Celebrating the Legacy and Analyzing the Future of Film Festivals
This year the Atlanta Film Festival celebrates 46 years of artistry, entertainment, community and cinema. As one of the longest-running festivals in the country, each year it debuts a long list of incredible narrative and documentary-styled films. This year’s lineup showcased the diversity of storytelling across genres from both established and emerging artists. The 11-day festival featured films such as Together Together, Strawberry Mansion, Profile, The Sleeping Negro, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It and Mogul Mowgli to name a few.
Since its inception, the Atlanta Film Festival has been extremely intentional with its efforts to showcase diverse filmmakers from underrepresented groups, and this year’s collection was no exception. Spotlighting creators of color, LGBTQ+, women and gender-nonconforming filmmakers within genres like sci-fi, thriller, music videos and food films. As one of the only two dozen Academy Award qualifying festivals in the U.S. — the Atlanta Film Festival is the most prominent film display in the south.
Following a brief hiatus due to COVID-19, film buffs all around the world were excited to witness the return of film festivals everywhere. Whether through virtual screenings, drive-in theaters or in-person socially distanced gatherings the return of film festivals provided many of us with a much-needed escape. Ashley Woolridge, an Atlanta-based actress and film enthusiast said she was grateful for the simple pleasure of just sitting in a theater again. Adding, “there’s something really special about watching the same story in a room full of strangers.”
Woolridge is not the only festival fan that was ecstatic to learn of its return. Last year moviegoers have had to rely on various streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO Max for their fix. This established a trend of passive consumption and disconnect from the stories being presented on screen. However, following a year of stress, grief and social unrest, viewers now understand that there is nothing as therapeutic as a relaxing trip to the movies. For most of us, including myself, taking a simple trip to a movie theater or attending a film festival was easy to overlook. However now, the simple pleasure of sitting in a drive-in theater can emulate the escape of a beach vacation.
In an attempt to preserve the magic of movies, film festivals similar to the ATLFF were forced to improvise in order to return this year. The Cannes Film Festival even considered delaying the legendary 11-day event for a later season or hosting it digitally. However, festival director Thierry Fremaux shares with U. S’s Variety Magazine that doing so was not even an option. Stating, “for Cannes, its soul, its history, its efficiency, it’s a model that wouldn’t work. What is a digital festival?”
So, the question now is, how much of the festival experience is dependent on the traditional format. Are we still a long way from the exquisite encounter of in-person film festivals? Hannah Moseley, local Atlanta film buff and Atlanta Film Festival attendee, found reliving the traditional movie experience to be the most rewarding aspect of the event. After attending the premiere of the film Profile Moseley says, “ It was the first public event I’ve gone to in a year, so there was a lot of anticipation and excitement leading up to it. I got dressed up, made a car cocktail, and bought concession snacks. Even though I wasn’t in a theater, the festival did a pretty good job of providing a theater experience.” Confirming that film festivals aren’t just about the movie itself, but rather the environment attending the various showings creates.
For viewers like Woolridge and Moseley, the true gem behind film festivals is not found in the storytelling. The true gem of Cannes, the Atlanta Film Festival and others around the world is the community that is formed at each viewing. A community that is so rich with culture, taste and depth that it would be naive to expect that to translate onto virtual screenings. There’s just something exceptionally beautiful about sitting alongside strangers and absorbing the same story in real-time. Having the opportunity to share reactions, murmurs and laughs in unison with friends and strangers is something that could never be replaced through a laptop.
In the digital space, viewers are deprived of that community and forced to engage with art in isolation. Now while the accessibility of digital streaming is an obvious bonus, I don’t think one could ever replace the value of experiencing the other. Experiencing the premier of visual storytelling amongst others with shared interests is one of the most undervalued aspects of attending a film festival in person. An aspect that is lost in digital streaming, and ultimately forms a distance between the characters and viewers.
Yet, some organizations would argue that the future of film festivals is online streaming. In fact, a good chunk of the world’s most prestigious film festivals is coming together for the first time for a 10-day digital event that will begin toward the end of this month. The global film festival is titled: We Are One and aims to “elevate films that have the power to create change and bring audiences from around the world together to create meaningful connections.” But is it possible to bring audiences together across a gazillion miles of pixelated space? According to Forbes Magazine festival curators are combating this concern by expanding the festival culture. Noting, “curators are redefining the film festival by creating new categories to incorporate storytelling mediums like film, video games, and virtual reality experiences.”
Beyond extending the film categories, event producers are also leaning toward drive-in theaters as a possible future for film festivals. Forbes Magazine continues with, “The pandemic isn’t stopping film enthusiasts and moviegoers from keeping the movie experience alive. Drive-in movie theaters are making a comeback.” And as a bonus due to innovative technology, “modern car speakers are almost a surround sound experience and a drive-in offers the possibility of being together while feeling separate.”
Though it feels like a drive-in theater and digital screening will never replace the original sensation of sitting in a theater alongside a community of film lovers, strides are being taken toward preserving the film festival experience. In addition, future developments will require a collaborative look at how we experience visual storytelling. Personally, I am looking forward to a time when standing in line for concession and sitting in a packed theater is a thrilling Friday evening.
