The Call for Entries for the 2017 Atlanta Film Festival is now open!
Submit your film or screenplay for 2017 Atlanta Film Festival consideration today! Earlybird deadline is June 30th!
From March 24 to April 2, 2017, we will be celebrating our 41th anniversary and we are looking to you to help us make it our best yet.
Last year, we received over 4,700 film submissions from more than 120 countries across all 6 populated continents (sorry, Antarctica). Out of nearly 200 films that play the Atlanta Film Festival each year, roughly 80% of those come from submissions! In programming next year's festival, we are looking for groundbreaking works in narrative and documentary features and short films, animations, experimental films, puppetry films, music videos, virtual reality films and episodic pilots. We are pleased to have Pivot as our documentary film sponsor for 2017.
We received nearly 600 screenplay submissions last year, making for our most competitive Screenplay Competition since its inception in 2008. We are looking for innovative and compelling storytelling, for characters that surprise and challenge you, for words that pop off the page, and for narratives that twist and turn like a country back road. This year we’re accepting both feature scripts and pilot scripts; you’re more than welcome to submit in both categories.
Films and screenplays must comply with category requirements and filmmakers must complete the process and payment to be considered for ATLFF '17. Have questions? Check out our Film Submissions FAQ and our Screenplay Submissions FAQ.
The 2016 Regular Deadline is TODAY! Submit Your Films and Screenplays NOW!
Prices for submissions go up after today! Submit your script, film or pilot now!
We are already receiving an astounding number of quality submissions this year from all over the world, and the regular deadline is just now upon us! Submit your film before MIDNIGHT and you will save money! The late deadline is October 23, but prices for feature films and short films are raised by $10 after today.
The 2016 ATLFF Screenplay Competition also has the same deadlines, so if you have a script finished, submit now and save some cash!
Look At Me Now: Catching Up With Petter Onstad Løkke
Our Music Video Jury Award Winner from 2014 talks with us about his submissions experience, the value of a music video background, and what he's working on now.
Petter Onstad Løkke produced "Deathcrush: Lesson #16 for Beatmaster V / Fun," an ATLFF '14 Official Selection that emerged victorious with the Jury Award. In 2015, his short film "Polaroid" screened in our Other Worlds shorts block. We caught up with him about his ATLFF submissions experience, his transition from music videos to short films, and his current projects.
"As a first time submitter from Europe, it's always difficult to know which festival we should use our submission money on. We chose ATLFF because of its great reputation. The submission process with both Deathcrush: Lesson #16 for Beatmaster V / Fun and Polaroid went quite smoothly. The first times I submitted via Withoutabox, but this time I'm using FilmFreeway, as I prefer the latter. All dates were held as promised and when accepted, the festival coordinated all the practical stuff really well. The digital solutions make the deliverance of the material easy.
While winning the music video Jury Award was undoubtedly the most rewarding, I haven't been able to visit the festival yet. It's a shame, but hopefully more opporturnities will turn up as I'm submitting two short films this fall.
Making music videos is a great way to test visual and narrative ideas and concepts. We've worked with artists that've given us full creative freedom, which is important for me and the directors I work with. But while the creative process of making music videos has been rewarding, the lack of funding limits how much time I can spend doing that.
The most obvious, but also the most important, transition from music videos to short films is the narrative process. In music videos, you can disguise your story with visuals, rhythm and performance, as well as the song itself. When making short films, the overall process takes a lot more time in every stage of the project, especially in script development, the editing, and of course the sound design. The latter is obviously a big deal, since the sound designer can be so essential to the narrative. For instance, in Polaroid it really is our sound designer Inger Elise Holm who is the hidden star of the show, as she added crucial elements to the story.
Making music videos has definitely been important. Today's audience certainly has a lack of patience to be entertained, even in three minute long music videos. As filmmakers we must know how to hold the audience's attention constantly. Since this is even more difficult in short films, music videos are a great way to practice. It also is a great way to get to know different people and test relations with different directors.
In addition to Polaroid, I'm launching two more short films: Love Me More by Kristoffer Carlin and Taxfree by Christian K. Norvalls. Since completing the shorts, my focus has turned to developing feature films. Several very different and exciting projects are in the making and hopefully, some of them will be realized in the following years.
Together with several producers around Europe, we are working on developing relations and networks with an overall goal to do international productions. There are a lot of opportunities to fund films as long as you know how and where to look. This is my focus right now besides the film projects. I believe international co-productions will become even more important in the years to come."
We are now accepting submissions for the Music Video category, the Oscar-qualifying Narrative Short category, and all other categories for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival. The Regular Deadline is September 18.
WonderRoot's Local Film Series Wants You to Submit Your Films!
WonderRoot is looking for submissions for the fall edition of its Local Film Series! Experimental shorts, documentaries, narratives, animation, music videos, and video art are all considered. Submit by August 21.
WonderRoot is looking for submissions for the fall edition of its Local Film Series! Experimental shorts, documentaries, narratives, animation, music videos, and video art are all considered, as long as they are made in Georgia.
The deadline for submissions is August 21st and the next screening will be on September 24th at the Plaza Theatre. Jury prizes will be awarded and winning filmmakers receive funding to submit their work to other local and national film festivals, as well as a private consultation with the ATLFF's Creative Director, Kristy Breneman, and Senior Shorts Programmer, Christina Humphrey.
Submit your local film today!
Puppetry Short Films, Live Events and Special Presentations Abound at ATLFF
The Atlanta Film Festival has a long-standing love affair with puppetry—with short films, special presentations, live events and more all showcasing the best puppet offerings each year. Submit your puppetry short now!
The Atlanta Film Festival has a long-standing love affair with puppetry. A city devoted to the art form, Atlanta is home to the Center for Puppetry Arts, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to puppetry. In November, the Center will open its brand new 14 million dollar expansion, The Worlds of Puppetry Museum. It will feature two galleries—one devoted to the Global Collection and one dedicated to the Jim Henson Collection, the world’s most comprehensive collection of Henson’s puppets and artifacts.
For the last several years, puppetry shorts, special presentations, live events and installations have counted among ATLFF's most popular attractions—and we owe an immense deal of gratitude to Beau Brown, our special Puppetry Programmer. Working with Elizabeth Leary, Beau helps curate and plan ATLFF's striking puppet programing.
Beau is Director of Atlanta's Puppet Slam, The Puckin' Fuppet Show; officially recognized and sponsored by the national Puppet Slam Network. Additionally, Beau works as the Community Coordinator for the Center for Puppetry Arts, the Puppetry Track Director for Dragon Con and the National Puppet Slam Curator and Host. As a filmmaker and lead puppeteer for New Puppet Order, Beau has made several short films—many of which have been seen in ATLFF's annual Touch the Puppet Head presentation.
In 2015, ATLFF had an exceptionally strong puppetry program. While our puppetry shorts block boasted films from Australia, Spain, USA and the United Kingdom, we also featured Heather Henson's Handmade Puppet Dreams, a selection of short puppet films by independent artists exploring their hand made craft specifically for the camera. If you made it to our spectacular "Game of Thrones" party, you saw many puppets making their way through the crowd—including a larger-than-life dragon!
Since 2013, the Touch the Puppet Head special presentation has been a consistent late-night hit at each ATLFF. Mixing live performances with eccentric puppet films, Touch the Puppet head has seen performances by Lee Bryan, Raymond Carr, Gavin Cummins, Alex Griffin, Jason Hines, Joshua Holden, Charles Kelso, Charles Pillsbury, Carla Rhodes, Dana Samborski, Gregg Van Laningham and Zeb L. West, among others. In 2015, the world premiere of ATLFF's first independent TV pilot showcase, "Pepper's Place," took place at Touch the Puppet Head.
What will 2016's Puppetry Program look like? That's up to you! Submit your puppetry short films now and maybe we can pull some strings.
We are now accepting submissions for the Puppetry Short category and all other categories for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival. The Regular Deadline is September 18.
Animated Shorts Compete for Oscar Eligibility at ATLFF
At the 2015 Oscars, two ATLFF official selections competed for the Best Animated Short award. As an Academy Award®-qualifying festival, will our winning film from this year go on to receive a nomination?
Academy Award® nominated film and ATLFF '14 official selection "The Dam Keeper"
In 2015, the Atlanta Film Festival became Oscar-eligible for the Documentary Short Film category, meaning that the jury award-winning film in that category would then qualify for the shortlist of films that the final nominees are chosen from. However, ATLFF has already been Oscar-qualifying in the animated and narrative short categories for many years.
Earlier this year, two ATLFF official selections were nominated in the Best Animated Short category at the Academy Awards®. "The Dam Keeper," by Robert Kondo and Daisuke 'Dice' Tsutsumi, was part of the animated short competition during the 2014 festival and "The Bigger Picture," by Daisy Jacobs, played this spring as part of the 2015 ATLFF animated short competition.
The winning animated short film from ATLFF '15, thus qualifying it for Academy Award® consideration, is the locally produced "Starlight" from the Atlanta-based filmmakers and animators Tamarind King, Shir Wen Sun, Marisa Tontaveetong and Yu Ueda. "Starlight" follows a stray cat as it navigates the sights and sounds of Atlanta's famed Starlight Six Drive-in Theatre during a busy night. One of the animators, Marisa "Ginger" Tontaveetong, was announced as one of ATLFF's Filmmakers-in-Residence earlier this year. We will have to wait and see if "Starlight" goes on to compete for an Oscar next winter, but we know we have our fingers crossed!
We are now accepting submissions for the Animated Short category and all other categories for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival. The Regular Deadline is September 18.
WIFTA is Looking for Submission for its Summer Series at Ponce City Market!
