Did You Attend the 2016 Atlanta LGBT Film and Music Festival?
This was the official site for the 2016 Atlanta LGBT Film and Music Festival. The festival's opening night kicked off with panel discussions and mixers, followed by a day of independent film watching and a day of musical acts.
Content is from the site's 2016 archived pages as well as other outside sources.
Take a nostalgic trip back.
The Atlanta LGBT Film & Music Festival is a festival that was created to provide a platform for LGBTQ film makers, music lovers, and those who support the culture to showcase their art and to receive much needed recognition within the entertainment industry. It will serve the underserved gay community that helps enrich and provides a place where LGBTQ individuals can be themselves without judgment and criticism.
Dates & Deadlines
Opening Date: November 1, 2015
Early Entry Deadline: January 12, 2016
Official Entry Deadline: February 28, 2016
Late Entry Deadline: March 28, 2016
Notification Date: April 4, 2016
Event Date: August 25 – 27, 2016
Come join us for a great night out with popcorn and two great LGBT films to discover. We are having a private screening at Urban Cannibals on March 3rd, 2016 at 7:00pm. Tickets are ONLY $12. This is a great way to support our festival as well as network with the local film industry.
This event is free for ALL ALFF members, so you will only need to RSVP.
"I was in Atlanta and attended this event with my partner. We were there for a high tech conference since I am a consultant for Kubernetes and Big Data which was held the day before. (Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration system for automating application deployment, scaling, and management originally designed by Google, but now in the hands of everyone.) The event was very enjoyable and we met many interesting people from all walks of life, including a team of devs from Google! After watching the films, we spent the entire evening discussing our encounters w/ Kubernetes, Big Data, DevOps, and tons of other exclusively geeky topics that turn us on. Never would I have imagined the experience I had that evening. Very inspiring, both from a LGBT and high tech point of view!" Jonathan Winty
PRIVATE SCREENING FOR TWO GREAT LGBT FILMS!
'NetFlix and Chill' Night Out with The ALFF 2 Private Movie Screenings for the price of 1
LOVE IS LOVE
by Ash
Love should not have restriction or laws. A person should have the freedom to love whomever they want, regardless of gender. Love is love.
Written by Shanti Patel
On June 26 2015, the United States of America legalized same sex marriage. It was the a great moment for the LGBTQ community that time had finally came that gay marriage was legalize in all states. In some countries, same-sex marriage has not been legalized same marriage and does not want to change the law for same marriage.
In New Delhi, India, great news has finally come. The Supreme Court made a decision to review and decide if there should be rights for gays. India is one of 75 countries to outlaw homosexuality, according to the International LGBT and Intersex Association.
Even though, some people might disagree to change the law, and just want to keep the tradition that has been carried on for 156 years. Shashi Tharoor, a member of Modi’s party made a statement stating that, “This is not just about sex, or even about gays, it is about principles of freedom enshrined in our constitution”.
Love should not have restriction or laws. A person should have the freedom to love whomever they want, regardless of gender. Love is love.
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FREEDOM TO LOVE
by Ash
We all should have the right to the FREEDOM OF LOVE.
Coming out to family and friends can be terrifying and the most hardest thing to do. Based on the anticipation of their reaction because it can either go positive or negative. Today in Hollywood, more and more celebrities are coming out and sharing their own story.
For example, Caitlyn Jenner has been huge in the news last year based on her transition story. Of course, some people did not feel comfortable with Caitlyn Jenner’s new image and disagreed with her values. Regardless what other people may feel, you have to be happy with who you are. You may look different on the outside, but the inside should match your self-worth.
In today’s society, it should not still be an issue with how you live your life and who you love while doing it. Love is free and doesn’t cost anything. Therefore, we ALL should have the right to that freedom. As long the relationship is healthy, why should it matter?
Written by Shanti Patel
PRESS
Short film "Symmetry" at Atlanta LGBT Film & Music Festival
26 Aug 2016,
The Balzer Theater at Herren's
84 Luckie Street Northwest, Atlanta, GA, United States
On August 26, the short dance-opera film "Symmetry" by Ruben van Leer will be screened at the Atlanta LGBT Film & Music Festival in Atlanta, GA.
