Over the years, I have only had one experience at a film festival. It was in 2002, and it was strictly in a fan capacity, as I made a trip to Birmingham, Alabama one Sunday afternoon to watch the world premiere of Amber Benson’s lovely comedy, “Chance”, which also included a Q&A after the fact with her and other members of the cast and crew. Yes, I have gone to several blocks of Dragon*Con’s Short Film Festival over the years, and I’ve discussed those blocks in blogs and podcasts, but Dragon*Con is a completely different beast, it’s hard to even compare that to what I saw at Birmingham’s Sidewalk Film Festival that one day.
This year, Sonic Cinema is taking a considerable step forward in not only how it discusses film, and how I take in film. Part of that began late last year, when I began voting as part of the Georgia Film Critics Association, and started receiving screeners for fleshing out my yearly film viewing. After that, I was feeling a bit bolder, so I decided to take a chance when it comes to the annual Atlanta Film Festival, which I have never been to, but been curious about. All that being said, I am pleased to announce that Sonic Cinema has been accepted as an outlet to cover the 2019 Atlanta Film Festival as a member of the press. This is an opportunity I feel prepared to do after three-plus years of interviews and film discussions for the Sonic Cinema Podcast, and continuing to broaden my voice in not only how I discuss movies, but the types of movies I talk about.
I’ve already begun looking at both the general programming and features and shorts that will be shown between April 4-14, as well as the key programming and special presentations, and it’s a varied and interesting list of films. In addition to reviews of the films I see, as well as general blogs about the experience, I hope to also have interviews, be they in print or as part of the podcast, with several filmmakers. And if you are a Patreon subscriber, I hope to have even more for you.
I have some more podcasts, reviews and blogs for you before April, but I wanted to let you know, if you didn’t already, of a pretty big thing Sonic Cinema will be doing throughout early April.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
