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The Bronzelens Film Festival executive producer Kathleen Bertrand discusses creating a festival made by and for people of color
Atlanta has increasingly become known for film production. Its ever-growing footprint is undeniable. Also undeniable is the growth of events, occasions and festivals that celebrate and elevate Atlanta’s films and filmmakers. One such event is the BronzeLens Film Festival, which is happening at Tara Cinema, Aug. 20-24. BronzeLens turns 16 this year, and it is clearly in the driver’s seat. “City Lights Collective” co-host Jon Goode sat down with the festival’s executive producer Kathleen Bertrand to discuss the festival’s past, present and future.
“Atlanta has always and still remains on people’s minds as a place they want to go to where they know they’re going to be welcomed and have a great time,” said Bertrand. She was the senior vice president, community and governmental affairs at the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“And so it was in that frame of mind that the CEO of the convention and business bureau asked me, ‘Why didn’t Atlanta have a film festival that particularly looked at the African-American community and, you know, films from that genre?’ And I said, ‘Well, there are several small festivals,’ but his feeling was, nobody was moving the needle. I don’t read about it. I don’t see it. I don’t know about it, and when you have something like Tyler Perry Studios here, people should know about Atlanta as a destination, as a film place. So that began my homework, essentially, in 2009.”
After discovering that there was a need for a festival in Atlanta like Bronzelens, she started it in 2010. “We were so impressed with this arc of great quality and improvement and just professionalism and everything else that we saw with our filmmakers that last year we created the Georgia Filmmaker Award.” The inaugural award-winner was Atlanta filmmaker Will Feagins.
There will be 30 world premieres at this year’s festival.
Atlanta theater group, Aabaha, puts on festival to celebrate Indian culture and storytelling
The Aabaha Arts and Theater Festival aims to spotlight the rich culture and history of Indian theater while showcasing a variety of artistic expressions. “City Lights Collective” producer Josh Thane has more on this eclectic gathering happening Aug. 22-24.
New Zealand indie rock band, The Beths, return with new album and Atlanta show this fall
Known for their infectious melodies, sharp lyrics and electrifying live shows, New Zealand’s The Beths have carved out a global following with their unique blend of power-pop and indie rock. At the heart of the band is lead singer and guitarist Elizabeth Stokes, a former jazz student whose songwriting has helped define the band’s unmistakable sound. Their newest album, ‘Straight Line Was a Lie,’ comes out on Aug. 29, and the band will return to Atlanta for a show at Variety Playhouse at the end of October. Ahead of the show, we revisit our 2022 conversation with Stokes when The Beths were touring for the album, “Expert in a Dying Field.”
Bon Appétit spotlights Atlanta’s diverse dining scene
Atlanta has long been overlooked and underappreciated as a culinary destination in the U.S. But the “South has something to say,” and it’s not just that we have amazing fried chicken and barbecue. Our diverse culinary options got the attention of the popular food magazine, Bon AppĂ©tit. And this month, they released an entire guide on where to eat in Atlanta. WABE arts reporter Summer Evans spoke with Pervaiz Shallwani, the writer of the article and editor at Bon AppĂ©tit, about his restaurant choices.
Also, Atlanta journalist and AJC senior editor Mike Jordan contributed to Bon Appétit this month with an article about restaurants you should visit along the Beltline.
A few restaurants discussed in Shallwani’s article:
MujĹŤ — “Omakase  restaurants popping up across Atlanta is, it almost feels like a natural, because Omakase restaurants are popping up all over the country. What an Omakase restaurant needs is fresh seafood and a lot of the fresh seafood that a lot of these restaurants desire comes from Japan. Well, Atlanta’s airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. If not the busiest airport in the world. With that comes the ability to get fresh seafood daily,” said Shallwani.
So So Fed — “They’ve been operating out of OK Yaki for several years now on Sundays and Mondays. Their menu is a mix of Georgia, a big a mix of Laotian, a mix of Chinese, and that’s a mix of who the owner is. And it’s just a fascinating, vibrant place to be on a Monday night …. inside the music’s bumping, the cocktails are phenomenal, and all of the twists on the food that the chef-owner grew up with were phenomenal.”
Avize —  ”This is one that I’ve really, really found fascinating because there are Alpine restaurants popping up all over the country,” said Shallwani. He continued, “ You see some Asian flavors in here as well, and then combining it with Alpine Fair, and so you’re getting things like creme fraiche and elderflower mixed with nori berliners, which is a German puff pastry, and then he’s serving it with caviar, which is very common as well. And then you have frog legs, which you find throughout the alpines and he is putting lemon pepper spice on them, which is about as Atlanta as it gets.”
You can find all of Shallwani’s suggestions in his latest Bon AppĂ©tit article here.
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Discover Atlanta’s arts and culture on The City Lights Collective. Next week, we host a live broadcast from Dragon Con on Aug. 28, so be sure to tune in.
