9th Annual Macon Film Festival

It's almost time for the 9th Annual Macon Film Festival, and I will be there covering it for Atlanta's CW69. The festival, picked by MovieMaker Magazine as one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in  the World will be held February 27 – March 2, 2014 in the heart of the downtown Macon, Georgia's arts and culture center.

The festival celebrates independent films while promoting filmmaking for entertainment, inspiration, education, and the increasing important factor of  economic development. This year's festival has a very strong lineup of both domestic and international films, including films from  Austria, France, Canada, Lebanon, Italy, Sweden, Iceland, Australia, Netherlands, India, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The festival has selections in the fields of Narrative Features and Shorts, Documentary Features and Shorts, Animation, Music Videos, and Student Shorts.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the award winning film  "Birdy", actor Matthew Modine will headline a special screening of the film at the Cox Capitol Theatre. "Birdy" (1984)  directed by Alan Parker, is about two friends, played Mr. Modine as the title character and Nicolas Cage as his best pal, Al, who are plucked from an idyllic suburban life and sent to Vietnam during the war. Upon returning home, Modine's character becomes mentally unstable and obsesses with becoming a bird.

The Narrative Features selections are especially strong this year including; "Birthday Cake", a mockumentary following the three days leading up to the first birthday party of a child with two gay parents. "Congratulations!", a hit at the 2013 Atlanta Film Fest, which follows an absurdly comic tale about a detective trying to solve a crime by living in someone else's home. "Desires of the Heart", a film shot in Savannah, GA, about a psychiatrist who must choose between the woman that he loves and the wishes of his family.

The Documentary Features include "A Fragile Trust", about Jayson Blair, a reporter for the New York Times who became the most infamous serial plagiarist of our time. "Bittersweet", a documentary that follows a female boxer as she prepares for a bout, and "Landfall: The Eyes of Sandy", a documentary on the resurgence of the Long Beach Island Communities and Stafford Township, New Jersey following the wake of Super Storm Sandy.

The Macon Film Festival will be held Feb. 27th – March 2nd in downtown Macon, GA.  For more information or tickets, go to: www.maconfilmfestival.com

Look for my reviews/reports on the altcw.tv website.