Twelve Shorts Revealed from 40th Anniversary Lineup
These officially selected short films representing fourteen countries examine the borderless social impact of underheard voices in film.
"The City of Joy," Joe Gomez
We announced six feature selections in December, all of which focus on human narratives with global significance. The 40th anniversary shorts lineup ventures both to further and focus this theme. Whether a reflection of the country of production or country of the filmmaker’s origin, the following short films examine the borderless social impact of voices in film, from both people and places.
“Our shorts program spans the globe every year, but 2016 brings us stellar cinematic worlds crafted by voices rarely amplified in mainstream film,” said Christina Humphrey, ATLFF Senior Shorts Programmer. “These selections show not only multiple regions and cultures, but many genres as well; these twelve alone employ experimental, animation, narrative, and documentary styles,” adds Shorts Programmer Alyssa Armand.
From Ana Teresa Fernandez, “Erasure” captures its director’s solidarity with the 43 men kidnapped in Iguala, Mexico in September 2014. Fabio Palmieri’s “Irregulars” explores European immigrant and refugee voyages. “Battalion to My Beat,” Eimi Imanishi’s Algerian narrative, introduces a young refugee named Mariam with Joan of Arc dreams. Local Atlantan Babacar Ndiaye’s “More Than Music Senegal” documents an underground artist community using hip hop to enact social change.
Chosen from a record-setting pool of over 4,700 submissions, these films span 8 shorts blocks collectively. The stories hail from Algeria, Canada, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, and Western Sahara.
Bacon and God’s Wrath // directed by Sol Friedman
Canada, 2015, 08:55
A 90-year-old Jewish woman reflects on her life’s experiences as she prepares to try bacon for the first time.
Battalion to My Beat // directed by Eimi Imanishi
Western Sahara/Algeria/USA, 2015, 13:45
Battalion To My Beat is set in the Western Saharan refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, and follows the story of Mariam, a rebellious 13-year-old girl who naively envisions herself a Jeanne D'Arc that will free her people from the occupation.
Carnal Orient // directed by Mila Zuo
USA, 2015, 08:34
A dark and strangely surreal snapshot of sexual desire aimed at the exotic.
The City of Joy // directed by Joe Gomez
India, 2015, 21:04
Following a girl living in a slum trying to get an education, a mother in a village raising her two daughters alone, and a man in the city who pulls a rickshaw through the streets of Kolkata to provide for a family of seven, The City of Joy is a portrait of the daily life of three individuals and the city they live in.
El Adiós // directed by Clara Roquet
Spain, 2015, 14:55
A Bolivian maid attempts to honor last wishes of her late mistress.
Erasure // directed by Ana Teresa Fernandez
Mexico/USA, 2015, 06:21
Ana paints herself black in protest of and in solidarity with the 43 men that were kidnapped in Iguala, Mexico in Sept. 2014.
How to Be A Black Panther // directed by Daisy Zhou
USA, 2015, 19:59
On July 4th, 1968, Han Kang navigates through the day in a small homogeneous suburban town as the only Asian American teenager. Today, both the anniversary of America's independence and the death of a dear African American friend ignites celebration, mourning, anger, and revelation.
Irregulars // directed by Fabio Palmieri
Italy, 2015, 08:55
Each year 40,000 people from Africa, Asia and the Middle East try to enter Europe. They flee from war, persecution and poverty. Since the ways by land have been interrupted, they board overloaded vessels and face a dangerous and often deadly voyage across the Mediterranean.
The \little \boy // directed by Mona A. Shahi
Iran, 2015, 07:35
People are leaving a town by the order of military, but one little boy doesn't want to follow them. He wants to complete his own mission, but….
More Than Music: Senegal // directed by Babacar Ndiaye
USA, 2015, 12:58
At a time when Hip Hop seems to be headed in a disappointing direction, there exists an underexposed community of Artists who've managed to transform the genre to address their community's needs.
The Quantified Self // directed by Gleb Osatinski
USA, 2015, 15:30
When well-meaning parents turn the self-tracking into a family religion, the consequences fall outside the quantifiable.