Women in Film and Television Atlanta is hosting a summer film series in September and is now looking for submissions!
Women in Film and Television Atlanta is hosting a summer film series in September and is now looking for submissions! Check out the categories and submit your film today. There is $1000 in prize money plus the chance to get your film screened at Ponce City Market!
Animated Feature Films Find a Welcome Home at ATLFF
Animated features have become a staple in recent years at ATLFF, signifying a healthy and growing animation industry in Atlanta and beyond.
Animated features have become a staple in recent years at the Atlanta Film Festival, signifying a healthy and growing animation industry in Atlanta and beyond. Animation studios pump out family-friendly blockbusters every few weeks at your local cinemas, but the indie animated scene is working hard to produce beautiful and complex features and short films and ATLFF is pleased to showcase as much as we can.
In 2014, two-time Academy Award-nominee Bill Plympton brought his latest feature film "Cheatin'" to the Atlanta Film Festival. A dialogue free film, the rapturous artistry and beautiful music propels the film into a league of its own. Earlier this year, ATLFF helped spread the word about Plympton's efforts to crowd fund his next feature film, "Revengeance." We hope that whenever he wraps work on that, we will be among the first to screen it!
Ari Folman's "The Congress" was another example of feature animation at ATLFF '14 and became one of the most attended screenings that year. Folman previously directed the Israeli animated documentary film "Waltz With Bashir," which received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. "The Congress" is a live action/animation hybrid, starring Robin Wright, Jon Hamm and Paul Giamatti. Having also screened at the Cannes Film Festival, "The Congress" was one of 2014's art house hits, playing several festivals and select theaters across the globe.
At ATLFF '15, it was stop-motion animation that held the spotlight. In the Spanish film "Possessed (Pos Eso)," a retired flamenco dancer and a disillusioned priest deal with death and demon possession. The Buried Alive Film Festival partnered with us to present "Possessed," directed by Sam, on the first night of the festival.
Do you have an animated feature or short film that you are ready for the world to see? We are ready to watch it!
We are now accepting submissions for the Animated Feature category and all other categories for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival. The Regular Deadline is September 18.
Russell Sheaffer's Experimental Feature "Masculinity/Femininity" (ATLFF '15) is Available for Free
An example of ATLFF's dedication to both feature and short experimental films, 2015 selection "Masculinity/Femininity" from Russell Sheaffer is available for free on Vimeo On Demand.
"Masculinity/Femininity" is an experimental documentary feature from renowned filmmaker Russell Sheaffer that played this year's ATLFF. Picking up where "Masculinity & Me"—his short film starring James Franco—left off, "Masculinity/Femininity" is presented as a series of monologues, stories and performance pieces by artists, academics and gender theorists.
Sheaffer also had an experimental short film play this year's festival. "Broken Jaw" is a mediation on physical and psychological trauma.
To celebrate the United States Supreme Court's decision on marriage equality, Sheaffer decided to release "Masculinity/Femininity" without cost through Vimeo On Demand. Click here to rent the film free of charge, using Promo Code: Equality.
ATLFF is dedicated to experimental film programming—both features and short films. Our annual experimental shorts block consistently exceeds expectations, and "Masculinity/Femininity" is just one example of an ATLFF experimental feature official selection. Additionally, partnerships with local organizations like Contraband Cinema help keep us focused on experimental film year-round.
We are now accepting submissions for the Experimental Features, Experimental Shorts and all other categories for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival. The Regular Deadline is September 18.
ATLFF Now Accepting Pilot Episodes in Both Film and Screenplay Submissions
While ATLFF has screened network television shows for years and indie pilot "Pepper's Place" in 2015, we are now opening up both film and screenplay submissions to pilot episodes for the first time ever!
"Pepper's Place," from Zombie Cat Productions and Fake Wood Wallpaper.
Through partnerships with cable networks such as HBO, Starz, SundanceTV, ESPN, Fox Sports, FX, AMC and BBC America, the Atlanta Film Festival has been screening amazing television programming for years. Earlier this year, at the 39th annual ATLFF, we showcased our first ever indie television pilot—"Pepper's Place," directed by Atlanta's own Molly Coffee of Zombie Cat Productions.
Incorporating colorful set pieces, skillful puppetry, and catchy music, "Pepper's Place" was a pitch-perfect and hilarious compliment to our annual Touch the Puppet Head event.
Having seen the success of "Pepper's Place" at ATLFF '15 and the growing number of pilots produced annually, we are now opening up both film and screenplay submissions to pilot episodes for the first time ever!
Working on a one-hour drama pilot? Maybe it's a 30-minute sitcom? Have a great web series idea? We are looking for great works in all categories. Haven't shot your pilot yet? No problem—we have a screenplay competition as well.
The Call for Entries is now open for Pilot Episodes and all other categories for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival and for the 2016 ATLFF Screenplay Competition. The Regular Deadline is September 18.