2019 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Semifinalists

The Atlanta Film Festival is proud to announce the semifinalists in the 2019 Screenplay Competition. Chosen from over 1,200 submissions, these screenplays represent those moving forward from our feature film, television pilot, and short film categories.

Our writers are competing for once in a lifetime mentorship opportunities to help hone their screenplays and plan the next steps in their careers.

Congratulations to the writers so far. Stay tuned as our programming team narrows this list down to semifinalists, finalists, and this year’s winners.

Feature Screenplay Semifinalists

25 Special Spells to Get Your Man Back—Cara Washington
A Good Son—Suzanne Weinert
A Native Land—Caitlin McCarthy
Above and Beyond—Margaret Elam, Martha Burkert
Adulteress—Allison Radomski
Aktion T-4—John L. Martins III
An East Wind in The West—Ben Imperato
Angels—Camille Griffin
Audrey, 2.0—Imogen Grace
Ba Ge (Myna Bird)—Yongle Wang
Bin—Asad Farooqui
Burning In Water—Caleb Samples
Cherry—Sophie Galibert, Arthur Cohen
City of Trees—Christian Lybrook
Civil Death—Zac Loy
Cruel Pecans—Jonny Flores
Darryn The Bold and The Sword of Boldness—Justin Best
Deerslayer—Nathan Cabaniss
Don—Alberto Battistutti
Fight for It All—Jeff S. Gordon
Forget-Me-Nots—John Dummer
Freedom Soldier—Armelle Lajus
Fruit Punch—Alessandro Nicolaci
Goat Island—Nathan Cabaniss
God's Acre—Colin Adams-Toomey, Dan John Witherall
Goodbye, My Brother—Jason Grote
Gramercy Park—Toni Ann Johnson
Guilt—Jamie Severson
Hell's Acre—Alexander Salazar
Here to Stay—Ella Gabriel
Immaculate—Gareth P. Smith
Inside Passage—Bryan Fierro
Juan for the Road—Ross Fischer
Lufthansa 181—Jack Eckert
Measure of Vengeance—Danielle Eliska Lyle
Miss Liberty—Craig Paulsen
Modern Love—Francesca Mirabella
Mother Christmas—Donald Cameron
NancyGirl—David McMahon
Negative Space—Amelia Mathews, Adam Bradley
Oath—Paul Frank
On Time—Xavier Neal-Burgin
Prey—Casey Sincic
Queens—Max Sokoloff
Race To Tilébin—Rhym Guissé
Red Light—Dempsey Tillman
Road Trippy—Joe Heath
Rust—J. Motts
Savior—Teri Rusike
Sedger Mor—C.J. Wright
Stuck—Ian Southwood
Summertimes—Lamar Woods, Weldon Wong Powers
Sundogs—Elizabeth Chatelain
Temperance Mountain—Sean Harris Oliver
The Anklebiter—Andy Jones
The Blood Grinder—Dave Conte, Nick Schwartz, Matt Braunsdorf
The Dying Machine—Joseph Cahill
The Immigration Game—Asad Farooqui
The Italian Lover—Suzanne Griffin
The Last Good Cheat—Jacob Hart
The Memory Bank—Daniel Cooper, Adam Cooper
The Story On The Wall—Marwan Mokbel
They Sound Human—Bryan Ott
To Have and To Hold—Ida Yazdi
Vault—Roni Brown
What We Know—Juliana Roth
Will to Power—Michael Mul

Pilot Screenplay Semifinalists

Apache—Cameron Barsanti
Big Stick—Linda MacPherson Davidson
Blood and Dreams—Suzanne Griffin
Bounty—Gary M. Howell
Brown Country—Asad Farooqui
Close to the Bone—Ella Gabriel
Dark Horizons—Victoria Lucia
Derblin Paranormal—Ryan Manns
Destruction, Inc.—Stephen Chen
FanGirl—Will Ropp, Ellie Monohan, Jacqueline Toboni
Florida Woman Saves the Day—Julie O'Hora, Leanna Adams
Freedman—Bryan Frank
Heaven Springs, NY—Micah Paisner
Heirloom—Antonia Grilikhes-Lasky
King Street—Justin Kohlas
Lifers Anonymous—Sean Collins-Smith
Mother Nature—E. Napoletano
No Reservation—Ross Fischer
Rhiannon—Amanda Eberhardt
Rust—Justin Moran
Softer—Lovell Holder, Roger Q. Mason
Space Captain Smith—John Palfery-Smith, Bruce Hanson
The Life and Times of Francie Page—Victoria Lucia
The Outlaw Years—Maura O'Connell
The Secret Life of Inbred Mutants—Sean Collins-Smith (Story by Michael Leonberger and Sean Collins-Smith)
The Sensualist—Suzanne Griffin
White Trash Heroes—Peter Stallo
חי (living)—K. Alixandra Levitt

