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March Events...

  • Ann Arbor Film Festival
  • BFI Flare
  • Festival Cinémarges
  • Glasgow Film Festival
  • Leeds Queer Film Festival
  • OGA (S)exhibition
  • Sofia International Film Festival
  • Tampa Bay Transgender Film Festival
  • Toronto Queer Film Festival
  • Trans Film Fest Stockholm
Atlanta Film Festival

Atlanta Film Festival

Thursday, 25 April 2024 until Sunday, 05 May 2024

The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is the Southeast’s preeminent celebration of cinema and the flagship production of the Atlanta Film Society. One of the largest and longest-running festivals in the country, ATLFF showcases the work of both emerging and established artists and is one of less than twenty US film festivals that is Academy Award®-qualifying in all three shorts categories: Narrative Short, Documentary Short, and Animated Short.

Every spring, our 11-day festival presents approximately 150 to 175 local, domestic, and international works selected from over 10,000 submissions (consisting of 7,900+ films and 2,100+ screenplays) representing approximately 40 countries. Year to year, historically, 90 to 95% of ATLFF’s program is composed of submissions. ATLFF actively strives to be an inclusive showcase with spotlights on filmmakers of color, LGBTQ+ films, women and gender noncomforming filmmakers, and filmmakers from the American South. For the 2022 festival, 51% of the submitted program was directed by women and gender nonconforming directors and 56% by BIPOC directors. The Atlanta Film Festival seeks inclusivity in on-screen representation as well, with 77% of the 2022 program featuring a woman, gender non-conforming person, and/or person of color in a leading role.

In addition, each year ATLFF seeks to program a variety of genres and film styles including (but not limited to) experimental films, music videos, comedies, horror and sci-fi, kid friendly films, food films, and puppetry films.

ATLFF has been named a “Top 50 Festival Worth the Entry Fee” and one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” by MovieMaker magazine, and has been recognized as a Best Film Festival by Creative Loafing, Sunday Paper, USAtoday 10 Best, and Atlanta Magazine, as well as the Best Spring Festival by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

ATLFF’s continued exposure is in part thanks to growing distributor and press attention. Recent distributor attendance includes A24, Paramount, Netflix, Lionsgate, Focus Features, The Orchard/1091 Media, Magnolia, Bleecker Street, The Film Collaborative, Participant Media, Archer Gray, XLrator Media, CNN, HBO, Showtime, AMC, Sundance TV, Warner Media, NBC Universal, Filmstruck, Kickstarter, Seed & Spark, Vimeo, and MUBI.

Now in its eighth year, our Georgia Film Award has grown into two juried awards – Georgia Feature Award and Georgia Short Award to further celebrate and recognize the outstanding work of filmmakers in our community. Films made by Georgia-based directors and submitted to either feature film category or short category in Narrative, Documentary, or Animation will be eligible for consideration for the appropriate category upon inclusion in the festival. Georgia film submissions are also considered for non-Georgia competition categories as applicable.

Georgia filmmakers may submit with a discounted submission fee for projects that were both shot in Georgia and come from a director with a current Georgia address. Projects that meet both qualifications can submit at a discount of 50%. To obtain the discount code, applicants will need to email GA@atlantafilmfestival before submitting with the following information: the city the director resides in and where in GA the film was shot. Films that are not live-action are also eligible for the discount if the director resides in the state and partially produced the film in Georgia.

Over $100,000 in combined cash and prizes for have been given for awards in the following categories year to year:

The winners of Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and the Georgia Feature Award receive a rental credit from the Atlanta Film Society's own annual credit donated by the Plaza Theatre to perform a week-long Oscar Qualifying Theatrical run at the Plaza Theatre (up to a $6,500 value each).

Best Narrative Feature ($2,000 cash prize + theatrical run prize)
Best Documentary Feature ($2,000 cash prize + theatrical run prize)
Best Narrative Short ($1,000 cash prize)
Best Documentary Short ($1,000 cash prize)
Best Animated Short ($1,000 cash prize)
Best Cinematography ($90,000 value in camera and post rental/services)
Sponsored by Panavision and Light Iron
Filmmaker-to-Watch ($1,000 cash prize)
Georgia Feature Award ($2,000 cash prize + theatrical run prize)
Georgia Short Award ($1,000 cash prize)

*Additional prizes may be announced. Current award categories and prizes are subject to change.