"Symmetry" is a dance-opera film shot inside CERN, the largest experimental particle physics facility in the world. With the cathedral-like majesty of the Large Hadron Collider as his theatre, a modern physicist searches for the smallest primordial particle and discovers a love without end. Made in 2015, The Huffington Post called it "the perfect collision of science and art," while VICE thought of it as "an upcoming film that fuses opera, choreography, digital art, and physics to tell a deeply existential tale around the basix questions asked by all curious humans."
The film is part of the Symmetry Project, which also consists of the accompanying documentary "Symmetry Unravelled." The second film is about the collision of art and science in the particle accelerator at CERN. Featuring scholars like Prof. Robbert Dijkgraaf of Princeton Universiy, the documentary short accompanies "Symmetry" a common curiosity at the crux of man’s fascination with the unknown is
revealed.
About Ruben van Leer
Ruben van Leer (Naarden, 1984) is an Amsterdam-based interdisciplinary art filmmaker. Raised in a musical household, Van Leer was engaged from an early age with the narrative capacity of sound. Seeing music as a universal language and feeling that the eyes are easier fooled than the ears, he grew increasingly interested with how the senses could be honed through integrated storytelling. Working predominantly with time based media and film, Van Leer artfully explores the potential for audiovisual harmony through narrative – often allowing the sonic aspect to shine through as the main protagonist.
About the Atlanta LGBT Film & Music Festival
The ALFF is a diverse and multicultural three day weekend hosted in Atlanta, GA. Their mission is to curate interactive experiences through different creative avenues all while providing a place to celebrate love and peace. On August 25, there will be an opening night event, while on August 26 there will be independent film showing. The last day, August 27, will be all about live music
The Atlanta LGBT Film and Music Festival Presents "Netflix and Chill" Night Out
March 7, 2016 / https://events.accessatlanta.com/
8:00 pm at Urban Cannibals, 368 5th St NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
Price: $12
We will be screening 2 LGBT films from our 2016 Festival Programming.
Wedlocked, directed by Puppett, is a short film that highlights gay marriage equality, and yes that also means divorce.
Wedlocked is a farcical comedy taking on the ridiculous laws governing gay divorce. Sydney & Cameron are a happily engaged couple who are looking forward to their big day. Only problem is, Sydney is still married to Lisa and their home state won't recognize their marriage let alone their divorce.
Statement from the Director
Wedlocked is a very personal story for me. I was engaged in early 2012, and my fiancée tried to convince me to elope with her in NYC, since New York had legalized gay marriage the year before. After our breakup in early 2013, I realized that had we eloped, we would have been stuck and unable to divorce until gay marriage was (re)legalized in California. Like many LGBTQ couples, I hadn't considered all of the implications of getting married in a state where same-sex marriage was legal while living in a state where it was not. Fortunately, Prop 8 was overturned in June of that same year.
Seeing my friends' lived experiences hammered home the vital importance of this topic that was going unconsidered and overlooked. I had a couple of good friends in Pennsylvania who were stuck in marriages: one for three years and one for ten. They both had new partners and had moved on with their lives in so many ways, and yet they were stuck. With kids and careers involved, it was quite unrealistic for them to uproot their lives and move for six months just to be able to start the divorce process (who knows how long it would take for the divorce to actually be finalized).
In 2013, while working for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, I had the honor of filming the first same-sex wedding in Los Angeles after the repeal of Prop 8, with the Mayor officiating the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony, and the political importance of the occasion was driven home with a room packed full of reporters and flashing cameras. I bore witness to the regaining of marriage equality in California.
It was in 2014 that Producers Ally Iseman, Christine Moore, and I decided it was time to join the fight for marriage equality with a film about gay divorce. We wanted to give voice to those unspoken for and shed light on the black sheep topic of marriage equality, the need for divorce equality.