Short Screenplay Semifinalists

A Well Decorated Corner—Sam Kench
Amendement—Belinda Gosbee
Backbone—Alex Breaux
Circles—Renee Marie Petropoulos
Do No Harm—Ferzan Uddin
Ester in Wonderland—Stephanie Bollag, Lily Lyor Askenazi
Flat Squirrels—Jess Ansik
Flight—Alexis Stratton
Freezer Elisabeth Watts
Girls Are Strong Here—Scott Burkhardt
Go Your Own Way—Adam Harris
Hello Stranger—Christopher K. Nwagbara
I Know Your Number By Heart—Alexis Barzin
iDL—Jayson Morgan, Mari Walker
It Takes Two—A. Gay Magnus
Jump—Michael Davison
Just Me—Darcy Lueking Bahensky
Landromat Tango—Charles LaTourette
Stay with me, Adelaida.—Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
The Chocolate Kandinsky—Suzanne Griffin
The Deliverer—Gil Saint
Tuesday—Jess Ansik
Wed—Kristen McGary

2014 Independent Spirit Award Nominees - ATLFF Alums Well Represented

2013 Opening Night Film Mud

Earlier this week, the nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards were announced, and we couldn't be more ecstatic with the number of Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) alums we recognize. Opening and Closing Night Films from the 2013 fest, Mud and The Spectacular Now, each made the list twice. It's been nearly 5 years since Haifaa Al Mansour participated in our 2009 screenplay retreat with her script for Wadjda. The resulting film has built up buzz and critical acclaim since debuting at the 69th Venice Film Festival, now Mansour is competiting for a Spirit Award in the Best First Feature category alongside 2013 alum Stacie Passon (Concussion). I'm particularly proud of A River Changes Course. We take great pride in the quality of documentaries we select and A River being our 2013 Jury Award winner represents the fest well. 

The 2014 ceremony will premiere on IFC, Saturday , March 1st, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT, with Patton Oswalt hosting (check Oswalt in 2009's Big Fan if you haven't) . You can read the full list of nominees below, with the current alums--as well as past alums we noticed--higlighted in bold. You can also find the list on Deadline Hollywood.

BEST FEATURE
12 Years A Slave
All Is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

BEST DIRECTOR
(ATLFF Alum) Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor, All Is Lost
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
(ATLFF '13) Jeff Nichols, Mud
Alexander Payne, Nebraska

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann, Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson, Short Term 12
(ATLFF '13) Shailene Woodley, The Spectacular Now

BEST MALE LEAD
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave
Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Michael B Jordan, Fruitvale Station
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford, All Is Lost

BEST SCREENPLAY
Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater, Before Midnight
Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said
(ATLFF '13) Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, The Spectacular Now
John Ridley, 12 Years A Slave

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Melonie Diaz, Fruitvale Station
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Yolonda Ross, Go For Sisters
June Squibb, Nebraska

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Will Forte, Nebraska
James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Keith Stanfield, Short Term 12

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Lake Bell, In A World
(Exclusive Member Screening) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Don Jon
Bob Nelson, Nebraska
Jill Soloway, Afternoon Delight
Mike Starrbury, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Sean Bobbitt, 12 Years A Slave
Benoit Debie, Spring Breakers
Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Frank G. Demarco, All Is Lost
Matthias Grunsky, Computer Chess

BEST EDITING
Shane Carruth & David Lowery, Upstream Color
Jem Cohen & Marc Vives, Museum Hours
Frank G. Demarco, All Is Lost
Matthias Grunsky, Computer Chess
Nat Sanders, Short Term 12