ACADEMY-QUALIFICATION: The winners of Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Short all qualify for the following year’s Academy Awards in their respective categories.

ATLFF juries are composed of filmmakers, film critics, academics and industry figures. Recent jurors have included Academy Award-nominated filmmakers and representatives from The Los Angeles Times, Indiewire, TIME, Adult Swim, VICE, Vimeo, NPR, Film Independent, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Seed and Spark, Music Box, NEON, Oscilloscope Laboratories, IFC Films, and MUBI.

Films competing in juried categories are chosen solely at the discretion of the ATLFF programming team. Acceptance to the festival does not guarantee placement in competition. Films are not programmed in or out of competition, as competition status is determined once the full program has been locked.

All officially selected features and short films will be eligible for our Audience Awards. In addition to the juried prizes listed above, ATLFF also awards prizes in a variety of non-juried categories. While they vary from year to year, recent non-juried prizes have included Programmer Awards, the Filmmaker-to-Watch Award, and the Southern Documentary Fund Award. All official selections that meet the guidelines of these non-juried competitions, in a year when they are being presented, will be eligible.


 

Pink Peach 2024...

8 Minutes 20 Seconds

9 minutes | United States | 2024

Max must race against time to reconcile with his ex-boyfriend for them to be together in Earth's last moments of sun.


As You Are

14 minutes | United States | 2023

An interabled queer couple spend the night together for the first time.


Asog

101 minutes | Canada, Philippines | 2024

ASOG follows JAYA on a road trip to a drag pageant and along the way they encounter Filipinos enduring the impacts of climate change.


Baby Gay

9 minutes | United States | 2024

Desperate to prove her bisexuality, Stevie Lee bluffs her way into a lesbian threesome thinking she’ll “figure it out” when she gets there.


The Battle

84 minutes | Brazil | 2024

Twenty-one long takes depict moments of the real event known as the Battle of the Students, in October 1968, during the Brazilian dictatorship.


Becoming

25 minutes | United States | 2023

An imaginative queer teen weaves in and out of his own fantasy world while struggling to connect with his older brother.


Billy & Mac

8 minutes | United States | 2024

A closeted high school football player discovers the dead body of his crush.


A Bird Called Memory

15 minutes | Brazil, United Kingdom | 2023

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.


Caterpillar

111 minutes | United States | 2023

Endlessly struggling to feel seen, David becomes infatuated with a mysterious company’s promise to transform people’s lives.


Chickenshit

8 minutes | United Kingdom | 2023

At the height of summer, two rowdy boys spend the afternoon tearing through the countryside discovering nature, electricity, and themselves.


Claude

15 minutes | United States | 2024

Her childhood stuffed bunny, Claude, watches his owner navigate her turbulent love life as an adult trans-woman.


Decomp Disco

5 minutes | United States | 2024

Taking place entirely on “Cybill’s Disco Jet,” “Decomp Disco” places us in the midst of a disco-fueled quarrel between two women in 1978.


Devouring Stones Up Close

9 minutes | United States | 2024

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.


Discoteque

5 minutes | United States | 2023

I feel your beat, you feel my rhythm, till the end.


Faceless After Dark

82 minutes | United States | 2024

Following her breakout success in a horror flick, Bowie is held hostage by an unhinged fan determined to recreate the film’s fatal plot.


My Queerceañera

17 minutes | United States | 2023

Upon turning fifty years old, Karyna, a transgender immigrant, is determined to fulfill her lifelong dream of celebrating her Quinceañera.


Naked Ambition

73 minutes | United States | 2023

Bunny Yeager, the unseen force behind the bikini, Playboy's allure, and the invention of the selfie comes to life in 'Naked Ambition".


Poor Clare

119 minutes | United States | 2024

Someone is at Clare's door. Now he's in her home. Can she step outside of herself to understand what is happening to her?


Rape Play

82 minutes | United States | 2023

Rape Play examines fan culture, teenage girlhood, and sexual violence through interviews, lyrical essays, and fantastical reenactment.