The 49th annual Atlanta Film Festival announced the schedule for this year’s event featuring 132 selections and 24 world premieres.
The 11-day film festival will kick off on April 24, with a majority of screenings held at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre. Additional screening locations will include The Rialto, The Supermarket and Scout Atlanta.
“In its 49th year, the Atlanta Film Festival is not only a global celebration of storytelling with 35 countries of origin represented in selections but also a powerful showcase of Atlanta’s growing impact on the film industry. This year, we’re especially excited to spotlight 40 films with ties to Georgia,” said Christopher Escobar, executive director of the festival, in a March 24 press release.
“It’s a thrilling time to be part of this vibrant, artistic community, and we can’t wait to welcome audiences back to the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre and further solidify Georgia as a hub for film and innovation,” he added.
Escobar highlighted the festival’s opening night film “Color Book,” which was shot entirely with local Atlanta crew members. The critically acclaimed project directed by David Fortune follows a father and his son with Down syndrome en route to an Atlanta Braves game.
Fortune, recently named one of Variety’s 2025 Directors to Watch, is expected to appear alongside lead actors Will Catlett and Jeremiah Alexander Daniels at the screening.
Another selection is the documentary “The Games in Black & White, ” which will make its AFF debut on April 26 at the Rialto Center for the Arts.
The “special presentation” tells the story of Billy Payne, the Georgia football player turned real estate attorney who proposed that Atlanta bid for the 1996 Olympics, and Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor and co-chair of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.
The project features over 40 well-known Atlanta figures, including former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and Martin Luther King III.
“As always, our selection process is guided by a passion for discovering what’s next in cinema — films that will shape the future of storytelling,” said programming director Jon Kieran in the release. “This year’s lineup promises to leave audiences inspired, with a renewed sense of excitement for where the medium is headed.”
In addition to festival screenings, the 15th annual Creative Conference, AFF’s educational programming extension, will return from April 29 to May 2 at the Tara Theatre. According to officials, the conference will feature 36 in-person events and 10 virtual panels, showcasing “educational programming for up-and-coming filmmakers and performers, festival goers and film lovers, and members of the greater community at large to learn from industry experts.”
The full lineup of films is available here.
