40th Atlanta Film Festival Starts Friday 4/1

The 40^thAtlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) kicks off Friday, April 1 with a special screening of Georgia-lensed “The Fundamentals of Caregiving,” starring Paul Rudd and Selena Gomez and directed by Rob Burnett. Over 200 films will be shown as part of the 10-day festival in categories including Narrative and Documentary Features; Narrative, Documentary and Animated Shorts; and Music Videos. Judges will select winners from among competing entries in these categories. Celebrities, including actors and directors, may also attend screenings and hold Q & A sessions. This information is updated on the ATLFF schedule.

As part of the festival, the New Mavericks Award including a cash prize of $5,000 will be presented by SPANX® and The Sara Blakely Foundation to a female filmmaker. The New Mavericks program was launched as a short film block in 2013, celebrating female-directed films featuring strong female leads. At ATLFF 2015, New Mavericks grew to include feature films that met the same criteria. Last year, the program grew beyond festival boundaries to include monthly networking events and the first-ever New Mavericks Film Series, which is expected to return in summer 2016.

A special five-day Creative Conference runs concurrently with the festival, consisting of nearly 40 panels, talks, and demos on filmmaking topics such as screenwriting, acting, producing, casting, funding and distribution. Presenting guests include representatives from The People Store, SAG-AFTRA, Seed & Spark, Kickstarter and more.

ATLFF is one of only two dozen Academy Award-qualifying events in the country, and it is the chief annual event of the non-profit Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS).