Festival Data:

• Established: 1977
• Genre: General
• Attendance: 26000
• Media Attendance: 35
• Accredited Industry Attendance: 100
• Total Number of Films Submitted: 1000
• Total Number of Films Screened: 170
• Total Screenings: 75
• # of Shorts Screened: 99
• # of Features Screened: 71
• Accreditations: AMPAS

• Competitive
• Students Section
• Has Panels

Festival Website:

Festival Description:

The Atlanta Film Festival, organized by the IMAGE Film & Video Center, is one of the longest running and most respected festivals in the USA, with over three decades of showing the latest, most cutting edge independent film.

Through a juried system of selection, the Atlanta Film Festival premieres narrative, documentary, animation, and student films and videos of the highest artistic quality. The film festival includes both feature films and short films. Over ten days, audiences will attend more than 150 films, learn about the art of filmmaking from visiting industry experts during festival panels, attend networking events, and party 'til the wee hours at some of the best entertainment spots in Atlanta. Opening Night features the premiere of a new independent film with artists in attendance, followed by the first of several parties. Each day, at least three films screen simultaneously from Noon until midnight, featuring a wide range of styles, subjects and perspectives. The winner of the Atlanta Film Festival Shorts Film competition qualifies for a nomination to receive an Academy Award ® from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

During the Festival week, The IMAGE Film Awards Gala is held to recognize the achievements in Southeastern media arts and is IMAGE’s largest annual fundraising event. Its proceeds support the Atlanta Film Festival and the many year-round programs and services IMAGE offers the Atlanta community. Past honorees have included Cicely Tyson, Spike Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Victor Nuñez, Burt Reynolds and Dallas Austin. For the past several years we have presented a ceremony to honor prominent filmmakers, actors, educators, writers and directors in the film industry.

More about the IMAGE Film & Video Center:
The IMAGE (Independent Media Artists of Georgia, Etc.) mission is to build and support a strong independent media arts community in Atlanta and the Southeast by promoting the production, exhibition and public awareness of film and video as artistic forms of individual expression. IMAGE began in 1976 as an outgrowth of the need for equipment access, networking, information dissemination and support among media artists and producers in Georgia. The executive committee, formed through public meetings held with the media community, formalized an organizational structure under the auspices of the Arts Festival of Atlanta, establishing a non-profit media arts center. With initial funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Georgia Council for the Arts, IMAGE incorporated, purchased film and video equipment, and presented programs on independent film and video, featuring guest artists and critics. IMAGE endeavors to support independent media artists while simultaneously developing an audience for these artists.