​
On June 26, 2015, (the two year anniversary of the repeal of Prop 8) in the landmark decision of Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning same-sex marriage were unconstitutional. This decision harkened back to a ruling from 48 years earlier, on June 12, 1967, when the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage with its ruling in Loving v. Virginia. Like same-sex marriage, prior to the SCOTUS ruling, the legality of interracial marriage differed from state to state. Since 2013, the Supreme Court has cited Loving v. Virginia as a precedent in its decisions regarding same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court Justices see the connections between our past and our present, and so too must we. The more contemporary issues for gay marriage and gay divorce were in fact a way in which history was repeating itself. These connections made it imperative to me that Wedlockedfeature an interracial couple. I wanted to acknowledge that part of our history and I wanted to honor the way in which the 1967 ruling on interracial marriages paved the way for same-sex marriage equality.
Before the June 2015 ruling, states had their own laws for same-sex couples, whether that be marriages, civil unions, domestic partnerships, or nothing. It was a country returning to a way of “separate but equal.” We must be mindful of the ways we are still on such a path. There is a war brewing against gender non-conforming people. Laws are passing state by state, and there is a new segregation underfoot. Differently-abled people get largely ignored in the broad movements for social change. Civil rights issues are intersectional and yet, too often, we fight for one thing at a time. We fought for our marriages and not our divorces. And now we're fighting for our bathrooms, and our jobs, and our lives. Let's remember the past, analyze the present, and fight for a better future, an inclusive intersectional fight for a better future.
Swirl, directed by Lance Mcdaniel, is a short film about acceptance among high school youth as told through dance. Doors open at 7:00 p.m., Showings start at 8:00 p.m. Ticket Price includes free Popcorn and one free drink!! Event is FREE for ALL ALFF members, please RSVP.
Rules & Terms
Submission Guidelines:
Please make sure to read all of the festival rules as well as the terms and conditions before submitting.
1. All works must be submitted as via Film Freeway for online pre-screening. Please do not send film reels or original material via email.
2. Selected submissions will be notified on or before April 4th, 2016. All selected submissions must be completed, sent (hardcopy), and postmarked by May 4th, 2016 for inclusion in the festival. Any film sent outside the postmarked date will automatically be disqualified. There are no exceptions.
All eligible films must be theatrical premieres in the state of Georgia. We do not accept works that are available to the public online.
3. Films in progress WILL be accepted for submission. Please indicated on submission form that film is in progress and what needs to get completed.
4. The ALFF DOES NOT PAY SCREENING FEES. By submitting your film via FilmFreeway you acknowledge that the festival will not pay to present your work.
5. Films selected will be notified of selection and sent final instructions on how to submit film via mail.
Submission Fees/Deadlines:
All submission fees are non-refundable. Make sure to read and apply all submission guidelines before submitting. Films that do not comply will get marked for ineligibility status and will not be able to re-submit. More than one film can be submitted. All entries must be submitted separately. If individual entries include more than one film, the submission will become ineligible.
Early Deadline- January 12th, 2016
Shorts: $20 Webisodes: $30 Features: $40
Official Entry Deadline- February 28th, 2016
Shorts: $35 Webisodes: $45 Features: $55
Late Entry Deadline- March 28th 2016 Features Only(Must be completed, no unfinished works) $90
Invited Films:
The ALFF programmers invited films who agree to participate in the festival must be in premiere status. How these films are showcased is within the discretion of the film festival programmers. These films must remain in Premiere status until they are showcased at the ALFF, if for any reason the film has been found to be showcased prior to ALFF the invited offer will be automatically be declined due to breach of premiere status agreement.
Terms and Conditions:
By entering your film for consideration for the Atlanta LGBT Film & Music Festival 2016 , you authorize that your work is cleared for festival exhibition and accept full legal responsibility for the intellectual property therein. Entry into the festival constitutes permission to exhibit your work at the Atlanta LGBT Film & Music Festival 2016. The Atlanta LGBT Film & Music Festival is also hereby granted the right to utilize an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the Festival for promotional purposes.