Seide // directed by Elnura Osmonalieva
Kyrgyzstan, 2015, 13:40
Seide lives in a snowy mountain village with her humble family and her beloved horse. When she's forced into an arranged marriage with a man from a wealthy family, she fights to save her horse from being slaughtered for food for the wedding.
First Wave of Features from 40th Annual Atlanta Film Festival Announced!
These first six films were selected from an impressive pool of over 4,750 submissions—an ATLFF all-time record. The films and their makers comprise an international showcase, together representing Bangladesh, Canada, India, Pakistan, Palestine, South Africa, and the United States.
Next year will make history. Today’s international climate fosters social, economic, and political revolution, yielding stories of incomparable gravity. Independent filmmakers continue to connect the world with these stories, and the Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) extends to these voices a platform four decades in the making.
“As the U.S. approaches a pivotal election year, this 40th anniversary lineup builds upon six feature films whose subjects, communities, and conflicts resonate with Atlanta and the world beyond,” said Kristy Breneman, ATLFF Creative Director and Features Programmer. Of this first slate, two are narratives and four are documentaries.
All six were selected from an impressive pool of over 4,750 submissions—an ATLFF all-time record. The films and their makers comprise an international showcase, together representing Bangladesh, Canada, India, Pakistan, Palestine, South Africa, and the United States.
Four of the features mark directorial debuts. Directed by Ted Marcus, “Like Lambs” is a dramatic narrative thriller that illustrates a student revolution. “Romeo is Bleeding,” directed by Jason Zeldes, follows Donté Clark’s quest to restore peace in his Richmond, CA streets. “Sink” is a narrative directed by Brett Michael Innes that adapts his novel about a Mozambican domestic worker, her South African employers, and the tragedy that befalls them. “Speed Sisters” is Amber Fares’ documentary tale about the first all-female race car driving team in the Middle East.
“Driving With Selvi” and “A Journey of A Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers,” documentaries from India and Bangladesh respectively, feature strong female subjects from Georgia’s fastest growing demographic.
ATLFF ‘16 meanwhile marks the first year within the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS), a fortified organization title birthed in October of 2015. The ATLFS name reflects a year-round mission to lead the community in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image. Connection with a filmmaker dramatically magnifies the impact of his or her moving images, and ATLFF strives to bring our filmmakers to Atlanta no matter where they are in the world. This objective introduces a story’s audience to its storyteller, enriching the audience experience with access to the source of passion, context, and craft.
The 40th annual Atlanta Film Festival takes place April 1-10th, 2016. The festival is currently conducting its third annual and largest ever Kickstarter campaign to bring filmmakers to the festival. (atlantafilmfestival.com/fund) #40Kin40Days
Driving With Selvi
directed by Elisa Paloschi
Canada/India, 2015, Tamil, 74 minutes
Selvi, like so many girls living in India, is forced to marry at 14, only to find herself in a violent marriage. One day in deep despair, she chooses to escape, going on to become South India’s first female taxi driver. We first meet Selvi at a girls’ shelter in 2004—timid, soft-spoken, a fresh runaway from a difficult life. Over a ten-year journey, we see a remarkable transformation as Selvi finds her voice and defies all expectations—learning to drive, starting her own taxi company, leading educational seminars, and much more. This character-driven story highlights the challenges that millions of devalued women and girls in India face. In a society where women are often considered expendable or worthless, Selvi is exceptional—a charming, strong, and utterly courageous young woman who moves beyond the pain she’s experienced to create a new life.
#Documentary #International #NewMavericks
A Journey of A Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers
directed by Geeta Gandbhir, Sharmeed Obaid-Chinoy
USA/Bangladesh/Pakistan, 2015, Bengali/English/Creek, 95 minutes
“A Journey of A Thousand Miles” follows a unit of one hundred and sixty women who, between June 2013 and July 2014, travel far from their families, friends and all that is familiar at home in Bangladesh to join the United Nations Stabilizing Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). They form one of the world’s first all female, predominantly Muslim peacekeeping units; shattering every stereotype the world holds about the capabilities of Muslim women. The women—young and old, married and single, mothers and daughters—come from every corner of Bangladesh. The film focuses on three women in this unit as they grapple with the harsh realities of becoming foot soldiers in a United Nations Peacekeeping Mission.
#Documentary #International #NewMavericks
Like Lambs
directed by Ted Marcus
USA, 2016, English, 83 minutes
When economic apocalypse strikes America, students at an impossibly exclusive boarding school kidnap their most privileged classmates. After they release a video to the media stating that unless trillions of dollars in illegally withheld offshore taxes are brought in to halt the collapse, the wealthy elite must watch as their precious babes are executed on national television.
Starring: Liam Aiken, Connor Paolo, Justin Chon, David Dayan Fisher, Godfrey, Chanelle Peloso, Kale Browne
#Narrative
Romeo is Bleeding
directed by Jason Zeldes
USA, 2015, English, 93 minutes
A fatal turf war between neighborhoods haunts the city of Richmond, CA. Donté Clark transcends the violence in his hometown by writing poetry about his experiences. Using his voice to inspire those around him, he and the like-minded youth of the city mount an urban adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with the hope of starting a real dialogue about violence in the city. Will Richmond force Donté to compromise his idealistic ambitions? Or will Donté end Richmond’s cycle of trauma?
#Documentary
Sink
directed by Brett Michael Innes
South Africa, 2015, Afrikaans, 115 minutes
"Sink" tells the story of Rachel, a Mozambican domestic worker living in Johannesburg, is forced to make a life-changing decision after her daughter dies while under the care of her South African employer; return to poverty stricken Mozambique or continue working for the people responsible for the death of her child so that she can keep her home, her visa and continue to support her family. Things become even more complicated when she finds out that her employers are expecting their first child and the story follows the journey of all three as they try to find a way to live with the tragic accident that has brought them together.
Starring: Anel Alexander, James Alexander, Leandie du Randt
#Narrative #International
Speed Sisters
directed by Amber Fares
Palestine/USA, 2015, Arabic/English, 80 minutes
The Speed Sisters are the first all-woman race car driving team in the Middle East. Grabbing headlines and turning heads at improvised tracks across the West Bank, these five women have sped their way into the heart of the gritty, male-dominated Palestinian street car-racing scene. Weaving together their lives on and off the track, “Speed Sisters” takes you on a surprising journey into the drive to go further and faster than anyone thought you could.
#Documentary #International #NewMavericks
Help Us Raise #40Kin40days to Bring Filmmakers to Atlanta for ATLFF '16!
It is our 3rd year running a Kickstarter campaign, but its our 40th birthday, so we have to do it bigger than ever! Help us raise money for our travel budget so that all filmmakers can attend next year's festival.
It is our 3rd year running a Kickstarter campaign, but its our 40th birthday, so we have to do it bigger than ever! Help us raise money for our travel budget so that all filmmakers can attend next year's festival.
We need #40Kin40days to meet our goal, or we don't get a dime of it. This is an ambitious goal, but you have helped us drastically exceed our goal in the last two years, so we are confident that by December 15, we will be on our way to a successful 40th ATLFF!
Memberships to the Atlanta Film Society are tied to Atlanta Film Festival passes, so if you buy a pass through the Kickstarter campaign, you get membership to ATLFS through December 31, 2016. If you had a pass to ATLFF '15, your membership expires at the end of this year, so renew now by purchasing through Kickstarter!
You can also become one of our Founding Patrons by giving at levels from $1,000 to $10,000.
Please visit, give and share this link: atlantafilmfestival.com/fund
Atlanta Film Festival Announces New Organization Name for Year-Round Identity as Atlanta Film Society
The Atlanta Film Festival is pleased to announce a new name to reflect its year-round nature—the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS). The ten-day Atlanta Film Festival will still take place every spring, but the organization will operate as the Atlanta Film Society going forward.
The Atlanta Film Festival is pleased to announce a new name to reflect its year-round nature—the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS). The ten-day Atlanta Film Festival will still take place every spring, but the organization will operate as the Atlanta Film Society going forward.
Originally founded as the IMAGE, Inc. (Independent Media Artists of Georgia, Etc., Inc.) in 1976, ATLFS has endured several name changes in the last four decades in order to convey its year-round service to the filmmaking and film-loving community while reflecting connection to its flagship program.
“This name change represents who we are right now and paves the way for where we want to go,” said ATLFS Executive Director Christopher Escobar. “The change from ‘Festival’ to ‘Society’ better depicts the work and effort showcased all year long through screenings, classes, events and special programs. It clarifies that we are only part of the greater Atlanta film community and reinforces our plan to serve this community in a bigger way.”
For years, the organization has operated several year-round programs under the Atlanta Film Festival moniker, such as the Airport Shorts program, which screens select short films on 15 screens throughout Hartsfield-Jackson Airport’s new International Terminal; Eat, Drink & B-Indie, a monthly film-themed networking and educational mixer at Manuel’s Tavern; Film Festival Collective, an XFINITY Video On Demand channel that showcases short films from several prestigious film festivals across the country; the Filmmaker-in-Residence program, which supports accomplished Atlanta-based festival alumni in a three-year residency; and New Mavericks, a year-round screening and networking program spotlighting female filmmakers from Atlanta and beyond.
Among the most important details of the ATLFS announcement is the A/V Toolbank—a new equipment rentals program that provides audio/visual and presentation equipment for local groups and organizations seeking to host screenings or events. Operating as an arm of the nonprofit ATLFS, the A/V Toolbank borrows the spirit of the Atlanta Toolbank, but the focus on audio/visual equipment makes it the first resource of its kind in Metro Atlanta. This program provides high-quality equipment and technical expertise at competitive rates, creates additional support for the Atlanta Film Society and extends significant equipment discounts to other Metro area nonprofit arts organizations.
“The A/V Toolbank is a crucial facet of ATLFS,” Escobar continued. “We’ve been working with organizations like WonderRoot, GSU Student Film Festival and The Goat Farm Arts Center and aided events like Elevate, Flux Projects and Art on the Beltline while piloting this program. This announcement allows us to formalize the resource and make it more widely available.”
As with any nonprofit, the Atlanta Film Society relies heavily on the support of members and sponsors. For several years, year-round memberships have focused solely on the benefits they provide directly to members—with festival passes at the core—ranging in price from $50 to $750. In conjunction with this new identity, ATLFS has established patron levels ranging from $1,000 - $10,000 to enable community impact and maintain a focus on membership benefits.
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!
MovieMaker Magazine Names ATLFF as One of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World
After being featured in MovieMaker Magazine's 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, we are excited to announce that they have also included us on this year's list of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World!
For the last two years, the Atlanta Film Festival has made MovieMaker Magazine's list of the 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee. This is quite a tremendous honor, and one we hope to repeat every year in the future.
Today, however, we are excited to announce an even greater honor—MovieMaker has included us on their list of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World! While it is always cool for someone to tell you that you are cool, this list is so important to us because it is compiled by a list of filmmakers and industry professionals. These people experience a lot of film festivals all across the globe and for them to consider us one of the top 25 coolest—we are just so grateful!
Congratulations to all the festivals mentioned! We couldn't be happier to be in your company.
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.
Get your Tickets to Taste of Atlanta Here and You Will Help Support ATLFF!
Get your regularly-priced general admission or VIP tickets to Taste of Atlanta through us and we will get $5 back!
After successfully serving up the city's best fare for more than a decade, Taste of Atlanta is back with bigger features and bolder flavors in its 14th year! The legendary three-day food festival returns to Midtown at Tech Square Friday, September 25 - Sunday, September 27, 2015.
This year's event takes festival-goers on a culinary adventure through the city's many diverse neighborhoods by featuring the chefs and restaurants that give these communities their true personality and flavor. Food lovers of all ages are invited to join Taste of Atlanta this September in celebrating the dynamic energy and variety of the local restaurant scene while savoring what makes the city the food capital of the South!
From now through August 31, if you purchase a regularly-priced ticket ($25 General Admission or $75 VIP) through this link (or the button below), ATLFF will receive a $5 donation for every ticket purchased!
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.