I will be honest- I knew I wanted to cover the Atlanta Film Festival again this year, but I wasn’t quite sure what that would look like. You see, with my job and its fluid schedule, 2024 was a bit trickier than I anticipated, but I made it work. There was another potential wrinkle in this year, as well; in early March, I found out that my mother was at end-of-life, as the cancer she’d been diagnosed with started taking hold. With a 4-6 week rough prognosis, I could have had to be planning her memorial service, and in no shape emotionally to give myself to the festival the way I usually wanted to. Sadly, she passed away on March 29, but because we had so much worked out prior to her passing logistically, I am more readily available to cover the festival pretty much in its entirety.
As with last year, the festival will be taking place between The Plaza Theatre and the Tara. And also like last year, my coverage will span here at Sonic Cinema, In Their Own League, the podcast as well as the YouTube channel, as well as Patreon for short films.
Some of my schedule is not yet set in stone (though I will not be attending screenings the nights of Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, May 4, as those are home games for the Atlanta Vibe pro volleyball team, of which Meredith and I are season ticket holders), but I look forward to seeing the following between April 24-May 4.
In-Person Screenings
=Color Book (Dir. David Fortune; Opening Night, April 24 at 7pm at the Plaza)- Following his wife’s recent passing, single father Lucky finds himself navigating the challenges of raising his son Mason, who has Down syndrome. Mason is an 11-year-old exuberant boy who enjoys drawing and watching baseball with his dad. Seeking solace, Lucky and Mason embark on a journey across Metro Atlanta to attend their first baseball game together. Throughout their day-long trip, they encounter Murphy’s Law. From car breakdowns to missed trains, the duo faces a series of obstacles that test their relationship with each other. Despite the setbacks, they persevere, determined to reach the game. Together, Lucky and Mason learn that healing does not await them at the mountaintop, but can be found with every step along the path. “Color Book” provides an intimate portrait of a father and son while exploring the experiences of raising a child with Down syndrome, highlighting the strength and resilience that emerge from their bond.
=“To a Land Unknown” (Dir. Mahdi Fleifel; April 25 at 7:15pm at the Tara)- A Palestinian refugee living on the fringes of society in Athens gets ripped off by a smuggler and sets out to seek revenge.
=“The Surfer” (Dir. Lorcan Finnegan; April 25 at 9:45pm at the Tara)- A man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. When he is humiliated by a group of locals, the man is drawn into a conflict that keeps rising and pushes him to his breaking point.
=“Short Film Block: Saturday Morning Cartoons” (April 26 at 11am at the Plaza)- On a short day of film watching, this early morning short film block will be great to take in.
=“Third Act” (Dir. Tadashi Nakamura; April 26 at 1:45pm at the Tara)- Robert A. Nakamura, The Godfather of Asian-American Cinema, made history in the 1970s as Director of the first feature film entirely by and about Asian-Americans. But beyond his contribution to media, what other stories can he share with his son before dying? Tadashi expected to explore his father’s inspiration and achievement, but delves instead into the reality of Robert’s future as his Parkinson’s Disease progresses. Through sequences of home video, historical archives, photographs and BTS footage, Tadashi takes us on an intimate journey through two generations of the Japanese American experience, while defining what it means to say, “Goodbye.”
=“Speak” (Dir. Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman; April 26 at 4:30pm at the Tara)- Ambitious teen orators hone their craft, vying for glory in a prestigious global speech contest. Through dedication and artistry, they prepare to showcase their talents on the ultimate stage.
=“Lockjaw” (Dir. Sabrina Greco; April 27 at 1:15pm at the Tara)- Raina’s mouth is wired shut—a brutal reminder of the reckless, drunken mistake that landed her in an absurd car accident. But the metal trapping her jaw is only part of her punishment. No one can understand her, everyone seems to find it funny, and the tension between her boyfriend and his ex-best friend—who was once Raina’s closest confidant—has only gotten worse since the accident.
The trio ends up at the home of a magician they met at a bar earlier that night. But what starts as a strange detour quickly spirals into something far more unsettling. Their host, a man who thrives on manipulation and spectacle, takes pleasure in their unraveling, pitting them against each other in a cruel social experiment. Yet, beneath the chaos, Raina finds herself drawn to him in a way she can’t quite explain—perhaps because his illusions mirror the dysfunction within herself.
A dark, offbeat exploration of guilt, attraction, and fractured friendships, Lockjaw turns one disastrous night into a mesmerizing descent into discomfort and desire.
=Shorts: No Ordinary Love (April 27 at 3:30pm at the Tara)- While at Tara on Sunday, I figure might as well take in a short film block about love.
