45th Annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference April 22 - May 2, 2021

45th Annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference April 22 - May 2, 2021

After the success of last year's screenings and the ongoing pandemic, ATLFF 2021 will be presented via a mix of drive-in, virtual, and socially distanced in-person screenings. As in 2020, the Creative Conference events will all be virtual. Drive-in screenings will be held at the Plaza Drive-In (1049 Ponce De Leon Ave NE) and Dad's Garage Drive-In (569 Ezzard St SE), with in-person screenings taking place at the Plaza Theatre.

The long-running festival has always been a distinguished event, recognized as the 'Best Spring Festival' by Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as well as one of the '25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World' and one of the '50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee; by MovieMaker Magazine.

The Opening Night Presentation, sponsored by Moonshine Post-Production, will be Socks on Fire (2020), a unique cinematic experience from director Bo McGuire that details an estate battle between a homophobic sister and her drag queen brother in Hokes Bluff, Alabama. The film will screen both at the Plaza Indoors and Drive-In on April 23, and the screenings will be preceded by performances from Rupaul's Drag Race season 12 star Rock M. Sakura and local drag performers.

The Closing Night Presentation on May 1 will feature The Dry (2020), a crime mystery starring Eric Bana about a federal agent who begins to connect the dots on two crimes that occurred decades apart.

Ten additional Marquee selections will allow ATLFF to present some of the best upcoming films that Hollywood has to offer, including movies from top studios and films that previously played at Sundance.

Highlights include:

Mogul Mowgli  (2020)    The film, starring Riz Ahmed hot off his Academy Award nomination, is about a rapper about to hit it big until he is struck down by an illness that forces him to face his past and his possible future.

Holler  (2020)  R    Directed by Nicole Riegel, a film about a young woman having to pick between her family and her future. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Award at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival and winning the Directors to Watch Award at the 2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Together Together (2021) R  Matt (Ed Helms) is a man in his forties who is alone but want to have a baby.  Anna (Patti Harrison) is in her twenties and decides to become the gestational surrogate for Matt. Now two strangers have to come together, to challenge their perceptions of boundaries, connections and love.

Limbo (2020) R    Recently nominated for two BAFTA awards; this film is a wry and poignant observation of the refugee experience, set on a fictional remote Scottish Island where a group of new arrivals await the results of their asylum claims.

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It  (2021)   Documentary about the legendary dancer/actress who, over a 70-year career, defied both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to become a celebrated and beloved actor, one of the rare EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) Award Winners of our time.

The festival is also known for its short film categories and is one of the few festivals in the country that offer Academy Award-qualifying for all three of the short categories: Narrative, Documentary, and Animated.

The popular Creative Conference will be ongoing again at the festival. The online workshops, panels, talks, and demos will delve into the world of filmmaking, focusing on topics such as screenwriting, pitching, acting, producing, casting, funding, and distribution, and how they all come together to make a film or television episode.

The full schedule of 188 films is now available at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com  and through the ATLFF app. Festival passes, and tickets for individual events are on sale now on the site. Drive-in screenings cost $15-50 (depending on the number of people in the vehicle), virtual events cost $9.99, and tickets to in-person screenings cost $20. The virtual catalog is now accessible for pre-orders, and all virtual screenings and events will be presented via Eventive.

The Atlanta Film Festival is the chief annual operation of the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS), one of the oldest and largest organizations dedicated to the promotion and education of film in the United States, which enriches the community through screenings, classes, workshops, and other events year-round.