ATLFF '15 Best Documentary Short Award-winner Jesse Kreitzer Updates Us on His Next Project
"'The Murder Ballad of James Jones,' ATLFF’s Jury Award-Winner for Best Documentary Short, was a byproduct of fool’s luck and good fortune."
The Murder Ballad of James Jones, ATLFF’s Jury Award-Winner for Best Documentary Short, was a byproduct of fool’s luck and good fortune.
James “Tail Dragger” Jones, a protégé of legendary Chicago bluesman Howlin’ Wolf, had been cast in my short film Lomax, a spirited reimagining of folklorist Alan Lomax’s 1941 journey through the Mississippi Delta. An Arkansas mule driver at age seven and a natural-born showman, James’ life experience superseded every line on the page. James didn’t like the idea of rehearsing and I agreed to roll with it. Well, come production day, James didn't quite "have it". We improvised, shot wide, and grabbed as many cutaways as we could justify.
Unsure if I had a film, I brought the script and a bottle of whiskey to James’ hotel room to record a clean read that night. With the lavalier still clipped to his collar and half a bottle down, we were bullshitting about working with The Wolf and the heyday of South Side Chicago Blues. James asked if I knew about his record. I knew of the albums he produced for Delmark, but that wasn’t what James was talking about. He proceeded to tell me of his rising feud with “Boston Blackie,” a guitarist who was better known for cutting and shooting. As James spoke with a slang and vernacular that disappears with the passing of every elder bluesman, the recorder rolled and preserved a little-known piece of Chicago folklore. So there you have it. Lightning in a bottle.
My next film currently in post-production explores another slice of Americana. Black Canaries, a 1900s coal mining folktale inspired by my maternal ancestors, is the story of the Lockwood family coal miners who operate a private drift mine in rural Iowa. After a mine collapse blinds the youngest son and kills the hauling mule, the family must continue to drudge the depths, extract coal and keep warm against the winds of the vacant prairie.
In collaboration with the Berklee College of Music’s Film Scoring Program, Composer Jose Parody and Music Supervisor Austin DeVries are putting the final touches on the score and sound design as we prepare for festival submissions this fall. In the meantime, I’m organizing a grassroots film tour at arthouses, makeshift venues, backyards, and living rooms, to present advance screenings of the film to raise the necessary finishing and distribution funds.
Click here to watch the trailer and learn more about "Black Canaries."
— ATLFF '15 Award-Winning Filmmaker Jesse Kreitzer
We are now accepting submissions for the Oscar-qualifying Documentary Short category and all other categories for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival. The Earlybird Deadline is June 20, Regular Deadline is September 18.
Five of Georgia's Biggest Film Festivals Will Share the Spotlight at Tuesday's Eat, Drink, & B-Indie!
Representatives from the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, BronzeLens Film Festival, Macon Film Festival and Out on Film Festival will be at this month's EDBI!
We are gathering together directors and programmers from Georgia's most prestigious film festivals to discuss how they run things and what they look for in submissions. This is a can't-miss event for local filmmakers and festival-goers! Representatives from the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, BronzeLens Film Festival, Macon Film Festival and Out on Film Festival will be in attendance!
Join us on the third Tuesday of every month at Manuel's Tavern for Eat, Drink, & B-Indie presented by Stella Artois! The first 40 (age appropriate) attendees will receive a ticket good for a free Stella Artois.
Call for Entries now open for 2016 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition!
We are looking for innovative and compelling storytelling, for characters that surprise and challenge you, for words that pop off the page, and for narratives that twist and turn like a country back road. Submit your screenplay now!
The Call for Entries for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition is now open! From April 1 to April 10, 2016, we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary, and we’re looking to you to help us make it our best festival yet.
We are looking for innovative and compelling storytelling, for characters that surprise and challenge you, for words that pop off the page, and for narratives that twist and turn like a country back road. This year we’re accepting both feature scripts and pilot scripts; you’re more than welcome to submit in both categories.
We accept screenplay submissions only through FilmFreeway. To save money, consider submitting your completed film by the Earlybird Deadline on June 20. The Regular Deadline is September 18, the Late Deadline is set for October 23 and the Extended Deadline is November 6.
Films must comply with category requirements and filmmakers must complete the process and payment to be considered for ATLFF '16. Have questions? Check out our Screenplay Submission FAQ.
Support these ATLFF Alumni through their Crowdfunding Campaigns!