=“Your Tomorrow” (Dir. Ali Weinstein; April 27 at 6:30pm at the Tara)- Ontario Place stands at the edge of change—a beloved public space on the brink of disappearing. Once a vibrant gathering place for generations, the park has long been a sanctuary for swimmers, artists, and community builders—people of all ages and backgrounds drawn to its open shores and quiet corners to create, connect, and find respite in the city.
As long, meditative shots capture its fading beauty, a hypnotic, transient soundtrack underscores the tension between past and future. But now, with plans to transform it into a private spa, the very people who gave it life are being pushed out, their shared memories and traditions threatened by development.
Through stunning cinematography and a deeply evocative soundscape, Your Tomorrow is both an elegy and a call to action—a reflection on what we lose when public spaces are sold to the highest bidder.
=“The Kingdom” (Dir. Julien Colonna; April 29 at 7:15pm at the Tara)- Lesia, a teenager, is taken by a man to a villa where her fugitive father and his men are hiding. A war erupts, leading to death and a chase where father and daughter bond.
=“Eponymous” (Dir. Caroline Rumley; April 30 at 7pm at the Plaza)- The history of 19th century warfare, firearms and early amateur filmmaking converge in Caroline Rumley’s EPONYMOUS, a meditative archival essay with untold riches of 16mm footage shot in cinema’s earliest days. Its cinematographer was Hiram Percy Maxim, creator of the silencer and Rumley’s ancestor by marriage. The family legacy of violence goes back one step further, into the late 1800s: Maxim’s father is credited with the invention of the automatic machine gun. In a time when the moving picture camera was a novelty contraption for the inventor class to explore, the Maxims did just that — leaving behind a trove of beautiful footage tying their creative impulses to the machines of death they produced. As Rumley ponders their lives and legacies, the images reverberate through time, from the past to the present and back again.
=“Withdrawal (w/ ‘In Loving Memory’)” (Dir. Aaron Strand; April 30 at 9pm at the Plaza)- Artistic lovers Viv and Jay have become trapped in a vicious cycle of codependent heroin addiction. But when Viv’s wealthy parents hire an interventionist to take Viv to rehab, the couple decides to set off on their own with the help of a suboxone prescription. All they have to do is survive a harrowing night through drug withdrawal. As the hours tick by, the couple is faced with an ever-increasing array of physical, mental, and emotional torments that sends them searching through their fractured memories trying to figure out where it all went wrong.
=“The Summer Book” (Dir. Charlie McDowell; May 1 at 7pm at the Tara)- On a small, remote island located in the Gulf of Finland, a woman (Glenn Close) facing the end of her life spends her final Summer with her son (Anders Danielsen Lie – The Worst Person in the World and Oslo, August 31st) and her nine-year-old granddaughter, Sophia. After the death of Sophia’s mother, her father buries himself in his work, becoming largely absent from his daughter’s life. Over the course of the summer, the family gradually repairs their strained relationships by exploring the island that Sophia’s father grew up on, allowing for healing and closure. They spend their days climbing over the same rocky paths, venturing through the lush forest, planting flowers and trees, and scouting a long since deserted lighthouse in between storms. Glenn Close delivers a touching and unrestrained performance as the grandmother grappling with death. Based on the popular novel by Tove Jansson, The Summer Book is a thoughtful reflection on life, death, family, and acceptance.
=“The World Drops Dead” (Dir. Brandon Colvin; May 2 at 6:45pm at the Plaza)- Every Sunday Claire sits in a Quaker meetinghouse and listens for the Holy Spirit. But for her father Mark, the voice of God has fallen silent. In his despair, Mark takes his own life, leaving his family and their small community of faith to reckon with his loss. But for Claire, mourning is less about letting go than waiting for the presence she feels all around her to coalesce.
Working in the same vein as such disparate filmmakers as Josephine Decker and Ricky D’Ambrose, Alabama-based indie warhorse Brandon Colvin (SABBATICAL, A DIM VALLEY) uses DIY strictures and an austere style not to enforce realism but to knock on the door to something beyond it. Led by performances that ripple with life, THE WORLD DROPS DEAD plants its feet firmly in a drama of interiors while inviting in a strange guest, one who brings with them the lingering luminescence of the otherworldly.
=“It Ends” (Dir. Alexander Ullom; May 2 at 8:30pm at the Plaza)- Four friends, fresh out of college, take a road trip to celebrate the next chapter of their lives. But when Tyler makes a wrong turn, they find themselves trapped on a looping road with no exits, no landmarks—just endless forest stretching in every direction. Stopping isn’t an option, and the only way off the road is on foot. But those who step outside don’t come back. Something—or someone—is waiting for them in the trees.
