By Tasnia Habib
Like most film festivals this year, the Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is not operating in person. After originally being scheduled for April, the ATLFF decided instead to offer virtual and drive-in screenings that started Thursday, September 17th and will continue through September 27th.
“As time went on, we realized the diminishing likelihood of being able to have any in-person events and pivoted to virtual and drive-in,” said Associate Director of ATLFF, Cameron McAllister. ATLFF select drive-in screenings are being held at three Atlanta movie theaters.
Drive-in at Pullman Yard.
“Christopher Escobar, who is our Executive Director, also owns the Plaza Theatre and has been operating two drive-in cinemas since April: one at the Plaza Theatre’s back parking lot and one at Dad’s Garage Theatre. So we are very fortunate to be able to screen at those venues and add Pullman Yard as an indoor drive-in option,” explained McAllister.
The ATLFF is the first major event in Atlanta since the pandemic began. Even during the pandemic, the ATLFF’s virtual programming is an important program for filmmakers.
“I think film festivals are essential in the indie film ecosystem. Whether they have to happen virtually, drive-in or get to where they can happen in person again, they are pivotal in the development of indie filmmakers.”
There are still some aspects of the festival the Associate Director hopes can return next year. “Networking is usually a huge and important facet of film festivals, so hopefully that can return next year.”
The selection process this year was very competitive, which is not unusual for ATLFF. They received over 8,500 works and selected about 150 of them. “We are one of the top ten film festivals in the world in terms of the number of submissions we receive.” Approximately half of all of ATLFF’s selected works were directed by people of color this year. McAllister said that this is part of a conscious effort on the part of ATLFF to make their program as diverse as Atlanta. “Over the last few years, our numbers have been about 30-40% POC directors, but this year we’ve hit the approximate halfway mark. We’ve also had at least 50% of our program directed by women for even longer,” said McAllister.
This year ATLFF will also be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Creative Conference, which includes more than 20 educational events. The 2020 Creative Conference will shift formats to virtual events, with a focus on Masterclass conversations and panels featuring accomplished directors, showrunners, producers and notable figures in the industry. The educational programming will cover a wide range of topics including virtual pitching, development, creating family friendly content, marketing, digital branding, podcasting, and sales and distribution. The conference will also include a series of free panels on casting, testing, acting and production in the COVID-19 pandemic. McAllister highlighted the Masterclasses with Damon Lindelof, who created Lost, The Leftovers and Watchmen and with James Laxton, the Oscar-nominated cinematographer of Moonlight.
Find out more about how to access the Creative Conference and attend the ATLFF virtually on their website.
Below are some McAllister’s favorite films that are screening during the festival
Still from the film Blast Beat
Blast Beat (Opening Night)
110 min., Narrative Feature
Director: Esteban Arango
Cast: Moises Arias, Mateo Arias, Daniel Dae Kim, Kali Uchis, Diane Guerrero, Wilmer Valderrama
Logline: On the cusp of the year 2000, Colombian brothers Carly (Mateo Arias) and Mateo (Moises Arias) prepare to move to the United States for their last years of high school. Metalhead Carly has his heart set on attending the Georgia Aerospace Institute and working for NASA, while his supportive parents (Diane Guerrero and Wilmer Valderrama) seize the chance to escape the political turmoil in Colombia and chase the American Dream. At first, Mateo is the only one to express any cynicism, but when the reality of their new life sinks in, the family struggles to adapt as their expectations are shattered. When events threaten to derail their future, Carly’s dream becomes his only lifeline.
The Glorias (Closing Night)
139 min., Narrative Feature
Director: Julie Taymor
Cast: Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Bette Midler, Janelle Monáe, Timothy Hutton, Lorraine Toussaint
Logline: Journalist, fighter, and feminist Gloria Steinem is an indelible icon known for her world-shaping activism, guidance of the revolutionary women’s movement, and writing that has impacted generations. In this non-traditional biopic, Julie Taymor crafts a complex tapestry of one of the most inspirational and legendary figures of modern history, based on Steinem’s own memoir My Life on the Road. THE GLORIAS (Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson, Ryan Keira Armstrong) traces Steinem’s influential journey to prominence—from her time in India as a young woman, to the founding of Ms. magazine in New York, to her role in the rise of the women’s rights movement in the 1960s, to the historic 1977 National Women’s Conference and beyond. THE GLORIAS includes a number of iconic women who made profound contributions to the women’s movement, including Dorothy Pitman Hughes (Janelle Monáe), Flo Kennedy (Lorraine Toussaint), Bella Abzug (Bette Midler), Dolores Huerta (Monica Sanchez) and Wilma Mankiller (Kimberly Guerrero).
Mariana Di Girolamo and Gael Garcia Bernal in EMA.
EMA
102 min., Narrative Feature
Director: Pablo Larraín
Cast: Mariana Di Girolamo, Gael García Bernal, Santiago Cabrera
Logline: Adoptive parents Ema (Mariana Di Girolamo) and Gastón (Gael García Bernal) are artistic free spirits in an experimental dance troupe whose lives are thrown into chaos when their son Polo is involved in a shockingly violent incident. As her marriage crumbles in the wake of their decision to abandon the child, Ema embarks on an odyssey of liberation and self-discovery as she dances and seduces her way into a daring new life. Centering on the sinuous, electrifying art of reggaeton dance, Ema is an incendiary portrait of a lady on fire, the story of an artistic temperament forced to contend with societal pressure and the urge to conform. From world-class director Pablo Larrain (Jackie, Neruda) comes another psychologically acute exhumation of Latin American life under restriction featuring an unforgettable heroine who is determined to move freely through the world, as she electrifies everyone and everything around her.
Feels Good Man
92 min., Documentary Feature
Director: Arthur Jones
Logline: When Matt Furie first created Pepe the Frog, a character in his indie comic Boy’s Club, Matt was an easygoing San Francisco artist and Pepe was a chill frog dude. Through a series of unforeseen events and bizarre connections driven by the internet, Pepe came to be a symbol of hate for the far right. How that exactly happened is a wild journey into the heart of online life today and the memeification of our shared collective culture, where the meanings of images change moment to moment and cannot be controlled even by their creators.
Save Yourselves!
93 min., Narrative Feature
Director: Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson
Cast: Sunita Mani, John Reynolds, Ben Sinclair, Johanna Day, John Early, Gary Richardson
Logline: Jack (John Reynolds) and Su (Sunita Mani) are a Brooklyn couple who, like many of their friends, find themselves dependent on technology and unable to put down their phones. Fearing their mindless scrolling may impact their connection with each other, they seize the chance to head to an isolated cabin in the woods, vowing to unplug from the outside world for a week. Sheltered from texts and push notifications, they are blissfully unaware that the planet is under attack. As strange events unfold, the couple must figure out a way back to civilization—or what’s left of it.