For the first time, Elements of Madness will be covering Atlanta Film Festival and we thought we’d offer up our recommendations of what to check out during the fest or what to keep an eye out for in wider distribution.
**These recommendations are based on a mixture of films previously covered by EoM and intriguing film summaries.**
The Atlanta Film Festival runs from Thursday, April 25th, through Sunday, May 5th, in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information on their full program, head to the official 2024 schedule.
African Giants
Over a weekend visit in Los Angeles, two first-generation Sierra Leonean American brothers navigate the changing dynamics of brotherhood after a surprise announcement.
Spoiler-free review available from Slamdance Film Festival 2024.
Asog
Asog is a screwball tragicomedy starring a cast of real life Super Typhoon survivors. Jaya is a non-binary teacher whose career as a comedian hosting a late-night television show ended due to a climate disaster that devastated the Philippines. Picking up the pieces in their life, Jaya decides to travel across the country in hopes of winning a beauty pageant and the prize money that comes with it. But before they can leave, a chance encounter with Arnel, a student going the same way in search of family, complicates their solitary plans. As they travel seemingly countless miles together on foot, bike, and boat, the unlikely duo find themselves forever changed by each other and those they encounter on their journey.
![ASOG_[Aya_Garcia]_1](https://i0.wp.com/elementsofmadness.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ASOG_Aya_Garcia_1.png?resize=700%2C473&ssl=1)
A still from the film ASOG. Photo courtesy of Atlanta Film Festival.
The Battle
Constructed of just 21 separate shots, The Battle brings you inside the Philosophy School building of São Paulo University on a decisive day in October 1968, that came to be known as the Battle of the Students. As they attempt to carry out a crucial University-wide election, students and Professors of the Left Student Movement face pressure from within and physical threats from the reactionary forces outside their door.
A still from the film THE BATTLE. Photo courtesy of Atlanta Film Festival.
Spoiler-free review from Atlanta Film Festival 2024.
Dragoons
Father-to-be Pavel and his pregnant girlfriend Sabine spend their days living like nomads and breaking into houses in search of food and resources. Upon finding themselves lost in a mysterious forest, they seek refuge in a crumbling gothic manor inhabited by two aging siblings, the Dragoons. Soon they find that escape is impossible and Sabine’s delivery is approaching. Haunted by the guilt of leading his girlfriend into a nightmare scenario and falling under the sway of the weird Dragoons, Pavel soon begins to question his own ability to separate reality from dreams.
A still from the film DRAGOONS. Photo courtesy of Atlanta Film Festival.
Evil Does Not Exist
Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi’s house offering city residents a comfortable “escape” to nature.
Spoiler-free review available from Atlanta Film Festival 2024.
Faceless After Dark
Following her breakout success as the star of a killer clown horror flick, Bowie now finds herself struggling to capitalize on her newfound semi-fame. But when she is held hostage by an unhinged fan posing as that same killer clown, horror becomes her reality as she fights to survive the night and escape before he completes his sinister plan to recreate the film’s fatal plot. Jenna Kanell from the Terrifier franchise gives a tour-de-force performance in this wild, gory ride.
Spoiler-free review from Atlanta Film Festival 2024.
Family Tree
Family Tree explores sustainable forestry in North Carolina through the stories of two Black families fighting to preserve their land and legacy. Despite setbacks, they work to create sustainable land to pass on to the next generation. The forest itself and the beauty of its changing seasons become a primary character in this family drama.
A still from the documentary FAMILY TREE. Photo courtesy of Atlanta Film Festival.
Spoiler-free review available from Atlanta Film Festival 2024.
Go Like Hell
In an industry dominated by billionaires, a team of renegade engineers bands together to bootstrap a rocket company amidst the sprawling Texas cattle fields. With funding rapidly dwindling and a relentless race against the giants of “big space,” this scrappy startup, led by an eccentric and determined CEO, must defy the odds and race to reach orbit before their finances collapse.
Naked Ambition
Bunny Yeager, once heralded as the “world’s prettiest photographer,” had a huge influence in 20th-century pop culture. As a model and photographer, she was a trailblazer whose work helped pave the way for both the feminist movement and sexual revolution. Featuring Dita Von Teese, Bruce Weber, and Larry King, Naked Ambition is a rediscovery of a brilliant and forgotten artist.