As exhaustion and paranoia set in, one by one, they make their choice: stay in the car and keep driving toward nothing, or step into the darkness and face whatever lurks beyond the headlights. A mind-bending, lo-fi sci-fi thriller in the spirit of The Twilight Zone and The Endless, It Ends turns a simple wrong turn into a descent into madness.
=Plazadrome presents “Desperately Seeking Susan” (Dir. Susan Seidelman; May 3 at 1pm at the Plaza)- A bored New Jersey suburban housewife’s fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself. (Seidelman and Q&A moderator Marya E. Gates will be doing book signings at noon before the screening.)
=“Dandelions” (Dir. Basil Mironer; May 3 at 4pm at the Tara)- When Basil, an American filmmaker, receives an unexpected message on Facebook, his entire life is thrown upside down. To his surprise, he discovers that he has family in Russia that he never knew about, and that the man who raised him is not his biological father. Shocked and devastated by this news, Basil keeps this revelation to himself for four years before finally deciding to share it with his younger brother. As they both embark on an adventure to Russia to meet their extended family, they must grapple with questions about themselves and their families that shake the very foundations on which they were raised. With camera in hand, director (and main subject) Basil Mironer cleverly frames both joyous reunions and uncomfortable revelations from a first-person perspective, pulling us into close contact as his picture of his family and identity expands. And when the time comes to confront his parents with this new understanding, the camera doesn’t look away. Will his mother and father, who kept the truth of his birth hidden for so long, be able to accept this new version of their son?
=“Friendship” (Dir. Andrew DeYoung; Closing Night, May 3 at 6:45pm at the Tara)- A suburban dad falls hard for his charismatic new neighbor.
=“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (Dir. J.J. Abrams; May 4 at 12pm at the Tara)- As a new threat to the galaxy rises, Rey, a desert scavenger, and Finn, an ex-stormtrooper, must join Han Solo and Chewbacca to search for the one hope of restoring peace.
Already Seen Via Screener
For a lot of reasons, my pre-festival screening has been slow, but I will update this with more as I go on.
=“At See” (Dir. Serena Dykman; April 27 at 3pm at the Plaza in the Shorts: Community Outreach Block)- A group of blind travelers navigate a commercial cruise ship with their guide dogs.
=“Acts of Reparation” (Dir. Selina Lewis Davidson & Macky Alston; April 26 at 8pm at the Tara)- HR 40 – A Bill proposing to study reparations for African Americans – has been in legislative limbo since 1989. But what do we really mean when we talk about reparations? What would it look like to try and undo generations of harm? Selina and Macky, two life-long friends, embark on a journey to answer these very questions. Selina, an African American woman, traces her ancestry to find that many of her ancestors were in fact sharecroppers, and comes face to face with the trauma that many of her family members experienced. Macky, her White life-long friend, faces up to the shameful truth that his ancestors were slaveholders, and that the childhood home he so fondly remembers was also a place of suffering for many enslaved people.
Through intimate interviews with their family members, many of them elders who remember very different times, we join the two friends on their truth-telling quest, mapping the many ways that the past is still present in their lives. More than just a call for a check, ACTS OF REPARATION invites us to reflect on our collective histories as a way to imagine what form true healing might take.
=“Xibalba Monster” (Dir. Manuela Irene; April 25 at 9:30pm at the Plaza)- Deep in the heart of the Yucatan Jungle, Rogelio, a rotund and spunky eight-year-old orphan, spends his Summer with a ragtag group of friends that dedicate their days to smoking cigarettes and cursing at tourists. After discovering “The Book of Spirits,” Rogelio becomes infatuated with the spiritual world, and this obsession blurs the line between his dreams and reality. In a haze, Rogelio encounters a mysterious man traveling with a horde of animals who leaves a trail of death behind him. Rogelio’s friends inform him that this man, known as the Xibalba Monster, has made a deal with the devil and has an affinity for eating chubby children. Whether through boredom, bravery, or both, Rogelio follows the man into the forest where he witnesses things he cannot explain.
Xibalba translates to “place of fright” and refers to the underworld in Maya mythology. Rogelio’s interest in this mythos and his developing bond with the monster ultimately teaches him more about the reality of life and death than he could ever learn from a book.
Virtual Screenings
The virtual screenings period will begin on Monday, May 5 after the festival ends, and last until May 11. After the festival opened, I was able to pre-order from the virtual library, and this is what I chose.
=Animated Shorts– A vacuum quits its job to find greater purpose on a quiet street where two lonely rabbits are stuck in loops. To provide care for her son with special needs, Mary is navigating so much red tape that a surreal situation is looming. Through bad dates and bong rips, a flamboyant queer bird attempts to salvage a night that keeps going from bad to worse. A lonely widow finds comfort in the company of a hungry stray cat, who soon takes over her life in unimaginable ways. Life is hard even without having to tolerate other people’s annoying habits. In this world, the darkest revenge fantasies come true. A mystical tale of cloaked identities, and insatiable consumption: The ecology burns, reclaiming its environs. In search of relief from excruciating period pain caused by fibroids, Amanda takes a too-big dose of celebrity-branded cannabis edibles. Frustrated with his life, Ray (Domhnall Gleeson) dreams of the beauty and joy he will find in retirement.
=“Inheritance” (Dir. Matt Moyer & Amy Toensing)- Curtis is a smart, curious and energetic boy from rural Ohio growing up in a family whose history and daily life are marked by addiction. Surrounded by drug use and poverty, he still manages to live his sometimes-chaotic life to the fullest, finding joy and connection to his family even while witnessing their cycles of sobriety and relapse. Mining footage from an eleven-year collaboration, filmmakers Amy Toensing and Matthew Moyer use careful, loving observation to show Curtis and his family as more than their struggles. Curtis is a loving, kind, and tolerant boy, free from any judgement towards others, loyal to his family even if their choices are different from his own. By seeing his life through his own eyes and on his own terms, INHERITANCE grants back the individuality and dignity that’s often stripped from the lives upended by the opioid crisis.
=“Meta Take One” (Dir. Ryan Dutter and John Dierre)- In this highly stylized black and white epic shot entirely in Atlanta, a young director named John Cuffee is determined to complete the film he deems his masterpiece at any and all cost. After committing an accidental act of violence while shooting late into the night, his crew begins to lose faith in John as a director, and the project as a whole. After realizing that the police are in tow, John ignores desperate pleas from everyone around him including his own mother. Instead of turning themselves in, he insists that he and Damon, his lead actor, finish what they started. With the deadline looming over their heads, brutal chaos ensues as John and Damon run from the law through the familiar streets of Atlanta. Meta Take One is a harsh commentary on the challenges of independent filmmaking, unrealistic expectations within the industry, and the consequences of artistic obsession and apathy for one’s surrounding community.
=“Mongrels” (Dir. Jerome Yoo)- It’s the summer of 1991 in rural Canada when Gwang-Sun Lee, a renowned former hunter from Korea, is enlisted by the affluent farmer, Scott Larson, to eradicate the burgeoning population of feral dogs in the area. Gwang-Sun sees this as an opportunity for him and his children Hi-Joon and Hana to assimilate, while diverting attention from the grief of his recently deceased wife. Chronicled in three chapters, melancholic comedy Mongrels meditates on race, identity, and the pursuit of happiness.
=“More Beautiful Perversions” (Dir. Pavli Serenetsky)- In this short and sweet tale of self-discovery, Aiko recalls to their best friend, Mel, the events leading up to their low-risk rescue mission in a rural small town in Upstate NY. The day before, Aiko followed Deedi, their new hot, older crush, into the woods. From them, Aiko learned about the mundane secrets of the forest, what it means to stay present in our environment, and how some of the most impactful relationships only exist to grow us. A collaboration of more than 15 co-directors and two underground music legends as leads, More Beautiful Perversions captures the lush landscape of East coast old growth woodlands in this reimagination of the mumblecore genre shot on 16mm film.
=“Norita” (Dir. Jayson McNamara & Andrea Tortonese)- During the 1970’s and 80’s, Jorge Videla’s cruel dictatorship kidnapped, tortured, and murdered thousands of Argentinian citizens. Many families faced the horror and shock of the disappearance of family members who were abruptly taken by the military, never to be heard from again.
Such was the case for Nora Cortinas, affectionately referred to as “Norita”. When her son, Gustavo, was suddenly kidnapped by the military junta, she embarked on a life-changing journey to find him, and along the way found community, purpose, and hope. Starting as a small group of housewives demonstrating on Buenos Aires’ Plaza de Mayo, Norita’s movement saw the end of the Videla dictatorship and the imprisonment of its leaders.
In capturing Norita’s storied life, filmmakers Jayson McNamara and Andrea Tortonese embrace the complexities of her story, including the very real challenges that Noritas activism created for her family, such as her estrangement from her youngest son. But rather than retire from the fight against injustice, Norita continues to inspire a generation of Argentinians seeking new freedoms.
=Shorts: Black Boy Fly– Regardless of where they stay, they hold their heads high and continue marching.
=Shorts: Veneration– What seems to be a burgeoning romance between two Natives takes a sinister turn as one grows suspicious of the other’s Indigenous heritage, and more short films.
2025 Atlanta Film Festival – The Reviews
“At See” (at In Their Own League)
“Acts of Reparation”
“Xibalba Monster”
“Color Book”
“To a Land Unknown”
“The Surfer”
“Speak.”
Thanks for Listening,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
