Atlanta Film Festival
Location | Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
---|---|
Predecessor | Atlanta International Film Festival |
Established | 1976 |
Producers | Atlanta Film Society |
No. of films | 150-250 |
Language | International |
Website | atlantafilmfestival |
The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is an international
History
Founding
In 1968, the
Name Changes
In 1984, the organization truncated the name of the festival to the Atlanta Film and Video Festival, and again in 2002, to the Atlanta Film Festival. In 2015, the parent organization became known as the Atlanta Film Society.[2]
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
In March 2020, ATLFF made the decision to postpone the 44th edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The original dates of April 30-May 10 were rescheduled to September 17–27.[3] This will mark the first time in the organization's history that the event will take place beyond the spring or early summer months. The 2022 event had the festival back to its usual practice with many awards.[4]
Academy Award Qualification
For decades, ATLFF has been an
IMAGE Film Awards Gala
On June 7, 2001, the organization launched the annual IMAGE Film Awards Gala as a separate event attached to the annual film festival. Recognizing individuals and organizations who have made outstanding contributions to building the state's film industry and community, the awards were named in honor of the organization's founding name.
The IMAGE Film Awards Gala continued for eight years until 2008, when the Atlanta Film Society paused the program for over a decade. It returned again on April 3, 2019 at the
Other IMAGE Film Award recipients include Dallas Austin, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, the Georgia Film Office, Diane Ladd, Spike Lee, Will Packer, Parker Posey, Burt Reynolds, Michael Stipe, Tyler Perry Studios, and Cicely Tyson.[5]
Notable discoveries
When ATLFF revived its annual Screenplay Competition in 2008,
Additionally, ATLFF has played the first works of Heidi Ewing, David Gordon Green, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Tina Mabry, Ray McKinnon, Victor Nuñez, Robert Rodriguez, RuPaul, David O. Russell and more.
Locations
Over the years, the festival's primary venues have included theaters such as
Midtown
In 2007, the festival partnered with the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema to centrally locate the festival to Midtown, dubbed the "Heart of Atlanta’s Arts" and home to a wide array of restaurants, bars and shops. The change allowed the festival more opportunities for panels, screenplay readings, film discussions and after-parties.
Highlands and Little Five Points
After 6 years centered at Landmark, the festival moved its home base to Atlanta's oldest continually operating cinema,
Programming
On Average, ATLFF programs between 150 and 250 films from approximately 50 countries each year. For the 2020 Film Festival, ATLFF received 8,559 works submitted for consideration.[7] On average, 85-95% of each year's film program comes from submissions, which special tracks designated for women filmmakers (New Mavericks), Black filmmakers, LGBTQ content (Pink Peach), Latin American content and Georgia-tied content.
ATLFF Screenplay Competition and Screenwriter's Retreat
Since 2008, ATLFF has hosted an annual Screenplay Competition that attracts over 1,300 submissions each year. Three feature film screenwriter winners attend a 3-day Screenwriter's Retreat at Serenbe where professional mentors help them workshop their scripts and get ready for the next stages of production. Winning screenplays also are featured at the festival in a staged table read. Additional prizes are also offered to winning episodic and short film scripts.[8]
Out on Film and Pink Peach
For years the Atlanta Film Festival organization produced Atlanta's
From 2008 to 2015, there was a Pink Peach Jury Award annually given to a feature film. Since 2016, LGBTQ films in competition are considered for the general jury prizes.
Year | Pink Peach Jury Award-winner |
---|---|
2008 | XXY |
2009 | Training Rules |
2010 | 8: The Mormon Proposition |
2011 | Bear Nation |
2012 | Cloudburst |
2013 | God Loves Uganda |
2014 | Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo |
2015 | Before the Last Curtain Falls |
New Mavericks
In 2013, the festival featured a shorts block titled New Mavericks, featuring films by female filmmakers with strong female leads. This began an annual tradition and in 2015, the New Mavericks program was expanded to include feature films and an annual New Mavericks prize.
SOUND+VISION
In 2012, the festival partnered with the Goat Farm Arts Center and indieATL to introduce a special, mostly-outdoor event featuring music videos, art installations and live musical performances called SOUND+VISION. The evening is an example of the types of elements film festivals continue to add as they look to redefine themselves, connect with audiences and innovate. An estimated 1,200 people attended in its inaugural year, dropping to just under 800 in 2013, due to inclimate weather. In 2014, the event drew over 1,500 attendees, and eclipsed 3,000 attendees in 2015. In 2016, the event moved to Ponce City Market and again to 787 Windsor in 2017. After a year break, SOUND+VISION returned and took place on the BeltLine and in Historic Fourth Ward Park in 2019.
