New Mavericks Film Series Highlights Female Filmmakers

Atlanta Film Festival senior shorts programmer Christina Humphrey and creative director Kristy Breneman talked with WABE’s Gabbie Watts about the series and women in independent film.

When talking about the Atlanta Film Festival’s programming, Humphrey said, “I feel it’s a struggle to find the films we want because Atlanta’s diverse and we want to produce a diverse program. At times it gets disheartening.”

“We’re continually seeing the same stories,” Breneman added.

To promote and celebrate female filmmakers, in 2012, the Atlanta Film Festival put together a section of programming called New Mavericks that would feature short films by women. It then expanded to include feature films.

Two months ago, New Mavericks expanded further. It’s now a monthly meet-up for female filmmakers in Atlanta.

“We never expected it to turn into something where people were like, we need support like this year-round,” said Breneman. “It was as if all these women had been waiting so long to be in the same room with each other.”

The New Mavericks Film Series will feature several events. The weekend is book-ended by two feature films. “The Watermelon Woman” screens at 8 p.m. Friday and “I Believe in Unicorns” at 8 p.m. Saturday. 

There are also two shorts blocks. Both on Saturday, one highlights pioneering women excluded from film history (2:30 p.m.) and the other features films by local Atlanta filmmakers (5 p.m.).

There is also a children’s animation workshop at noon Saturday.

You can see the full list of screenings here.