle of the Students. As they attempt to carry out a crucial University-wide election, students and Professors of the Left Student Movement face pressure from within and physical threats from the reactionary forces outside their door.
#InCompetition, #PinkPeach, #¡CineMás!, #NewMavericks, #CinematographyCompetition, #NarrativeFeature

The Trap
directed by Lena Headey
United Kingdom // 2023/4 // English // 84 min
Michelle is a broken woman, shut off to the world. Then Joe, a damaged young man, arrives at Michelle’s fortress of solitude and brings her back to life. However, their tender romance is shattered when Joe reveals that he is the son Michelle gave up more than twenty years earlier. After a brutal reckoning, Joe and Michelle set off together in search of Joe’s father. Along the way, they slowly rebuild their relationship, discovering the power of unconditional love and, ultimately, redemption.
#NewMavericks, #NarrativeFeature

We Strangers
directed by Anu Valia
United States // 2024 // English // 80 min
When Rayelle Martin, a Black woman scraping by in Gary, Indiana, scores a job housekeeping for a pair of upper-crust families across town, it seems like a step up from her usual thankless commercial cleaning gigs. However, the slights and secrets that are dealt out in these houses of privilege serve as a constant reminder of her outsider status. Things take a turn when Rayelle shares an impulsive, seemingly harmless lie: that yes, she can speak to the dead. This lie begins to spin out of control, and Ray's attempt to gain ownership over her own identity goes in directions she could have never predicted.
#In Competition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeFeature

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

Amakki
directed by Célia Boussebaa
United States, Netherlands // 2024 // Sidamuu Afoo, Sidama // 104 min
AMAKKI, meaning "your mother", is an intimate journey through Sidama's coffee-growing hills in Ethiopia. It explores the interconnected lives of a grandmother, a mother, a young girl, and a baby girl, celebrating the profound moments of love, loss, and resilience that shape the tapestry of motherhood and womanhood.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #Noire, #CinematographyCompetition, #DocumentaryFeature

Baghdad on Fire
directed by Karrar Al-Azzawi
Norway, Iraq // 2023 // Arabic // 60 min
BAGHDAD ON FIRE is an energetic account from inside the demonstrations of the new Iraqi youth. Together with friends Khader and Yousif, 19 year old Tiba has started a medical team that helps the brave young protesters. They spend days and nights in tents in Tahrir Square in the center of Baghdad, where they discuss and plan how to bring freedom, democracy and change to Iraq.
#DocumentaryFeature

Caterpillar
directed by Liza Mandelup
United States // 2023 // English // 111 min
Endlessly struggling to feel seen, David becomes infatuated with a mysterious company’s promise to transform people’s lives by permanently changing the color of their eyes. After traveling to India to get the controversial procedure, he begins to question if this artificial beauty will give him the fulfillment he truly seeks.
#PinkPeach, #¡CineMás!, #DocumentaryFeature

Citizen Sleuth
directed by Chris Kasick
United States // 2024 // English // 82 min
CITIZEN SLEUTH follows Emily Nestor and her Mile Marker 181 podcast, as she conducts an amateur murder investigation into the death of Jaleayah Davis. With a growing audience of millions, Emily's podcast becomes a hit, but as she probes deeper into the case, she’s confronted with a new truth she struggles to tell her listeners.
#DocumentaryFeature

Family Tree
directed by Jennifer MacArthur
United States // 2024 // English // 97 min
FAMILY TREE explores sustainable forestry in North Carolina through the stories of two Black families fighting to preserve their land and legacy. Despite setbacks, they work to create sustainable land to pass on to the next generation. The forest itself and the beauty of its changing seasons become a primary character in this family drama.
#InCompetition, #Noire, #NewMavericks, #DocumentaryFeature

Go Like Hell
directed by Scott Edwards
United States // 2024 // English // 104 min
In an industry dominated by billionaires, a team of renegade engineers bands together to bootstrap a rocket company amidst the sprawling Texas cattle fields. With funding rapidly dwindling and a relentless race against the giants of "big space," this scrappy startup, led by an eccentric and determined CEO, must defy the odds and race to reach orbit before their finances collapse.
#InCompetition, #DocumentaryFeature

Happy Campers
directed by Amy Nicholson
United States // 2023 // English // 78 min
Every summer, working-class families enjoy waterfront living in a scrappy trailer park off the coast of Virginia. When the relentless march of capitalism threatens their shabby Shangri-La, the denizens of Inlet View face the inevitable, and reveal the secrets to a rich life.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #DocumentaryFeature

Naked Ambition
directed by Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch
United States // 2023 // English // 73 min
Bunny Yeager, once heralded as the world's prettiest photographer, had a huge influence in 20th-century pop culture. As a model and photographer, she was a trailblazer whose work helped pave the way for both the feminist movement and sexual revolution. Featuring Dita Von Teese, Bruce Weber, and Larry King, NAKED AMBITION is a rediscovery of a brilliant and forgotten artist.
#InCompetition, #PinkPeach, #¡CineMás!, #DocumentaryFeature

Pianoman
directed by Sunny Liu
United States // 2024 // English // 52 min
David Avenando, an undocumented immigrant in NYC, finally achieves his dream of opening a piano factory in Yonkers, but runs into unforeseen circumstances that threaten to take away his livelihood and potentially separate him from his family. This moving film will resonate deeply with those intrigued by civil rights, social justice, and immigration.
#InCompetition, #¡CineMás!, #NewMavericks, #DocumentaryFeature

Rape Play
directed by Gabriella Mykal
United States // 2023 // English // 82 min
RAPE PLAY is an experimental documentary that explores fanfiction writing amongst teenage girls online and the learned narrativization of sexual experiences. Through interviews, lyrical essays, and fantastical reenactment, it touches on internet history, sexual assault discourse, and the magical cultural production happening in the bedrooms of teenage girls worldwide every day.
#InCompetition, #PinkPeach, #NewMavericks, #Noire, #DocumentaryFeature

Richland
directed by Irene Lusztig
United States // 2023 // English // 93 min
Richland, Washington is proud of its heritage as a nuclear company town and proud of the atomic bomb it helped create. RICHLAND offers a prismatic, placemaking portrait of a community staking its identity and future on its nuclear origin story, presenting a timely examination of the habits of thought that normalize the extraordinary violence of the past.
#NewMavericks, #DocumentaryFeature

Taxibol
directed by Tommaso Santambrogio
Italy // 2023 // Spanish, English // 50 min
Driving around the streets of Cuba, Lav Diaz – the famous Filipino director – and Gustavo Flecha - a talkative Cuban taxi driver – find themselves discussing politics, social conditions, and love. Through their dialogue and the subsequent narrative construction, the audience is invited to reflect on the harmful actions of significant historical figures and examine their impact on human lives.
#¡CineMás!, #DocumentaryFeature

Thank You Very Much
directed by Alex Braverman
United States // 2023 // English // 99 min
Throughout his short life, Andy Kaufman's work dissolved the boundaries between fiction and reality, and his commitment to performance on-stage and off rendered any distinctions between his characters and his real life useless. From Executive Producers Josh and Bennie Safdie, THANK YOU VERY MUCH is the definitive documentary look at how a shy, oddball kid from Long Island became the most polarizing performance artist of the 20th century.
#DocumentaryFeature

The Body Politic
directed by Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough
United States // 2023 // English // 91 min
THE BODY POLITIC is a harbinger of hope in a country plagued by gun violence. In Baltimore, Brandon Scott, an idealistic young leader with a holistic plan to stop chronic violence in his city,is elected mayor. Throughout his first year in office, we follow Brandon as he fights powerful political forces to save lives in Baltimore and reveal a pathway toward healing for the nation.
#Noire #DocumentaryFeature

The South Got Something to Say
directed by The Horne Brothers
United States // 2023 // English // 96 min
Pulling footage from an archive spanning the first fifty years of hip-hop as well as new interviews with Atlanta icons and genre luminaries (Killer Mike, Arrested Development, Goodie Mob, Lil Yachty, Jermaine Dupri), THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY tells the ongoing story of Atlanta’s undeniable impact on hip-hop.
#GeorgiaFilm, #DocumentaryFeature

NARRATIVE SHORTS

8 Minutes 20 Seconds
directed by Harris Doran
United States // 2024 // English // 9 min
Max must race against time to reconcile with his ex-boyfriend for them to be together in Earth's last moments of sun.
#InCompetition, #PinkPeach, #NarrativeShort

A Bird Called Memory
directed by Leonardo Martinelli
Brazil, United Kingdom // 2023 // Portuguese // 15 min
A bird called Memory has forgotten how to come back home. Lua, a trans woman, searches for Memory in the streets, but the city can be a hostile place.
#¡CineMás!, #PinkPeach, #NarrativeShort

A Forgotten Place
directed by Alice Leigh Barrós
United States // 2024 // English // 14 min
A reclusive stripper returns to her conservative home to answer a question that tortures her: whether she was abducted by an alien or if there's a darker truth to her past.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #¡CineMás!, #NarrativeShort

A Short Film About Kids
directed by Ibrahim Handal
Palestine // 2023 // Arabic // 10 min
Four kids from the refugee camp in Bethlehem decide to visit the sea for the first time in their lives.
#InCompetition, #NarrativeShort