BEST DOCUMENTARY 
20 Feet From Stardom, Director/Producer: Morgan Neville, Producers: Gil Friesen & Caitrin Rogers
After Tiller, Directors/Producers: Martha Shane & Lana Wilson
Gideon’s Army, Director/Producer: Dawn Porter, Producer: Julie Goldman
The Act of Killing, Director/Producer: Joshua Oppenheimer, Producers: Joram Ten Brink, Christine Cynn, Anne Köhncke, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Michael Uwemedimo
The Square, Director: Jehane Noujaim, Producer: Karim Amer

BEST INT’L FILM
A Touch of Sin (China)
Blue is the Warmest Color (France)
Gloria (Chile)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Blue Caprice, Director/Producer: Alexandre Moors; Producers: Kim Jackson, Brian O’Carroll, Isen Robbins, Will Rowbotham, Ron Simons, Aimee Schoof, Stephen Tedeschi;
(ATLFF '13) Concussion, Director: Stacie Passon, Producer: Rose Troche
Fruitvale Station, Director: Ryan Coogler; Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker
Una Noche, Director/Producer: Lucy Mulloy, Producers: Sandy Pérez Aguila, Maite Artieda, Daniel Mulloy, Yunior Santiago
(Screenplay Competition '09)Wadjda, Director: Haifaa Al Mansour, Producers: Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (best feature made for under $500,000)
Computer Chess, Writer/Director: (ATLFF Alum) Andrew Bujalski, Producers: Houston King & Alex Lipschultz
Crystal Fairy, Writer/Director: Sebastiàn Silva, Producers: Juan de Dios Larraín & Pablo Larraín
Museum Hours, Writer/Director: Jem Cohen, Producers: Paolo Calamita & Gabriele Kranzelbinder
(ATLFF '13) Pit Stop, Writer/Director: Yen Tan, Writer: David Lowery, Producers: Jonathan Duffy, James M. Johnston, Eric Steele, Kelly Williams
This is Martin Bonner, Writer/Director: Chad Hartigan, Producer: Cherie Saulter

17th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD 
Toby Halbrooks & James M. Johnston, Jacob Jaffke, Andrea Roa, Frederick Thornton

20th ANNUAL SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD 
My Sister’s Quinceañera, Director: Aaron Douglas Johnston
Newlyweeds, Director: Shaka King
The Foxy Merkins, Director: (ATLFF Alum) Madeline Olnek

19th ANNUAL STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD 
(ATLFF '13) Kalyanee Mam, A River Changes Course
Jason Osder, Let the Fire Burn
Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez, Manakamana

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(ATLFF '13) Mud, Director: Jeff Nichols, Casting Director: Francine Maisler, Ensemble Cast: Joe Don Baker, Jacob Lofland, Matthew McConaughey, Ray McKinnon, Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon, Sam Shepard, Tye Sheridan, Paul Sparks, Bonnie Sturdivant, Reese Witherspoon

Got Your Back: WEEKEND WARRIOR on Indiegogo

Alumni filmmakers Shasha Nakhai and Lyndon Casey are running a crowd-funding campaign for their next film, the short comedy WEEKEND WARRIOR. Set on a non-existent Canadian military base, the film follows Bobby Reddick as he tries to adjust to life in the army, and the friction he encounters when his commanding officer discovers he's abusing the system for his own personal therapy. Shasha's film THE SUGAR BOWL screened at ATLFF in 2012 and Lyndon's film CAPTAIN COULIER (embedded below) screened at the festival in 2009. 

"At its core [Weekend Warrior] is about masculinity, entitlement and the sometimes-ridiculous lengths people will go to for self-improvement. Only in 2013 would somebody think he has the right to enlist in the army and use it for "therapy". However, I don't want to judge my characters quite yet and I hope this film starts a discussion about the role of our military. Is Bobby being disrespectful by enlisting in the army? Or are institutions changing? Will the military change this apathetic young man into something greater?"

Weekend Warrior Indiegogo Campaign
Funding Deadline December 3rd

An aloof Captain becomes restless and argumentative with his focused crew. --Official Selection Sundance 2009, Winner LA Comedy shorts 2009, Winner Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Cinevegas, Rhode Island Film Festival, WSFF,