One of our favorite things about hosting an annual film festival, is keeping up with the filmmakers that grace us with their beautiful work! Help these filmmakers from ATLFF '14 and '15 continue their projects or start new ones!
One of our favorite things about hosting an annual film festival is keeping up with the filmmakers that grace us with their beautiful work! Help these filmmakers from ATLFF '14 and '15 continue their projects or start new ones!
Italian filmmaker Vincenzo Cosentino lit up Atlanta during ATLFF '14. He wants to take his film, "Handy," into cinemas everywhere. Jared Callahan, who lives in Atlanta, won all of us over at ATLFF '15 with "Janey Makes a Play." He is raising money for distribution and to put finishing touches on the film. Short filmmakers Daniel Moshel (ATLFF '14) and Brian Lonano (ATLFF '14 and '15) are looking to raise funds for their next projects!
Vincenzo Cosentino
"Handy" (ATLFF '14)
Vincenzo Cosentino is an Italian filmmaker hailing from Sicily who completed his first, self-produced feature film named "Handy," starring Franco Nero. Now, he needs our helping hand. A goal of $30,000 dollars will allow him to release the movie in cinemas. He wants to bring a new and fresh image of Italy with this movie, and to bring people together.
Jared Callahan
"Janey Makes a Play" (ATLFF '15)
"Janey Makes a Play" follows a dynamic 90-year-old playwright as she produces and directs her new original community theatre production for the small town in which she lives. They already hit their goal of $12,000 with 11 days to go so they have moved on to stretch goals! This project, and the needs listed in the video (licensing fees, insurance, festival costs, publicity, etc.) actually cost more than the first goal of 12K. Your contributions will still help cover the finishing costs of the movie AND the filmmakers will support students from Rio Vista pursuing the arts. If they hit $20,000, they can travel to festivals and send the director to a national conference for drama teachers for promotion. If they hit $30,000, they can release this current director's cut of the movie, including every archival clip and song.
Daniel Moshel
"MeTube" (ATLFF '14)
Daniel Moshel's first short, "MeTube" was a viral sensation (not the kind you report to the doctor) and has reached over 1.6 Million Views on YouTube! It was an homage to all the amazingly silly and talented people that create videos from their living rooms every single day around the world. "MeTube 2" is all set to be bigger, bolder and better than the first! This time, they've got an opera house on our side—the Bayerische Staatsoper!
Brian Lonano
"Welcome to Dignity Pastures" (ATLFF '14), "CROW HAND!!!" (ATLFF '15)
"Gwilliam" will be Brian Lonano's tenth short film, all of which are low budget and use practical effects like miniatures, puppets and fake blood. "Gwilliam" will test your stomach's endurance and challenge your sexual functioning for weeks after viewing. What could be so disturbing you ask? Let's just say that it's a love story. A terrible, terrible love story between man and goblin (that's right, I said goblin) that will leave you shaking your head in disgust and laughing at the same time.
One More Week to Submit to the Austin Film Festival Screenplay & Teleplay Competition!
Our sister fest, the Austin Film Festival, is renowned for its Screenplay & Teleplay Competition! You have one week left to enter and the prizes and prestige will definitely make it worth your while.
The Austin Film Festival’s Screenplay & Teleplay Competition is one of the most respected writing contests in the country with a rich history of championing and supporting writers.
For the first time ever, Austin Film Festival will provide Reader Comments to ALL entrants in the Screenplay & Teleplay Competition for FREE! In addition, all entrants receive registration discounts, with even bigger discounts when you place in the competition. Unlike other screenplay competitions, your experience with Austin Film Festival doesn’t end after making the first cut. Second Rounders (the esteemed top 10-12% in each category), Semifinalists, and Finalists attend special panels, programmed specifically for them and not open to regular badge holders.
This year, Austin Film Festival has an exciting line-up of sponsored award judges including AMC for the One-Hour Pilot category, the Writer’s Guild of America East who will provide three established WGAE screenwriters to judge the Final Round of the Drama category, Enderby Entertainment who will be looking for scripts with an original concept and distinctive voice that can be produced under $5 million, and Frank Darabont’s Darkwoods Productions who will be reviewing this year’s top Sci-Fi scripts.
May 20 is the Late (and Final) Deadline for screenplay submissions so enter yours before it really is too late!
Become an ATLFF Member to see Sundance Winner "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" Weeks Early!
We are hosting an advance screening of Sundance Jury and Audience Award-winning film "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" weeks before it comes out! Become an ATLFF member to attend.
