The 2026 Fall Arts Preview: Our picks in Film and TV

A high-profile Atlanta-shot film, a wide array of film festivals and special screenings and an exploration of the films of Spike Lee are coming this fall.

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The Atlanta-filmed Madden, a biopic of the football coach and commentator, is set for release on Prime Video on November 18. It stars Nicolas Cage in the title role, along with Christian Bale, Kathryn Hahn, Sienna Miller, John Mulaney and Shane Gillis. The production was based at Shadowbox Studios, near South River Art Studios and the Doll’s Head Trail but filmed at many locations around town, including Georgia State University’s Center Parc Stadium (formerly Turner Field). It was directed by David O. Russell, Academy Award-nominated director of American Hustle, The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook.

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The Emory Cinematheque, a series of professional film screenings offered by the Department of Film and Media and Emory College of Arts and Sciences, will undertake an in-depth exploration of the films of Spike Lee this fall with 40 Years of Brother Spike Lee. It’s curated by Dr. Beretta Smith-Shomade, author of Finding God in All the Black Places: Sacred Imaginings in Black Popular Culture. It begins on September 2 with a screening of two episodes of the 2017 series update of Lee’s full-length debut film She’s Gotta Have It, originally released in 1986. It continues through December 9, when they’ll show Lee’s 2018 film BlacKkKlansman, which won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Presenters will introduce each film and hold post-screening Q&As for each screening, which all take place on Wednesdays in Emory University’s White Hall. 

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You’ll have three chances to see Mickey Duzyj’s Smooth World next month. The synopsis of the film begins with this: “Decades past its prime, the terminally-uncool genre of smooth jazz endures as an underground music scene for senior citizens.” And while there may be some truth in that, the genre’s massive popularity in and around Atlanta speaks to its endurance. Through the fandom’s joyous and diverse fan base, and leading light Dave Koz, the documentary examines the path forward for the genre. The Atlanta premiere will happen at Emory’s White Hall on September 10 and includes a conversation between Emory film and media professor Gregory Zinman and Duzyj. Zinman’s Off the Wall @ 725 Ponce series will then screen the film on the 725 Ponce building on September 11 and September 19.

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The mission of Out on Film is to inform, entertain, educate and enrich the LGBTQ culture by showcasing films by, for and about the LGBTQ community and its allies. In 2020, it became an Oscar-qualifying film festival. This year, screenings begin on September 24 and continue through October 4, and the lineup is packed with intriguing and highly anticipated films.

The buzz has been deafening surrounding La Bola Negra, and Out on Film will bring us the Atlanta premiere of this latest film from Cannes-winning directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (aka Los Javis). Spanning nearly a century of Spanish history, the film tells the story of three generations of men whose lives are intimately connected through desire, pain and love. It will close the festival on October 4. Opening the festival is Before I Do, a romantic comedy in which a lakeside bachelor party weekend devolves into chaos when the groom and his best man re-ignite past romantic feelings.

Among the other notable films is the U.S. premiere of Test, about an amateur bodybuilder in rural Ohio (Brock Yurich, who wrote the film) who must confront a dysfunctional family (including his demanding mother, played by Emmy winner Tammy Blanchard), substance abuse and his own emerging sexuality on his quest to become a champion. In Dreamers, Isio, who fled homophobia in Nigeria, is detained and placed in an asylum removal center after living in the United Kingdom undocumented for two years. Inside, she meets Farah, a pragmatic and charismatic roommate who understands the system’s cruelty all too well. They’ll also be screening In Between, by Atlanta filmmaker Nicholas Mollencupp, whom ArtsATL profiled in June, and Love, Patrick, by The Horne Brothers, who are among our Ones to Watch for 2026.

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More highlights in film …

The BronzeLens Film Festival expands to two weekends this year, celebrating work created by and for people of color and featuring premieres, workshops, panel discussions, master classes, special appearances and more. The Festival takes place August 21 through August 23 and August 27 through August 30 at the Tara Theatre. Opening night sees the premiere of The Horne Brothers’ Love, Patrick, a documentary that uncovers the extraordinary rise of Patrick Kelly, the late Southern, Black designer who took Paris by storm and reshaped fashion while confronting race, identity and mortality. The awards ceremony on August 30 takes place at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College. Check ArtsATL later this week for a preview of the Festival.

Robert Kramer’s and John Douglas’ sprawling and ambitious 1975 film Milestones is an epic of everyday life. It follows dozens of characters and blends fiction, documentary and re-enactment in telling the story of ’60s radicals grown up, mourning the sense of hope that defined their youth and trying in their own ways to move forward in the post-Vietnam War era. Film Love will present the film at the Plaza Theatre on August 27.

In Safe in Hell, Gilda flees the authorities in New Orleans and hides on a Caribbean island, where the worst criminals can ask for asylum. Besieged by the scum of the Earth, Gilda will soon find out that she has found refuge in hell. Variety called this 1931 pre-code drama “hardboiled and sordid.” Catch it at 7:30 p.m. on September 1 at the Tara.

The 8th annual Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival takes place September 22 through September 26 at Morehouse College and screens documentaries, features and shorts, along with a Creative Conference and filmmaker conversations.

Atlanta Horror Film Festival turns 20 in 2026, marking two decades of screening horror films in front of local crowds who love horror. The Festival runs October 1 through October 4 at 7 stages

The Atlanta Indian Film Festival has been bringing some of the finest voices of Indian cinema to Atlanta since 2018, and it returns this year from October 2 through October 4 at the Tara Theatre.

The 2026 Coca-Cola Film Series continues with The Ring in Concert, featuring Hans Zimmer’s iconic soundtrack performed live by the Georgia Symphony Orchestra alongside the haunting 2002 movie on the big screen at the Fox Theatre on October 21.

The Climate Film Festival will feature screenings of Groundswell and The Tree Economy, along with the opportunity to learn more about local relevant arts and environmental organizations. There will also be screenings of short films at the event, which will take place at the Porter Sanford III Performing Arts & Community Center on October 23 and October 24.

F.W. Murnau’s masterpiece of silent cinema, Faust: A German Folktale, celebrates its 100th anniversary with an aural update courtesy of a live electronic score by The Nebulous Orchestra. The one-night-only event happens October 27 at the Plaza Theatre.

Our 2026 Fall Picks