As You Are
directed by Daisy Friedman
United States // 2023 // English // 14 min
An interabled queer couple spend the night together for the first time.
#NewMavericks, #PinkPeach, #NarrativeShort

Baby Gay
directed by Arielle Frances Bagood
United States // 2024 // English, Mandarin, Shanghainese // 9 min
Desperate to prove her bisexuality, Stevie Lee bluffs her way into a lesbian threesome thinking she’ll “figure it out” when she gets there.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #PinkPeach, #NarrativeShort

Barely Breathing
directed by Derek Evans
United States // 2023 // English // 20 min
An awkward accident forces Sai to move back in with his father, forcing them to bridge the gap left by the death of Sai's mother years prior.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NarrativeShort

Becoming
directed by Tramaine Raphael Gray
United States // 2023 // English // 25 min
An imaginative queer teen weaves in and out of his own fantasy world while struggling to connect with his older brother.
#Noire, #PinkPeach, #NarrativeShort

Billy & Mac
directed by Sam Hahn
United States // 2024 // English // 8 min
A closeted high school football player discovers the dead body of his crush.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #PinkPeach, #NarrativeShort

Black Silk
directed by Patrick Michael
United States // 2023 // English // 16 min
A timid black boy is thrust into turmoil when a violent revelation from his estranged father sets him on a harrowing path of self-discovery.
#InCompetition, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

Blue Boy
directed by Tyler Riggs
United States // 2023 // English // 19 min
Insecure New Jersey bodybuilder Joey Rossi, aka Joey Muscles, starts doing steroids in a last-ditch effort to go pro.
#NarrativeShort

Buster's Onion
directed by Giovanni Tortorici
United States // 2024 // English // 10 min
As an aging grandfather's mysterious surgery draws near, he and his wife contend with what their 50 years of marriage have come to.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NarrativeShort

Chickenshit
directed by Ellie Rogers
United Kingdom // 2023 // English // 8 min
At the height of summer, two rowdy boys spend the afternoon tearing through the countryside discovering nature, electricity, and themselves.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #PinkPeach, #NarrativeShort

Claude
directed by Finola Hughes
United States // 2024 // English // 15 min
Her childhood stuffed bunny, Claude, watches his owner navigate her turbulent love life as an adult trans-woman.
#InCompetition, #PinkPeach, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

Definitely Not a Monster
directed by Brea Cola Angelo
United States // 2024 // English // 19 min
After a beloved icon dies after being accused of rape, his devoted widow invites a journalist into their home to clear his name.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

Don't Wipe Your Tears
directed by Dominick Cormier
United States // 2024 // English // 16 min
A young couple is triggered by each of their childhood traumas after a playful moment turns upside down.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

Everything Goes Dark
directed by Alex Casimir
United States // 2023 // English // 15 min
A Black high school student prepares to take her senior yearbook photo when horrors lurking within come to the surface.
#InCompetition, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

Free Lunch
directed by Samuel Laine
United States // 2024 // English // 4 min
A first grader is forced to perform manual labor after failing to cover his two-dollar lunch debt.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

Goodnight, Moon
directed by Michael Patten
United States // 2023 // English // 18 min
After hijacking his father’s ashes, Steve Gailule makes a suburban pilgrimage to his childhood home.
#InCompetition, #NarrativeShort

Ham
directed by Fiona Hampton
United Kingdom // 2023 // English // 12 min
On a walk through the woods in the depths of rural England, childhood friends Cathy and Jules find a baby.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks

Happy Thanksgiving
directed by ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby
United States // 2023 // English // 8 min
An Indigenous man takes a Happy Thanksgiving wish very very personally.
#InCompetition, #NarrativeShort

Heaven is Nobody's
directed by Hector Prats
United States, Spain // 2024 // English // 12 min
A boy journeys through a nightmarish city to find a cure for his mom, as a dancing curse descends on him and his home.
#InCompetition, #¡CineMás!, #NarrativeShort

I Could Just Die, and That Would Be All Right
directed by A.K. Espada
United States // 2023 // English // 19 min
A suicidal woman lures a monster into the woods to kill her only to wake up the next day as an undead vampire.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NewMavericks, #¡CineMás!, #NarrativeShort

I Didn't Mean To Say I Love You
directed by Jenna D'Angelo
United States // 2023 // English // 7 min
Abby has a full-on meldown after accidentally saying "I love you" at the end of a voicemail to an ex.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

It Stays with us
directed by Rich Perez
United States // 2023 // English, Spanish // 14 min
A young Latino teen struggles with his lingering grief years after a devastating loss.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #¡CineMás!, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

It's All Happening
directed by Sammy Grand
United States // 2024 // English // 14 min
Through a series of phone calls, Hazel and Rowan discuss Rowan's upcoming move to New York where they will finally live together despite their rapidly deteriorating friendship.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

Jedo's Dead
directed by Sara Nimeh
United States // 2024 // English, Lebanese // 11 min
A young Middle Eastern girl confronts loss when she finds her dead grandfather. Alone and confused, she works through the stages of grief.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

Jellyfish and Lobster
directed by Yasmin afifi
United Kingdom // 2023 // English // 20 min
Two elderly and terminally ill patients in a care home find magic in the mysterious swimming pool in the basement.
#NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

Kayla Baby
directed by Clark Comstock
United States // 2024 // English // 16 min
When a girl and her sister are forced to relocate to an abandoned housing development, they befriend a teenage boy and an old man.
#InCompetition, #NarrativeShort

Klette
directed by Michael Abay
Belgium // 2022 // Dutch, French // 17 min
A day’s journey of an unaccomplished 26-year-old woman in Brussels after a one-night stand.
#Noire, #NarrativeShort

Konpa
directed by Al'Ikens Plancher
United States // 2023 // Haitian Creole, English // 9 min
A young Haitian-American learns how to dance Konpa to impress his crush.
#Noire, #NarrativeShort

Lava
directed by Carmen Jiménez
Spain // 2023 // Spanish // 18 min
Berta is very happy to spend time with her cousin but doesn't realize he has other intentions.
#NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

Living Reality
directed by Philip Thompson
United States // 2024 // English // 16 min
An exploration of the emotional divide between fiction and reality in the American sitcom.
#InCompetition, #Noire, #¡CineMás!, #NarrativeShort

Mr. Bold
directed by Aiman Mimiko
United States , Nigeria // 2023 // Yoruba // 13 min
A young boy attempts to earn the respect of his older brother by desecrating a Mosque in a small Nigerian town.
#InCompetition, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

Okem
directed by Joshua Okwuosa
United States // 2023 // Igbo, English // 15 min
Okem, a Nigerian immigrant, is faced with his worst nightmare when he receives a call from home informing him his mother has been kidnapped.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NarrativeShort

One Happy Customer
directed by WATTS
United States // 2024 // // 6 min
An aged sex worker dispatches her clientele quickly with a special trick, until an unexpected client arrives with a special trick of his own.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

Rainbow Sun
directed by Malik Ali
United States // 2023 // English, Spanish // 15 min
A father and son must decide if the secrets they have kept from each other will break the family or if love will allow them to push past it.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

Shut Up & Fish
directed by Raul Sanchez & Pasqual Gutierrez
United States // 2023 // English // 14 min
When friend group of Chicano teens go fishing for the first time, Aiden, the newest to the group, finds he must challenge the status quo.
#InCompetition, #¡CineMás!, #NarrativeShort

Skettel
directed by Moon Lee Ferguson
United States // 2024 // English // 14 min
A single mom of a special needs child struggles to keep her head above water as she tackles the day as a bottle girl with a quarter tank of gas.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NewMavericks, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

Ten to One
directed by Jonathon Pawlowski
United States // 2023 // English // 6 min
Daniel and his personal care assistant prepare for a first date, but when things go bad, Daniel calls on a friend to calm him down.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

Terminally Ill
directed by Christopher J. Cole
United States // 2024 // English // 8 min
When a rapper is summoned to his grandmother’s deathbed, he engages in a madcap freestyle in an attempt to prevent her from dying.
#InCompetition, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

The G-Spot
directed by MELISSA BAYER
United States // 2023 // English // 5 min
A woman's newest sex toy possesses unforeseen mystical power.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

the girl with the om tattoo
directed by Paras Chaudhari, Marquelle Young
United States // 2024 // English // 25 min
When the livelihood of her yoga studio is threatened by a thriving yoga influencer industry, Nalini's struggle for self-worth sends her into a destructive downward spiral.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NewMavericks, #Noire, #NarrativeShort

The Last Black Dinosaur
directed by Danielle Nebeliuk
United States // 2024 // English // 14 min
A cop slips into a musical alternate reality and sees the past, present, and future of the black man he kills.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #Noire #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

The Museum
directed by Annette Elliot
United States // 2024 // English // 15 min
After years of rejection, a Black artist confronts a past he has been unable to forget.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

The Year of Staring At Noses
directed by Karen Knox, Matt Eastman
Canada // 2024 // English // 22 min
A woman undergoes plastic surgery in an attempt to become a contestant on a beloved reality television show.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #NarrativeShort

Wokman
directed by Jeremy Thao
United States // 2023 // Mandarin, English // 16 min
An American-born Chinese boy gains a perspective on his parents' American Dream after starting to work at the family restaurant.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NarrativeShort

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

A Home on Every Floor
directed by Signe Rosenlund-Hauglid
Norway // 2023 // Norwegian // 11 min
A young Eritrean poet from Oslo uses her voice to excavate the lost home of her childhood.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #Noire, #DocumentaryShort

A Synonym For Art: Rodgric J.
directed by Kasey L. Martin
United States // 2023 // English // 3 min
A Black man shares his personal journey of self-expression through tattoos.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #Noire, #DocumentaryShort

About a Bowshot Away
directed by Sangsun Choi
United States // 2024 // English, Korean // 14 min
With a little help from her parents, a young Korean-American girl pursues her dreams of becoming an Olympic archer.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #DocumentaryShort

American Seams
directed by Carly Jakins
United States // 2024 // English, Navajo // 17 min
The stories of three quilters reveal an intimate portrait of rural women in the American West.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #DocumentaryShort

And Still the Seed
directed by Llaima Suwani Sanfiorenzo
Puerto Rico // 2023 // Spanish, English, Latin // 14 min
This short film tells a captivating story about the importance of reforestation, with Puerto Rico's native and endemic trees as the protagonists.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #¡CineMás!, #DocumentaryShort

Cycles
directed by Pisie Hochheim; Tony Oswald
United States // 2024 // English // 14 min
A single mom from rural Kentucky travels to San Diego to sell her eggs in order to support her family.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #DocumentaryShort

Elephant
directed by Wes Sterrs
United States // 2023 // English // 15 min
“Elephant” spins a yarn of quiet observation against the backdrop of Maine’s emerging Spring as the tightly-wound circle of life unfurls.
#InCompetition, #DocumentaryShort

Friendly Signs
directed by Rahsaan Thomas
United States // 2022 // English, ASL // 22 min
An incarcerated man seeks to start a sign language class inside a state prison.
#InCompetition, #Noire, #DocumentaryShort

Goodbye, Morganza
directed by Devon Blackwell
United States // 2024 // English // 15 min
Years after a family's displacement, the youngest daughter is left to pick up the pieces—all of them fitting within 2 storage units.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #Noire, #DocumentaryShort

I Am More Dangerous Dead
directed by Majiye Uchibeke
United States, Nigeria, UK // 2022 // English // 24 min
Poetic tribute to Nigerian writer and environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed for his beliefs.
#InCompetition, #Noire, #DocumentaryShort

Makayla's Voice: A Letter to the World
directed by Julio Palacio
United States // 2024 // English // 23 min
A teenage girl with a rare form of autism finds her voice after 14 years of being silent.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #¡CineMás!, #DocumentaryShort

Map to the Sirens
directed by Demetrius Antonio Lewis
United States // 2024 // English // 15 min
An exploration of the landscapes and history of the American South through the eyes of rideshare drivers
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #Noire, #DocumentaryShort

My Queerceañera
directed by Marcos Nieves
United States // 2023 // Spanish // 17 min
Upon turning fifty years old, Karyna, a transgender immigrant, is determined to fulfill her lifelong dream of celebrating her Quinceañera.
#InCompetition, #¡CineMás!, #PinkPeach, #DocumentaryShort

Olive
directed by Lev Omelchenko
United States // 2023 // English // 12 min
“Olive” follows an energetic woman on her daily routine of salvaging and redistributing food and “waste” across Atlanta, GA.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition

Pirsas
directed by Angélica M. Torres Tamayo
Colombia // 2023 // Spanish // 20 min
16 years after a tragedy that took her brothers life, the director returns with her mother to the site of the event, looking for answers.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #¡CineMás!, #DocumentaryShort

Prelude of a Story
directed by Ashley Salman
Chile // 2023 // Spanish, English // 17 min
Following her mothers passing, a young Chilean woman searches through archival footage to try and understand who her mother really was.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NewMavericks, #¡CineMás!, #DocumentaryShort

Seven Acres and a Church
directed by Caroline Josey Karoki
United States // 2023 // English // 7 min
A passionate community matriarch fights to preserve her church, heritage, and community's history in Savannah, GA.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NewMavericks, #Noire, #DocumentaryShort

The Alchemy of David
directed by Nicholas Woytuk
United States // 2023 // English // 15 min
An artist-photographer reflects on the state of his medium and wonders if the digital age has taken the magic out of making art.
#InCompetition, #DocumentaryShort

The Waiting
directed by Volker Schlecht
Germany // 2023 // English // 15 min
Mysterious deaths occur all over the planet and have a similar pattern. Why have so many species vanished?
#InCompetition, #DocumentaryShort

We Exist in Memory
directed by Darian Woehr
United States, Brazil // 2024 // Spanish, Warao // 13 min
How do you rebuild “home” from nothing but memories? Through intergenerational conversations, we witness the complexity of raising a new generation in displacement.
#InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #DocumentaryShort

ANIMATED SHORTS

27
directed by Flóra Anna Buda
France, Hungary // 2023 // Hungarian // 11 min
Alice is 27 years old today. She still lives with her parents and tends to live in her dreams to escape her dreary everyday life.
#NewMavericks, #AnimatedShort

A Paw Over Dark
directed by Dorian Saisse, Marisa Molson
United States // 2023 // English // 11 min
A washed-up actor descends into madness after a dog steals his spotlight.
#InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

ATM
directed by Chih-Ching Tseng
Taiwan, United States // 2022 // English // 3 min
A story about a money machine, a poor man, and cat food.
#InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

Discoteque
directed by Masashi Yamamoto
United States // 2023 // English // 5 min
I feel your beat, you feel my rhythm, till the end.
#PinkPeach, #InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

Don't Forget to Take Medicines on Time
directed by Xiaoxuan Han
China // 2023 // Chinese // 2 min
Have the mushrooms not disappeared yet？
#InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

Lil Sherbet
directed by Xinhe Zhao
China, United States // 2023 // Chinese // 3 min
My body is mine, but not all mine.
#NewMavericks, #InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

Mira
directed by Eva Louise Hall
United States // 2023 // English // 11 min
An accordionist busker gets more than she bargained for when her desire to be noticed attracts the attention of a dangerous competitor.
#NewMavericks, #InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

Provisions
directed by Kheyal Roy-Meighoo
United States // 2023 // English // 4 min
A young American woman asks her grandmother how to make traditional Trinidadian provision soup while discussing home, family, and diaspora.
#GeorgiaFilm, #InCompetition, #NewMavericks, #AnimatedShort

The Lost Courier
directed by Ma Zidong
China // 2023 // Chinese, English // 3 min
It may have gone through some incredible things before the courier reached us.
#InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

The Nectar Instead
directed by Yoo Lee
United States // 2023 // English // 4 min
A young fly gets trapped in a fly trap in a stop-motion studio, only to have an existential realization about its entire life.
#InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

The Sun is Bad
directed by Rachel Mow
United States // 2023 // Cantonese // 3 min
In 80s Hong Kong, a temperamental girl tries to destroy the sun and stop it from melting her city using toys.
#InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

Vainglorious
directed by Gabriel Ugbodaga
United States, Nigeria // 2023 // English // 8 min
A skilled young boxer and a determined father clash in a traditional Nigerian boxing match.
#Noire, #InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

Worry World
directed by Jessica Patterson
Ireland // 2023 // English // 9 min
What price would you pay for the connection?
#NewMavericks, #InCompetition, #AnimatedShort

EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS

(ಥ﹏ಥ) ✧_MY PARENTS ARE CIA PSY0PS_!!!* ಠ_ಠ
directed by Haydon Mayer
United States // 2023 // English // 10 min
On a sleepy summer night in 2004, my parents are fighting but I wish they would shut up because I'm trying to fix my new blog.
#ExperimentalShort

Burnt Milk
directed by Joseph Douglas Elmhirst
United States, Jamaica // 2023 // English, Patois // 9 min
When an isolated Jamaican midwife takes a moment of solace by following a ritual, she's taken home.
#Noire, #ExperimentalShort

Chamber of Shadows
directed by OK Seyoung
South Korea // 2023 // // 11 min
Eadweard Muybridge’s photographs of animals, people, and landscapes begin to move in a transparent acrylic frame.
#ExperimentalShort

Decomp Disco
directed by Russell Sheaffer & Aaron Michael Smith
United States // 2024 // English // 5 min
"Taking place entirely on “Cybill’s Disco Jet
#PinkPeach, #ExperimentalShort

Devouring Stones Up Close
directed by Cat Rider, Zap Mcconnell
United States // 2024 // English // 9 min
A dance film that serves as an expression of feminine rage and channels the spirits of those whose land we walk, create, and dance on.
#NewMavericks, #PinkPeach, #ExperimentalShort

Islets of Langerhans
directed by Anna Winter
United States // 2023 // English // 5 min
Islets of Langerhans is an experimental documentary about chronic illness and mother/daughter relationships
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #NewMavericks, #ExperimentalShort

Photosynthesis
directed by Brian Zahm
United States // 2023 // // 7 min
Seeds. Light. Water. Life.
#ExperimentalShort

The Expectation of the Observed
directed by Stephanie J Williams
United States // 2022 // // 5 min
This stop motion about labor features disembodied meaty legs, flayed of skin, dancing in repetition even as they start to disintegrate.
#Noire, #ExperimentalShort

They Got Me Goin' In On My Day Off.
directed by Luis Figueroa Caunedo
United States // 2024 // English // 5 min
A lo-fi, dry-humored glimpse of a Manhattan bus driver who gets called in to work on his day off.
#¡CineMás!, #ExperimentalShort

