A Guide to Summer Film Festivals in Georgia

When it comes to film festivals, Georgia has a slow start during the summer, but come the end of the season, the state turns up the artistic heat on filmmakers. If you want to see some great independent films this summer, hold out for late August and be prepared to be bombarded.

Until August comes, the only "film festival" offered in the state is the Coca Cola Summer Film Festival, which is really just a schedule of screenings of classic movies and some of the newest hit films. This family friendly event does take place in the historic Fox Theatre in Atlanta though, so it's worth a visit if just to see the inside of this beautiful old movie palace. Movies on the schedule for this summer include The Sound of Music, Casino Royale, Pan's Labyrinth, The Wizard of Oz, Dreamgirls, and Goodfellas. The movies are the only thing on tap for entertainment during the festival though. Adults are invited to participate in a pre-movie wine tasting, and Larry Douglas Embury will lead a traditional sing-along on the "Mighty Mo" organ prior to screenings as well. The movie series runs all summer long, and will get you through to August.

Come August, except no substitutions. August 22 - 25, 2007, the Atlanta Underground Film Festival will show select independent offerings from around the globe. Primarily focused on those filmmakers who step outside the lines of mainstream movie making, the Atlanta Underground fest presents feature films, live music, animated shorts, discussions, and art. Films and venues are still being considered. To stay up-to-date on the happenings at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival, check out their website at http://www.auff.org/

Also in Atlanta, Friday, August 24^th through Sunday, August 26^th, the Atlanta HipHop Film Festival brings screenings, workshops, panels, and more to the city. Focused on films that belong to the HipHop genre, and on HipHop artists who have become actors, such as Ludacris, Usher, and OutKast, the film festival gathers films with its very specific focus from around the world for this three-day event.

Dragon*Con rings in the end of summer with its Labor Day weekend event, August 31 - September 3, 2007. The Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival combines a short film competition with screenings of a handful of features, plus panels with writers, actors, makeup artists, and more. It's a festival within a festival, taking place during the larger science fiction and fantasy convention. To find out more or find out how you can get tickets, visit the website at http://www.dragoncon.org/

If you are a film buff, and you live in or around Georgia, you have no excuses to be bored late summer.