Raw & Reel: Get Exposed. Atlanta Film Festival Lineup

Streaming services are making you betches lazy. You’re spoiled with endless viewing options microfiltered by an algorithm like some kind of B-movie digital distillery. Still, props to Netflix for putting their billions to work incubating the underrepresented narratives of tomorrow.

But seldom do strong voices stay silent. More than 100 visually stunning and compelling independent works are being exhibited across the state.

Why not yours?

The Atlanta film scene breeds some of the biggest ever raconteurs on celluloid. There’s so much going on that we compiled a cheat-sheet of the three “best fests,” for an aspiring amateur filmmaker.

Atlanta DocuFest

Unscripted works challenge us in ways we weren’t prepared for. Indie documentary films concentrating on the underrepresented or historically excluded find a home at Atlanta DocuFest. It’s only one part of the four-part Atlanta Film Series and accepts submissions from around the world. Running for 16 years now, notable showcases include Deuk Lee’s Ralzam. The film is a vignette of a close-knit southeast Asian family settled in Clarkston, GA. It’s a story about the trials of the “fresh off the boat” experience. It feels like a no-brainer that more Asian voices need amplifying in a state where they are a fast-growing community. Documentary filmmaking workshops are also available to interested participants.

Venue:

RoleCall Theater

675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE

Suite E186, Atlanta, GA 30308

Submissions are open November to June.

Buried Alive Film Festival

This ain’t your mammy’s horror showcase. Comparisons to the Atlanta Horror Film Festival are inevitable, but here’s the key difference — Buried Alive Film Fest is gonzo at its finest. Doing the Lord’s work, this festival celebrates the goriest low-tech high-concept slaughterporn amateurs can muster. Get you trigger warnings ready and expect the most bizarre gut-churning chillers just waiting to be unearthed. Horror movie fans meetupto vote on several categories including the “”Golden Shovel” and the “WTF!” awards.

Think you make the cut?

Venue:

7 Stages Theater

1105 Euclid Ave NE

Atlanta, GA 30307

Submissions are open January to May.

Out on Film Festival

Pride is twelve months of the year, and it’s no question that queer non-cisgender persons need to tell the stories they deserve. Depictions of LGBTQ people in all their suffering and spectacle debut at the Out on Film Festival. At three decades plus, it comfortably holds its own as one of the longest running LGBTQ film festivals in Atlanta. Not limited by genre, gay filmmakers have produced love stories like the nine minute short Bill & Robert. Or, the docu-confessional Outrun the Sky. A film about HIV-positive gay men from Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana laying bare their deepest hurts.

Venue:

Landmark Midtown Art Cinema

Promenade Center, 931 Monroe Dr NE

Atlanta, GA 30308

Submissions are open from January to July

Be Festival Ready. Hosting your Film’s First Showing

Congrats!

You made a movie, but how do you know if it’s any good?

I know what you’re thinking, you’ll host a private viewing party for family and friends… Wrong! Once you’ve made an early cut, it’s time to do a test screening. Most importantly, you need to debut it in front of a bunch of unwashed normies. Why, pray tell?

Because if you want to make it in film, you must learn how to take criticism. None of that unconditional garbage spewed by Mom and Dad.

Showing a film before it opens to the public gives you the chance to cut that montage that runs a little too long. Or, drop that running gag that—let’s face it—isn’t funny.

Social House event spaces are focused on meeting the needs of content creators and viewers. Booking a premiere with us ensures your specific needs are met. Our lounge-style venue boasts multiple A/V hookups ready for a private movie screening*. The performance area is spacious enough to accommodate a small crowd of fans. Yet, still intimate enough to allow for an up-close and personal Q & A session after the screening.

Want to check the space for yourself? Contact us and request a tour.

Our competitors charge tens of thousands. Don’t allow film exhibition costs to break the bank. When you think about places to host an event, pricing should be the least of your worries.

Host your event with us for an easy turnkey setup all under one roof.

What film festival are you looking forward to the most?