As part of our year-round programming, the Atlanta Film Festival and Fox Searchlight proudly present an exclusive members-only screening of narrative feature film "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award winner, on Tuesday, May 26th!
ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL
Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
USA, 2015, English, 104 minutes
Starring: Olivia Cooke, Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, and Molly Shannon
Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time—when not playing video games and avoiding Earl’s terrifying brothers— making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don’t make them for other people. Until Rachel. Rachel has leukemia, and Greg’s mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl must abandon invisibility and make a stand. It’s a hilarious, outrageous, and truthful look at death and high school.
This is an exclusive screening open only to ATLFF members and special guests! To attend, sign up to be a member today!
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Last chance to enroll in The PA Academy until the Fall!
Are you eager to jump into the Atlanta film industry this summer? Before you take the plunge, be sure to know the basics by attending The PA Academy presented by GPP and ATLFF on May 16 & 17.
Are you eager to jump into the Atlanta film industry this summer? Before you take the plunge, be sure to know the basics by attending The PA Academy presented by GPP and ATLFF on May 16 & 17. Learn the Dos and Don'ts of working on-set and in production offices.
Linda Burns, along with PC&E, bring in full time ADs and PAs to work with you on what a typical day as a production assistant entails. You will get hands-on experience with equipment and a working knowledge of set terminology. Learn how to present your resume and where to look for paid jobs.
ATLFF Members receive 20% off this workshop! Registration ends May 15.
Want to Help Us Watch Movies? Join Our Screening Committee!
We get thousands of submissions every year and need lots of help watching them! Apply to be a part of our Screening Committee now!
Last year alone, the Atlanta Film Festival received 3,761 film entries from filmmakers around the globe. From these hopefuls we have only the capacity to program a little more than 200 films. How do we decide which films to play? How do we go through those thousands of entries to sort the ones that will please our local audience the best?
We get help. A lot of help.
Most of that help comes from our volunteer screening committee. Members of this team watch dozens (sometimes hundreds) of short and feature films each, evaluating them along the way. This helps the programming team sort out the worthy from the not-so-worthy so they can make the final decisions.
Seeing as the first submissions for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival are already rolling in, we'd like to offer you the chance to join this elite team. Volunteer screeners can earn a variety of perks (free tickets and passes to the festival) based on how many films they watch, and films can be watched most anywhere you have an internet connection.
If you feel like you have the fortitude, the courage, and the spare time required to sail the oceans of independent cinema with us, tell us more about you! We look forward to hearing from you.
Learn More about the 48 Hour Film Project and the benefits of participating at this month's Eat, Drink, & B-Indie!
This month's Eat, Drink, & B-Indie presented by Stella Artois is all about being the 48 Hour Film Project! Come learn about the June 12-14 event and hear from past participants on tips for entering.
FREE EVENT! The 48 Hour Film Project comes back to Atlanta on the weekend of June 12-14, 2015. On Tuesday, May 19, at Manuel's Tavern, come and learn more about the event's structure and history, as well as what it takes to be a part of it. Hear from past participants and winners and get tips for your own project.
Tuesday, May 19, 7:30 PM at Manuel's Tavern
Join us on the third Tuesday of every month at Manuel's Tavern for Eat, Drink, & B-Indie presented by Stella Artois! The first 40 (age appropriate) attendees will receive a ticket good for a free Stella Artois.
Call For Entries Now Open for 2016 Atlanta Film Festival!
We want your films! Submissions are now open for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival.
The Call for Entries for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival is now open! From April 1 to April 10, 2016, we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary and we are looking to you to help us make it our best yet.
Last year, we received 3,761 submissions from more than 120 countries across all 6 populated continents (sorry, Antarctica). Over 200 films featured in ATLFF '15 and 80% of those came from submissions! We are looking for groundbreaking works in narrative and documentary features, short films, experimental films, puppetry films, music videos and television pilots. In addition to our annual film festival, short films will also be considered for our year-round programs like Airport SHORTS or the Film Festival Collective OnDemand channel.
We accept submissions through both FilmFreeway and Withoutabox. To save money, consider submitting your completed film by the Earlybird Deadline on June 20. The Regular Deadline is September 18, the Late Deadline is set for October 23 and the Withoutabox Extended Deadline is November 6. Discounts are available for students and ATLFF members.
Films must comply with category requirements and filmmakers must complete the process and payment to be considered for ATLFF '16. We know you've got some great work, now let us help you show it off!