Grady Alumni, faculty and students prepare for Athens Film Festival

For two years, the Athens Film Festival (ATHFF) has elevated and propelled local films and filmmakers by exhibiting work to an engaged audience, providing a space to exchange ideas, network with both professionals and colleagues, and gain insight into current trends in the entertainment industry.

Now, the festival returns Aug. 27-30, featuring over 100 film screenings across four days and five venues. The festival will feature multiple panel discussions and workshops in a variety of categories, including the art of short filmmaking, audience engagement strategies and film score writing, to name a few.

Lauren Musgrove, assistant professor in the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies (EMST), served as a board member and the PitchFest Producer for the film festival this year.

Musgrove said Athens Film Festival is, “a wonderful opportunity for our students, faculty and staff to see and engage with world class independent cinema that’s difficult to see otherwise, expanding their exposure of what is possible in this medium right in their own university town,” she said.

Grady College and the Master of Fine Arts in Film, Television and Digital Media program sponsors the event, with many students, faculty and alumni across the the college, presenting film screenings and participating in panels during the festival. The MFA Film program is a joint degree with Grady College and Franklin College and educates students in above-the-line film careers as directors, writers and producers.

“We have one of the top film schools in the country housed at Grady College alongside one of the most sought after undergraduate degree programs (Entertainment & Media Studies) at the University of Georgia,” said Tamlin Hall, director of MFA in Film, Television and Digital Media. “We are thrilled by the success of our current students and our alumni. Story comes first at Grady College and it shows.”

PitchFest, returning for its second year, is an in-person live pitch event hosted in The Lightroom for films in development to compete for prize money and consultation support to create projects. Two EMST students, Sarah Posey and Nova Senkyrik, won last year for their film “Shear Terror,” and the film was successfully produced a few months later. This year, the event is split into two categories, short and feature film pitches, with several EMST students set to compete.

“ATHFF provides an experience in the entertainment industry that you can’t give in a classroom, and Grady College outwardly recognizes that value for our students,” Musgrove said. “I am so honored to be a liaison between Athens Film Festival and Grady College, enlightening where their missions overlap and encouraging all my students to participate in the festival in whatever way they can. It’s also simply a fun time downtown, and a great welcome-back-to-Athens event to kick off and fuel the Fall semester with fresh inspiration.”

This year, Sanghoon Lee, a clinical associate professor in the MFA Film program and EMST at Grady College, and Shandra McDonald, an associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Film in Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, will serve as PitchFest judges on Saturday, Aug. 29. Leandro Tadashi, assistant professor for the MFA program, will serve on the 2026 film festival jury for Narrative Short and Narrative Feature Writing. AdPR student Blaire Mars is the PR Coordinator for the second year.

A sampling of films screenings and panels include:

Thursday, Aug. 27

4:30 p.m. at Ciné — a screening of “Stay With Me,” directed, produced and written by current MFA student Navid Patton.

4:30 p.m. at Ciné — the premiere of “The Sin I am,” directed and written by EMST student, Jordan Tate, and produced by EMST student, Tyler Tran.

4:30 p.m. at Ciné — a screening of “Pyre,” directed by Dylan Miller (MFA ’25).

4:30 p.m. at Ciné — screening of “Portrait of a Man in a Box,” directed, produced and written by Eric Walters (MFA ’26).

4:30 p.m. at Ciné — a screening of “Love in the Times of Zombies,” directed by Sam Costantino (MFA ’26).

9 p.m. at Live Wire Athens — a screening of “I Love You, Bro,” directed and written by EMST student, Sam Morgan, and produced by EMST student, Isabelle Rubendall

Friday, Aug. 28

2 p.m. at The Morton Theater — world premiere of “Metanoia,” directed by Anela Leide; produced by Justin Jung (AB ’25); shot by marketing and EMST double major, Liliana Guilfoyle and edited by MA Emerging Media student, Nikki Bailey.

2:45 p. m. at Ciné — a screening of “The Big Lift,” directed by MFA Film student, Shagnik Nandi.

5:30 p.m. at The Globe — the world premiere of “Houston & Hazel,” directed and written by Tyler Tran and produced by EMST students, Lucas Nyman and Aidan Landrum.

9 p.m. at The Morton Theater — the world premiere of “Colkirk 2017,” directed and co-written by EMST student, Ethan Heggen; co-produced by Sagan Greenspan (AB ’26), Gisella Espinosa (AB ’26) and Matthew Aftergut (AB ’26)

10 p. m. at Ciné — a screening of the music video “PITHY,” directed by Rebecca Kate Levy (AB ’25), produced by Sera Johnson (AB ’25) and shot by Gabrielle Held (AB ’24).

Saturday, Aug. 29

10:30 a.m. at The Morton Theater — a screening of “Duck, Duck,” directed by Aidan Ventimiglia.

5 p.m. at The Morton Theater — a screening of “The Damned Thing,” directed by Christopher Lewis (MFA ’25).

5:30 p.m. at The Globe — the world premiere of “Roadkill Pusher,” directed by EMST student, Martin Carter Scholl and shot by EMST student, Thomas Livingston.

A special student discount is offered for passes to the Athens Film Festival. The festival also offers several free screenings and networking events students can attend without having to buy a ticket. Attendees can filter out the free events on the website or see the EMST Instagram’s guide.

The Athens Film Festival was founded by Chuck Griffin (ABJ ’09), its current executive director, in 2024 with the goal of encouraging community filmmakers to collaborate and share their perspectives through film.

Author: Sam Tupper, samuel.tupper@uga.edu