It’s time for my favorite event in Atlanta, the Atlanta Film Festival! Chosen from over 10,000 submissions, the festival brings both feature and short films to Atlanta, including 17 Marquee screenings, 39 world premieres, and 155 creative works from around the world. The Atlanta Film Festival is an event film lovers won’t want to miss. ATLFF is presenting some of the best upcoming films that Hollywood has to offer, including movies from top studios and films, along with films from over 30 countries.
ATLFF 2023 will be more accessible than ever, offering a mix of in-person and virtual screenings. Screenings will be held at the Plaza Theatre (1049 Ponce De Leon Ave NE), Dad’s Garage (569 Ezzard St SE), The Carter Center (453 Freedom Parkway), and The Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University (80 Forsyth St NW). All virtual screenings and events will be presented via Eventive.
The long-running festival has always been a distinguished event, recognized as one of the “Ten Best Film Festivals in the U.S.” by USA Today readers and one of the “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” by MovieMaker Magazine.
The Opening Night Presentation of Focus Features’ “Polite Society” will take place at the Plaza Theatre on Friday, April 21. Starring Priya Kansara and Ritu Arya, the film follows a martial artist-in-training who enlists her friends to help save her older sister from her impending marriage in the name of independence and sisterhood.
The Closing Night Presentation on Saturday, April 29th at the Rialto Center for the Arts is “Big Boss". The film is the remarkable true story of Keke Palmer, a young woman from Chicago who faces immense challenges in the male-dominated music industry. Written and directed by Keke herself, the film showcases her perseverance, self-love, unyielding faith, and indomitable spirit. Throughout her journey, Keke discovers that the greatest obstacle she must overcome is learning to trust her instincts. Keke Palmer will be in attendance for a conversation and extended Q&A.
Some highlights of the festival’s programming from celebrated filmmakers and Hollywood studios include narrative features and documentaries that are sure to thrill, entertain and inform. “This World Is Not My Own” is a documentary film that traces the lifespan of artist Nellie Mae Rowe through motion capture technology to replicate human expressions and movement performed by Uzo Aduba, “It’s Only Life After All” is a documentary that follows the lives and careers of one of the most iconic folk-rock bands in America, the Indigo Girls, and “The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster,” starring Laya DeLeon Hayes and Chad Coleman, is a poignant story of grief and hope, in which a teenage anti-hero goes on a desperate quest to cure death. “Still: A Michael J Fox Movie” is a film that incorporates documentary, archival and scripted elements, recounting Michael J. Fox’s extraordinary story in his own words, the improbable tale of an undersized kid from a Canadian army base who rose to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood.
In conjunction with Videodrome, Atlanta’s last video store, is the Atlanta premiere screening of a brand-new restoration of “Party Girl”, director Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s 1995 Manhattan cult comedy starring the sublime Parker Posey. Co-hosted by Fun City Editions, who commissioned and oversaw the restoration, this event will feature a Q&A with Fun City founder Jonathan Hertzberg and Millie De Chirico, local film programmer, writer, historian, and host of the weekly film podcast I Saw What You Did.
The festival is also known for its short film categories and is one of the few festivals in the country that offer Academy Award-qualifying for all three short categories: Narrative, Documentary, and Animated.
The Atlanta Film Festival IMAGE Film Awards Gala will be held at the Fox Theatre on Sunday, April 23rd. This year’s IMAGE Film Award honorees include President Jimmy Carter, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal (2011-2019), Atlanta-based entertainment and technology company Trioscope, and BronzeLens Film Festival. The IMAGE Film Award on behalf of President Jimmy Carter will be accepted by a special guest soon to be announced. Additional award recipients include George R. R. Martin, honored with the Originator Award, which recognizes visionaries who are often imitated, never duplicated, and always responsible for setting new industry standards in the film industry. Keke Palmer, honored with the Ossie Davis Award, which recognizes creative excellence and dynamic contributions to the art of cinema, for her achievements across film, television, and music, all while bringing truth, vulnerability, and power to her roles. And Vincent D’Onofrio, honored with the Phoenix Award, which recognizes Vincent for his 20+ years of acting and now his directorial debut with “Night of the Cooters.”
The popular Creative Conference will be ongoing again at the festival, with workshops, panels, talks, and demos that will delve into the world of filmmaking, focusing on topics such as screenwriting, pitching, acting, producing, casting, funding, and distribution, and how they all come together to make a film or television episode. This will be the 13th year for the Creative Conference, offering over 25 in-person panel discussions, eight virtual panels, and in-depth conversations with industry experts from Atlanta to Los Angeles.
The full schedule of films and events is available at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com and through the ATLFF 2023 app. Festival passes are on sale now on the site. Tickets for individual events will be available online. In-person screening tickets range from $12-15; virtual access is $9.99 per film/panel with an unlimited virtual all-access pass for $85 for both films and Creative Conference.
The Atlanta Film Festival is the chief annual operation of the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS), one of the oldest and largest organizations dedicated to the promotion and education of film in the United States, which enriches the community through screenings, classes, workshops, and other events year-round.
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