Individual Award Recipients
IMAGE Film Award
- Gary Moss (2001)
- Gayla Jamison (2001)
- Zell Miller (2001)
- Crawford Communications (2001)
- Victor Nunez (2002)
- Jim McKay and Michael Stipe (2002)
- PC&E (Production Consultants and Equipment) (2002)
- Eleanor Ringel Gillespie (2002)
- Ossie Davis (2003)
- Ruby Dee (2003)
- Burt Reynolds (2003)
- Parker Posey (2003)
- Georgia Office of Film, Video and Music (2003)
- Digital Projection (2003)
- Dallas Austin (2004)
- Diane Ladd (2004)
- Lon Slack (2004)
- Bill VanDerKloot (2004)
- Linda Dubler (2004)
- Dr. Herbert Eichelberger (2005)
- George King (2005)
- W. Bruce Harlan (2005)
- Guy H. Tuttle (2005)
- Katherine Evans (2005)
- Linda Burns (2005)
- Dr. Kay Beck (2006)
- George LeFont (2006)
- Lab 601 (2006)
- Will Packer (2007)
- Kenny Blank (2007)
- GPP (Georgia Production Partnership) (2007)
- Steve James and Peter Gilbert (2008)
- Tyler Perry Studios (2008)
- Dr. Matthew Bernstein (2008)
- Virginia Hepner (2008)
- Tom Luse (2019)
- Betsy Holland (2019)
- Christopher M. Carr (2019)
- T.I. (2019)
- Daveed Diggs (2019)
Southeastern Media Award
- Eric Wise; City Boys Dream of Beaches (1995)
- Dorne M. Pentes; The Closest Thing to Heaven (1996)
- Robert Clem; Big Jim Folsom: The Two Faces of Populism (1997)
- Nick Searcy, Sean Bridgers; Paradise Falls (1998)
- Michael Porembski; Burning Questions (1999)
- David Gordon Green; George Washington (2000)
- Ray McKinnon; The Accountant (2001)
- Kristen McGary, Amy McGary; The Adventures of Ociee Nash (2002)
Ossie Davis Award
- Spike Lee (2005)
- Cicely Tyson (2006)
- John Sayles, Maggie Renzi (2007)
Filmmaker-to-Watch Award
- Sean Bloch (2006)
- Julien Paolini (2013)
- Moon Molson (2014)
- Ian Samuels (2015)
- Thoranna Sigurdardottir (2016)
- Malcolm Washington (2017)
- Connor Simpson (2018)
- Kalu Oji (2019)
- Esteban Bailey (2022)
New Mavericks Award
- Meryem Benm'Barek-Aloïsi; Jennah (2015)
- Erica Tremblay; In the Turn (2015)
- Elisa Paloschi; Driving with Selvi (2016)
- Katy Grannan, Hannah Hughes; The Nine (2017)
Innovator Award
- Daveed Diggs (2018)
Phoenix Award
- Kiersey Clemons (2018)
- George Anthony Morton (2022)
Rebel Award
- Jason Reitman (2018)
- President Jimmy Carter (2021)
Originator Award
- Joe Berlinger (2019)
- Spike Lee (2019)
Notable films that have played the festival
Feature Film Award-Winners
Year | Narrative Feature | Documentary Feature | Audience Award Feature |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | The Double Life of Ernesto Gomez-Gomez | American Gypsy: A Stranger in Everybody's Land | A Luv Tale |
2000 | Good Housekeeping | Good Kurds, Bad Kurds: No Friends But the Mountains | — |
2001 | Hybrid | Confederacy Theory, T-shirt Travels |
The Journey, Scratch |
2002 | My Father, the Genius | That's My Face | Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew |
2003 | Zero Day | A Certain Kind of Death, Girlhood |
— |
2004 | Dear Pillow | Dirty Work | — |
2005 | Most High | The Boys of Baraka | — |
2006 | Pope Dreams | What Remains | Loving Annabelle |
2007 | Great World of Sound | Protagonist | Darius Goes West |
2008 | Make-out with Violence | At the Death House Door | Young@Heart |
2009 | That Evening Sun | The Way We Get By | Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride, Living is Winning |
2010 | Putty Hill | Family Affair | — |
2011 | Prairie Love | An African Election | Disabled but Able to Rock, Sahkanaga |
2012 | Welcome to Pine Hill | Code 2600 | — |
2013 | I Used to Be Darker | A River Changes Course | Blood Brother |
2014 | I Believe in Unicorns | Getting to the Nutcracker | Little Ballers |
2015 | God Bless the Child | Stray Dog | Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi |
2016 | Hunky Dory | Driving with Selvi | The Founders |
2017 | Cortez | Rat Film | Holden On |
2018 | Restos De Viento (Wind Traces) | Man Made | Maynard |
2019 | Greener Grass | The Fourth Kingdom (El Cuarto Reino) | The Farewell |
See also
- Sundance Film Festival
- SXSW Film Festival
- Nashville Film Festival
- Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
- List of film festivals
- List of film festivals in North and Central America
References
- ^ "The 2019 Atlanta Film Festival is Almost Here". FanBolt. 7 March 2019.
- ^ "Atlanta Film Society History". atlantafilmsociety.org.
- ^ "Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference Reveals New Dates and Official Selections for 2020 Event". atlantafilmfestival.com.
- ^ "News".
- ^ "2019 IMAGE Film Awards Gala". atlantafilmsociety.org.
- ^ "Film in brief: Spike Lee wins, Bill Duke signs, plus a head's up [sic] on Buried Alive fest". Arts ATL. 16 October 2019.
- ^ "Atlanta Film Festival Announces First Wave of Films from 2020 Lineup". atlantafilmfestival.com.
- ^ "Screenplay Submissions FAQ — Atlanta Film Festival". atlantafilmfestival.com.
- ^ "Animation Anecdotes #115". 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2022-06-04.