Wonderful
directed by Daniel Martinico
United States // 2024 // // 4 min
Into the flickering abyss. Tiny fragments sourced from Frank Capra’s IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE are folded into a stroboscopic incantation.
#ExperimentalShort

MUSIC VIDEO

Ara - Torn
directed by Sinan Taner
Switzerland // 2023 // English // 4 min
TORN portrays the structure and fragility of a relationship by depicting inner states. A story about the rupture of patterns.
#MusicVideo

billy woods and Kenny Segal - Soft Landing
directed by Henry Nelson, Tim Blake Nelson
United States // 2023 // English // 3 min
Birds fly high you know how I feel, sun in the sky you now how I feel, breeze drifting on you know how I feel, birds fly high you know how I feel.
#¡CineMás!, #MusicVideo

E - Glitter Electron
directed by Chihiro Sato, Takaaki Numa, E
Japan // 2022 // // 6 min
This film is a glitter storm of pleasant and strange visual images and electronic sounds on the theme of electricity, which is the driving force of modern civilization.
#NewMavericks, #MusicVideo

Home is Where - Yes! Yes! A Thousand Times Yes!
directed by Texas Smith
United States // 2023 // English // 6 min
A woman time travels back in time to her mother’s past, present, and future on September 10th, 2001.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #MusicVideo

Mad Fox - Cinerama
directed by Matt Fulks
United States // 2023 // English // 4 min
Louisville rapper Mad Fox recreates 30 of film's most iconic moments
#MusicVideo

Nicole Blakk - Run
directed by SYCHELLE-KRISTINA YANDA
United Kingdom // 2023 // English // 3 min
Everybody's running from something, right?
#NewMavericks, #MusicVideo

Pattie Gonia, Quinn Christopherson, and Yo-Yo Ma - Won't Give Up
directed by Abdul Kassamali
United States // 2023 // English // 5 min
Climate justice and environmental justice are inextricably linked - how we treat this planet is how we treat each other.
#Noire, #MusicVideo

Pronto - Light Light
directed by Maximilian Speidel
Switzerland // 2022 // Swiss German, English // 6 min
A young adult clears out his mother's apartment, unlocking his quest to preserve her unconditional love through cherished memories.
#MusicVideo

Quinn Bentley - Stripes
directed by Sarah Menasce
United States // 2024 // English // 3 min
STRIPES is about a young woman’s intrusive thoughts, slowly taking on a concrete & sinister form.
#NewMavericks, #¡CineMás!, #MusicVideo

Sadmadbad - Everything is Fine
directed by Naomi Plasterer
United States // 2023 // English // 3 min
From birth to death a painful life full of trials and tribulations. Everything is not fine. Will their next life be better?
#NewMavericks, #¡CineMás!, #MusicVideo

Tammy Lakkis - Get Up
directed by Oksana Mirzoyan
United States // 2023 // English // 3 min
A live performance by electronic music composer Tammy Lakkis of her song "Get Up."
#NewMavericks, #MusicVideo

Tim Aminov - Ultraviolence
directed by Andrei Maica
Kazakhstan // 2022 // Russian, Kazakh // 3 min
How does the crowd feel? Where does this collective unconscious come from, ready to kill and indulge in the idea of violence?
#MusicVideo

Zulu - From Tha Gods To Earth
directed by Malakai
United States // 2023 // English // 5 min
Black Culture is not a monolith. FROM THA GODS TO EARTH explores the metamorphosis of Black Ancestry through hardcore punk.
#Noire, #MusicVideo

EPISODIC

Do It To Me If You Want
directed by Elise Kibler, James Udom
United States // 2023 // English // 19 min
Alexandra runs into her ex's identical twin Kent at a Halloween frat party.
#NewMavericks, #Noire, #Episodic

Last Option
directed by Don-Dimitri Joseph
United States // 2024 // English // 11 min
Daniel, a gifted psychic with the ability to see into the future, decides to use his powers to commit burglaries.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #Noire, #Episodic

Lucy & Sara
directed by Susan Park
United States // 2024 // English // 7 min
Two unlikely sisters learn to lean on each other after the death of their beloved father despite their seemingly toxic relationship.
#NewMavericks, #Episodic

Roboto
directed by Keone & Mari Madrid
United States // 2023 // English // 18 min
A choreographer hits rock bottom when a dancing artificial intelligence puts him out of work and becomes everyone's favorite dance partner.
#NewMavericks, #Episodic

The Comic Shop
directed by Robert Butler III
United States // 2023 // English // 13 min
A former engineering major opens up her own Comic Book store in the heart of Los Angeles with her quirky friends.
#Noire, #NewMavericks, #Episodic

