2026 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Semifinalists Announced!
ATLANTA, GA (February 27, 2026)—The Atlanta Film Society is pleased to present the 2026 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Semifinalists. Chosen from 632 submissions, the following 35 feature film screenplays, 13 pilots, and 16 shorts represent the top ten percent of all entries. Their authors are competing for invaluable mentorship opportunities to help hone their craft and plan the next steps in their careers, in addition to cash prizes. Please join us in congratulating these impressive authors and wishing them well as the programming team continues to narrow the list down to Finalists, and, eventually, 5 Winning Scripts!
Feature Films:
"24 Hours From Tulsa" by Louisa Rorschach
"Adventures in Serial Killing" by Jack Warner
"American Fairy Tales" by A. S. Templeton
"Amen & Ameen" by Susan Polk
"BENEATH THE UNDERCURRENT" by Rebekah Louisa Smith
"Ghost Mountain" by James Taing
"Haines Code" by Paul Baker
"Home Bound" by Tijuana Ricks
"June, Friday" by Han Liang
"Let's Talk Tacheles" by Matthew Danciger
"LYNCHIN'" by Izayah Davis
"The Age of Elijah" by H. Philip Owens
"The Makings of You" by Jon Vaude
"The Fourth Psalm" by John Martins III
"The Phrogger" by Joel McElvaney
"Potter's Field" by Lincoln Reed
"Placage" by Qi None
"Rainbow Wish" by Ashley Nwogugu
"SANKOFA" by Fordang Nibalum
"Sweet Jesus" by Greyson Wyatt
"Those We Leave Behind" by Amanda Keener
"Until Nightfall" by Lou Blackmon
"Wander" by Raymond Wood
"What Have I Done to Deserve This?" by Ethan Mitchell
"Your Friend" by Jason Kesse
"SHE DONE IT" by Betsy Nagler
"Stormrunner" by Jack Padgett
"The Age of Elijah" by H. Philip Owens
Pilots:
"Almost Broken" by Brian Kurlander
"Cracked" by Elizabeth Hickey
"IMPOSTER" by Kalos Chu
"Jane Austen's Juvenilia" by Dana Wall
"Mad Color" by Annique Arredondo
"Medusa: An Animated Series" by Ruby Mainieri
"New Karen" by Kim Richardson
"Qualia" by Art Blount
"The Last Asshole" by Warner Wood
"The Soul Scouts" by Carter Glace
"The Urning - Life and Times of a Gay Rights Pioneer" by Chris Halligan
"Sixty Nine" by Ksenia Tolmazin
Short Films:
"A Fighting Chance" by Shane Starr
"BYOB (Bring Your Own Body)" by Taylor Winters
"Bleed" by Tristin Thompson
"Olivia Colman Says My Farts Don’t Stink" by Lisa Marie Tedesco
"Hanout (herbal embalming)" by Hossein Soleimani
"Keeling" by Ken Schwarz
"Last Man Standing" by Alex Dauphin
"Lizzie Bell" by Charles Gay
"Monsters" by Alex Dauphin
"Pith" by Joyce Liu-Countryman
"The Harvest" by Kate Dailey
"The Rest is Silence" by Aayushi A. Shah
"The Road to Zoar" by Jomo Merritt
"The Shepherd" by Stephani Ouzts
"We'll Be Safe Here" by Erin Copen Howard
"You Don't Say" by Juliet Colyer