Celebrate 50 Sensational Years of Cinema at The 50th Annual Atlanta Film Festival!

ATLANTA, GA (March 12th, 2026)—The Atlanta Film Society invites you to the 50th Annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference, taking place from April 23rd to May 3rd, 2026.  Filmmakers from all over the world will converge upon Atlanta to celebrate films ranging from documentaries to narratives, from shorts to features. Be one of the tens of thousands showing their love and support for independent film and filmmaking.

With The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) turning 50 this year, it has not only established itself as one of the longest-running film festivals in the world — it is also one of the largest, with an audience exceeding 28,000 annually — and is one of only 24 Academy Award®-qualifying festivals in the U.S.  Discover more of ATLFF’s impressive history at www.atlantafilmfestival.com/50-history.

You can enjoy the festival as a badgeholder with exclusive access, or purchase tickets for each event – on sale when the official schedule is announced on March 23rd! If you want to experience it all, grab an All-Access badge and get invites to daily parties, socials, and more! For our film buffs uninterested in party life, there are badges for you too! Check them out at www.atlantafilmfestival.com/buy-a-badge. Save big on the 2026 lineup of films, panels, and special events by getting your badge early. 

Event Highlights 

Launch Party: a free and open-to-the-public preview event featuring delicious appetizers, engaging conversations with filmmakers, and an opportunity to chat with the programming team behind the festival. On Monday, March 23, from 7 to 9:30 PM, we welcome you to dive into the creative process, ask questions, and learn more about what’s in store for this year’s festival. Plus, chances to win ATLFF Badges, giving you access to the best of #ATLFF50. RSVP!
Screenings + Q&As: Join us for a screening, stay for insight into the makings of indie film. While not all screenings include filmmaker Q&As, there’s a good chance the storytellers behind a film will make an appearance. Regardless, every showing at ATLFF provides audiences, artists, and industry professionals with meaningful opportunities to interact and engage.  

Red Carpets: Lights, Camera, Action! Hit the red carpet and capture the moment. Whether it’s the historic Plaza Theatre or the iconic Tara Theatre, you can be sure to catch your best angle. Not to mention, you can spot some of the stars like Recent festival guests Ewan McGregor, 2 Chainz, Francis Ford Coppola, Keke Palmer, Ray McKinnon,Ed Helms, Kerry Washington, and so many more.

Parties + Socials: The Atlanta Film Festival takes great pride in creating space for our film community to gather, conspire, and inspire. Filmmaking is often an industry of who you know.ATLFF makes it easy to meet the right people to launch your career forward.

Creative Conference: For 15 years, the Atlanta Film Festival has curated a robust lineup of educational programming, known as the Creative Conference. Across four days, festival-goers have a unique opportunity to learn from and connect with industry experts working in film, television, gaming, finance, and distribution.

SOUND + VISION: For its 50th Anniversary, the Atlanta Film Festival is bringing back its signature event, SOUND+VISION @ The Goat Farm, an immersive evening of live music, virtual reality, art installations, and standout music videos. Join us on the second Thursday of the festival, April 30th, 6  to 11 PM. 

About the Atlanta Film Festival
Positioned at the intersection of art, culture, and commerce, the Atlanta Film Festival brings meaning to the moving image by championing the shared community experience of movie-going, fostering the free exchange of ideas, and nurturing the development of a thriving industry.  The festival dates back to its founding as IMAGE Film & Video Center in 1976, in response to the need for media equipment access, networking, information dissemination, and support among Georgia media artists and producers.

About the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS)
The ATLFF is presented by The Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS), a membership-based 501(c)(3) arts non-profit with a mission to lead the community, both locally and worldwide, in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image.  ATLFS presents a diverse slate of year-round offerings for film lovers, filmmakers, and industry professionals.  Year-round programs—screenings, parties, panels, workshops, and other educational events—provide a forum for building the community of film lovers and film supporters.  By bringing audiences and filmmakers together, the Society can broaden the perspectives of both artists and moviegoers. 

For more information about the Atlanta Film Society, please visit atlfs.org. And for more information about the  upcoming 50th Annual Atlanta Film Festival, go to atlantafilmfestival.com

Funded in part by a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.