The Murder on Cape Melancholy
directed by Christian ‘Blaque’ Meier
United States // 2024 // English // 26 min
After being accused of a brutal murder, Todd Bishop plunges into chaos uncovering twisted town secrets on his quest for vindication.
#GeorgiaFilm, #GeorgiaShortCompetition, #Noire, #Episodic

VIRTUAL REALITY

Comfortless
directed by Gina Kim
United States, Korea // 2023 // English, Korean // 16 min
Filmed on-site, COMFORTLESS immerses in American Town, a brothel exclusive to the U.S. Air Force Base in Kunsan, South Korea.
#NewMavericks, #VirtualReality

Even You Leave: A Neighborhood Sketchbook
directed by Geoffrey Beatty
United States // 2023 // English // 4 min
A hand-drawn, animated, 360° film documenting a historic neighborhood in Philadelphia.
#VirtualReality

Minitourism
directed by Jan Grabowski
Poland // 2023 // Polish // 8 min
A trip around the world that turns out to be a metaphorical journey set in a miniature park.
#VirtualReality

Cover photo by Gregory Bishop.

Laura Williamson 3/14/24 Laura Williamson 3/14/24

2024 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Finalists

The Atlanta Film Society is pleased to present the 2024 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Finalists. Chosen from 1,555 total submissions, the following 20 feature film screenplays, 15 pilots, and 15 shorts represent the top 3% of all entries. Their authors are competing for invaluable mentorship opportunities to help hone their craft and plan the next steps in their careers in addition to cash prizes.

The Atlanta Film Society is pleased to present the 2024 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Finalists. Chosen from 1,555 total submissions, the following 50 feature film screenplays, 15 pilots, and 15 shorts represent the top 3% of all entries. Their authors are competing for invaluable mentorship opportunities to help hone their craft and plan the next steps in their careers in addition to cash prizes. Please join us in congratulating these impressive authors, and wish them well as the programming team continues to narrow this list down to 5 Winning Scripts!

Feature Screenplay Finalists

Adventures in Serial Killing - Jack Warner

Alien America - Gorby Mufan Shih

Aubrei from La Veta - Sam Ellison

Belonging - Liz Fields

But We Slept Soundly - Jake Kolton, Audrey Findlay

Cradle - Harriet Bramwell

Divorce, Marry, Kill - Alex Watson

Feedback - Jeffrey Dinghua Lei

HEARTRACE - Will Bermender

HOMESTALKER - Olivia Jampol

Hot Naked Mess - Jonathan Dillon, Sascha Alexander

Lo & Em - Claire Audrey Aguayo

Manongs - Mariel Madrid, Keone Madrid

Neat Freak - Christopher Glass

REMEDIATION - Conner Marie Allen

Rule Of Law - Eric Johnson

Sel De Mer "Sea Salt" - Jacqueline Cloake

The Hare - Bryson Edmondson

The Hazard Room - Mike Cymanski

The Struggle is Reel - Jennifer Tomlin

Pilot Screenplay Finalists

A Lost Lady - Pilot: "A Spark" - Holly Michelle Swenson

Akata - Stephanie Obadare, Caroline Gordon-Elliott

America Rise, America Fall - Giovanni Taveras

Gallatin - Ryan Skinner

Like You Stole It - Stacey Russell

MADS - Jan Pearson

McAllen - Michael Chludzinski

Run Red - Felicity R Landa

SIMORGH - Farzin Farzam

The Backrooms - Jon Addison

The Detail - Jonah Einstein

The Girl with the Devil Eyes - Toby Marks

The Local - Mark Naccarato

The Skipper - Telsyn Doucette

The subtle artGaia Kim Bartolini - Nick Habal

Short Screenplay Finalists

April and Mr. Stockman - Montgomery Burt

Become the Wounded - Gabe Berry

Bittersweet - Alec Gutherz

Bomb Ass Boss(es) - Shanice Williamson

Chosen - Michelle Farley

Curtain Call - Taylor Rankin

ELLIOTT - Shaun Radecki

Ghomeeda - Aya Mheidly

Handle With Care - Allison Orr Block

I DO MY BEST NOT TO REMEMBER THAT TIME MY BASEBALL CARD TRIED TO DESTROY MY LIFE - Shaun Radecki

Iron Fist - Kagure Kabue

Mouse - Michael Clifton

The 25th Annual Tucker High Talent Show - Evan Deis

The Rusty Nail - John Acquaviva

Togs - William Winston

Feature Screenplay Winners

Pilot Screenplay Winner

Short Screenplay Winner

Feature Screenplay Finalists

Pilot Screenplay Finalists

Short Screenplay Finalists

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Atlanta Film Festival 2025