9 essential Atlanta arts events this weekend

Each week, ArtsATL curates a selection of the most exciting arts and culture events happening in Atlanta this weekend, highlighting nine must-see experiences. 

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Thursday

Out On Film

Out On Film is back with its 37th annual festival beginning Thursday, September 25, and running through October 5. Screenings will be held at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema and Out Front Theatre Company, with more than 140 films and the presentation of an Icon Award. A couple of the featured films were shot here in Georgia, including director Garrett Abdo’s debut feature, Exit Interviews. It stars Tuc Watkins as a middle-aged gay man who begins a personal documentary project following his long history of failed relationships. Also shot here in Georgia is We Are Pat, a documentary about obsession, transness and how art ages over time, told through Julia Sweeney’s 1990s cult character Pat from Saturday Night Live.

SCAD AnimationFest

If animation is your thing, don’t miss the SCAD AnimationFest, Thursday through Saturday, September 25 through September 27, which will showcase animation across film, television, social media and more, at SCADshow.

Jimmy Carr

Acerbic British comedian and frequent panel show host Jimmy Carr brings his stand-up comedy show to the Tabernacle on Thursday, September 25. It’s called Laughs Funny, and if you’ve ever seen him, you’ll never forget his distinctive laugh.

Atlanta Art Fair

The AAF returns to Pullman Yards from Thursday, September 25, through Sunday, September 28, with a robust slate of programming, including panel discussions, artist talks, installations and performances. Building upon the successes of its inaugural event, which welcomed more than 3,500 VIP guests and more than 12,000 visitors over the course of the four-day event, the plans for this year’s AAF feature more than 70 exhibitors. Highlights include a curatorial presentation by Melissa Messina, who has enlisted three female-identifying abstract artists to install large-scale pieces created in tribute to Atlanta’s own late abstract artist Mildred Thompson. The AAF has invited a strong showing of local galleries to participate, including Jackson Fine Art, Johnson Lowe Gallery, Spalding Nix Fine Art, Atlanta Photography Group, whitespace, Day & Night Gallery and Marcia Wood Gallery, just to name a few. Galleries from further afield, including San Francisco’s Jonathan Carver Moore, Palo Alto’s Pamela Walsh Gallery and New York’s GPG Gallery, will be presented alongside international galleries such as Dublin’s Stoney Road Press, The Melrose Gallery from Johannesburg and Uganda’s Borderlands. 

Friday

Atlanta Indian Film Festival

Since 2018, this annual Festival has been showcasing Indian cinema and introducing visiting Indian directors, actors and producers to the state’s movie production infrastructure and subsidies. The Festival will screen independent Indian cinema Friday through Sunday, September 26 through September 28 at the Tara Theatre.

Harlem Quartet with Aldo López-Gavilán 

The Grammy Award-winning quartet is joined by Cuban pianist and composer López-Gavilán for Schumann’s beloved Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, followed by a journey through Cuba’s myriad musical traditions with works by López-Gavilán. It’s at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on Friday, September 26.

Saturday

SITE

This evening of art installations, performances, art exhibits and open studios will return to the Goat Farm for one night only on Saturday, September 27. During the event, The Pollinator Art Space will present the opening of The Missing Algorithm, a show that explores human relationships to technology and the growing presence of AI in our everyday lives. The show will continue through November 1. The event will include a performance by Chamber Cartel.

AIDS Walk Atlanta Music Festival & 5K Run

Head to Piedmont Park for the annual AIDS Walk Atlanta Music Festival & 5K Run on Saturday, September 27, where CeeLo Green and Trombone Shorty will be the musical headliners.

Alma Mexicana Danza Folklórica

Mexican dance group Alma Mexicana Danza Folklórica will bring music and traditional Mexican folk dances and music to the Fulton County Library’s Sandy Springs branch at 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 27. Check out this week’s Arts Agenda for more Hispanic Heritage Month events.

More things to do this weekend

It’s a big weekend for film festivals in Atlanta. In addition to the two listed above, there’s the 7th annual Human Rights Film Festival, which begins on September 23 and continues through September 27 at Morehouse College and screens documentaries, features and shorts; and the 5th Annual Atlanta Women’s Film Festival takes place Wednesday, September 24, through Sunday, September 28 at 7 Stages Theatre in Little Five Points … Celebrate fall with a wide array of outdoor events this weekend. Among the big annual fests happening this weekend are the Duluth Fall Festival, Canton’s Riverfest, the Sweet Auburn Music Fest, Sunday in the Park featuring Tunes from the Tombs in Oakland Cemetery and the Old Fourth Ward Arts Festival in Historic Fourth Ward Park … Atlanta’s own Indigo Girls join forces with Melissa Etheridge for the Yes We Are Tour, which lands at the Synovus Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 26 … Reunited indie pop darlings Rilo Kiley will perform at The Eastern at 8 p.m. on Friday, September 26 … Ben Folds comes to Atlanta Symphony Hall for a two-night run at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, September 26 and September 27 … The following night, Atlanta Symphony Hall welcomes Lyle Lovett and His Acoustic Group at 7 p.m. on Sunday, September 28 … The Ridibund Chamber Music Society, led by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra bassist and composer Michael Kurth, returns to Eddie’s Attic at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 28.