Self-Portrait of Bunny Yaeger in documentary NAKED AMBITION. Photo courtesy of Atlanta Film Festival.
Red Rooms
The high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the puzzle: the missing video of a murdered 13-year-old girl, to whom Kelly-Anne bears a disturbing resemblance.
L-R: Laurie Bapin as Clémentine and and Juliette Gariépy as Kelly-Anne in RED ROOMS. Photo courtesy of Nemesis Films, Inc.
Sing Sing
Divine G (Colman Domingo), imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men, including wary newcomer (Clarence Maclin), in this stirring true story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art, starring an unforgettable ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors.
A Song for Imogene
Faced with an unexpected pregnancy, Cheyenne, a once free-spirited songwriter, flees in the night from her possessive boyfriend, Alex. Back in her rural hometown, Cheyenne faces her bitter mother and reunites with her vagabond sister, Janelle: now a single mother to a five-year-old son. The two rekindle their sisterhood and Cheyenne’s forgotten dreams. Meanwhile, Alex discovers evidence of the hidden pregnancy and decides to chase Cheyenne down, challenging her to break a generational cycle of abuse. Immersive in its realism, A Song for Imogene is a story of grit set against the grueling landscape of the American South that explores issues of abuse, trauma, and the female bid for independence.
The South Got Something to Say
Pulling footage from an archive spanning the first fifty years of hip-hop as well as new interviews with Atlanta icons and genre luminaries (Killer Mike, Arrested Development, Goodie Mob, Lil Yachty, Jermaine Dupri), The South Got Something to Say tells the ongoing story of Atlanta’s undeniable impact on hip-hop.
A still from the documentary THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY. Photo courtesy of Atlanta Film Festival.
A Strange Path
A young filmmaker returns to his hometown and attempts to reconnect with his eccentric father as the pandemic rapidly accelerates across Brazil. Resuming their distant father-son relationship proves to be more complicated, however, as bizarre phenomena begin to fray the edges of their reality.
A still from the film A STRANGE PATH. Photo courtesy of Atlanta Film Festival.
Thelma
When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.
About the Atlanta Film Festival
Now in its fourth decade, the Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF)—one of only two-dozen Academy Award® qualifying festivals in the U.S.—is the area’s preeminent celebration of cinema. ATLFF is one of the largest and longest-running festivals in the country, welcoming an audience of over 28,000 to discover hundreds of new independent, international, animated, documentary, and short films, selected from 8000+ submissions from all over the world. It is also the most distinguished event in its class, recognized as Best Film Festival by Creative Loafing, Sunday Paper, 10Best, and Atlanta Magazine.
ATLFF screenings often include in-person dialog with filmmakers, providing audiences, artists, and industry professionals with meaningful opportunities to network, interact and engage. Recent festival guests have included Josh Brolin (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN), Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Michael Ealy (BARBERSHOP), Jasmine Guy (DIFFERENT WORLD), Gary Anthony Williams (MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE), Pauley Chris Moore (GOOD WILL HUNTING,), Howard Zinn (The Peoples’ History of the United States), Ray McKinnon (THE BLIND SIDE), Walton Goggins (THE SHIELD), Margaret Cho (DROP DEAD DIVA), comedian Jeff Foxworthy, Pauley Perrette (NCIS), Tichina Arnold (EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS), John Sayles (PASSION FISH), Hal Hartley (SIMPLE MEN), Carlos Cauron (RUDO Y CURSI) and Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers).
ATLFF is presented by The Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS), a membership-based 501(c)(3) arts non-profit with a mission to lead the community, both locally and worldwide, in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image. ATLFS presents a diverse slate of year-round offerings for film lovers, filmmakers, and industry professionals. Year-round programs —screenings, parties, panels, workshops, and other educational events –provide a forum for building the community of film lovers and film supporters. By bringing audiences and filmmakers together, the Society has the opportunity to broaden the perspective of both artists and moviegoers.
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Categories: Coming Soon, Recommendation
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