Arts Agenda: Independent films, fests and special screenings

March 22-23

For 20 years, Atlanta Docufest has championed the power of film to tell real stories in compelling ways. This year’s festival takes place March 22 and March 23 at Limelight Theater. Attendees can view some of the year’s most striking films addressing social change, personal struggles and more. Filmmakers will be present to engage with the community in live Q&As, along with other programming such as the 14-Day Film Challenge.

March 22

AI is one of the most contentious subjects in filmmaking and played a big role in negotiations surrounding the recent Screen Actors Guild strike. The first Atlanta International AI Film Festival will take a look at both the ethics and the innovations of artificial intelligence in storytelling at MODEx Studio Buckhead on March 22, bringing filmmakers right to the cutting edge of technology.

March 26

The Emory Cinematheque series continues with a free screening of the serial-killer cult classic Peeping Tom at 7:30 p.m. March 26 at Emory’s White Hall. The 1960 film, directed by Michael Powell (The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus), outraged critics when it was released but has since become widely hailed as one of the greatest horror films. In a later re-appraisal, film critic Vincent Canby noted that one critic called it “perverted nonsense.” Along with Psycho, released the same year, it provided the blueprint for the slasher genre.

March 27

Beloved Atlanta artist Nellie Mae Rowe is the subject of This World Is Not My Own. It’s part of Emory’s Ethics at the Movies series. Part animation and part live action, the documentary chronicles the artist’s life and her remarkable home, which she filled with drawings, handmade sculptures and dolls and objects she collected. Screening on March 27 at White Hall.

March 27

Shirley Clarke’s Portrait of Jason is a remarkable historical document and an entertaining, unabashed view of being a Black, gay, pill-popping cabaret performer in 1967. Screening March 27 as part of the Wussy Art House series at Tara Theatre.

March 29-30

Every spring in Athens, the Backlight Student Film Festival screens short films made by undergraduates and graduate students from across the state of Georgia. This year’s screenings will take place March 29 and March 30.

April 9

When his bike is stolen, Pee-wee embarks on a quest to recover his prized possession in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. The screening is part of the Wussy Vision series, Wussy Mag’s queer camp series with costume contests, drink specials and more. See it at the Plaza Theatre on April 9.

April 10 and 12

The Plaza Theatre will host two Q&A sessions with 81-year-old director and Robert Altman protégé Alan Rudolph, along with screenings of his 1984 film Choose Me (on April 12) and the little-seen 1978 film Remember My Name (on April 10).

April 15-June 3

Midtown Classics presents a Western series featuring movies by iconic directors including Sam Peckinpah, Jim Jarmusch, Anthony Mann, Sam Raimi and Mel Brooks. The screenings will include a discussion of the films. The series gets underway with John Ford’s 1956 film The Searchers on April 15 at Midtown Art Cinema.

April 16

No Bears, Jafar Panahi’s film about defying a ban on filmmaking in Iran, screens April 16 at White Hall as part of Emory Cinematheque’s spring series Film on Film — that is, film about making and engaging with film. Panahi plays a fictionalized version of himself as he documents the attempts of a couple attempting to flee Iran. The 2022 film won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

April 17

Get a behind-the-scenes look at Neil Young’s recent solo tour in Coastal, a documentary directed by actress and filmmaker (and Young’s wife) Daryl Hannah. The screening takes place at Midtown Art Cinema.

April 24-May 4

Perhaps the mother of all of the city’s celebrations of film, The Atlanta Film Festival, kicks off on April 24 and runs through May 4 at the Plaza Theatre and The Tara. The Festival is programmed every year based on more than 6,000 submissions from filmmakers all over the world. Films chosen from direct submissions make up over 90% of the program each year. The 2024 Festival included tracks highlighting Black filmmakers, Latin American stories and Georgia film. The Atlanta Film Festival is an Academy Award-qualifying event.

May 9

GSU’s School of Film, Media and Theatre presents the Georgia State University Student Film Festival on May 4 at the Rialto Center for the Arts. Films are juried by faculty and local industry professionals.