Athens Film Festival Executive Producer Chuck Griffin poses outside the Morton Theater on April 4. Griffin strove to create a film festival in Athens because he felt it would work well with the culture of the city. “Athens (has a) true art scene, to marry that with film (is) the challenge,” Griffin said. “Getting an audience together to watch a film and share in witnessing (the) story is something that I think Athens is really meant for.” Photo by Iliana Tejada
In 2024, Chuck Griffin created the Athens Film Festival as a way to promote filmmaking in Athens. The festival is continuing into 2025, taking place downtown on Aug. 14-17.
In Athens, a town driven heavily by the arts, with murals all around the city and a robust music scene, what is missing? Chuck Griffin found the answer: a film festival.
“(Athens is) a festival town but there was a long period of time where we hadn’t seen a film festival. I’m from here, and I was a film student at UGA, and it just seemed like the perfect opportunity, especially with the film industry growing in Georgia,” Griffin said. “The idea of a film festival really spoke to me, (and) when I realized all those things, I was definitely compelled to start one.”
“My philosophy is a festival speaks for itself; filmmakers go there to be inspired, audiences go there to be inspired to be involved in film, whether it’s to watch more film or make film on their own,”
— Chuck Griffin,
Athens Film Festival Executive Director
When planning the festival, Griffin wanted to garner a wide range of films. To do this, he founded the Automatic Film Society, a nonprofit that pays filmmakers submission fees. This gives the festival goers an opportunity to see a wide selection of films they might not have seen if filmmakers had to pay to submit.
“Making (submitting) free, just technically allows you to be more visible to the rest of the world. If you didn’t make it free, a lot of countries or filmmakers in other countries, like Germany or France, wouldn’t really give your festival a second glance, they may choose one in their own country,” Griffin said.
The festival is open to all genres of films, from horror short films such as “A Terrible Place” to documentaries like “Finding Purpose: The Brookwood Story.” Because of the variety of films that are accepted, Griffin saw a wide range of Athens-based films that drew inspiration from other prevalent forms of art in Athens.
Athens Film Festival Board Member Lauren Musgrove stands outside of Cine on April 15. Musgrove kicked off last year’s festival with a screening of her movie “Ugly Sweater”, which drew a large audience. “The biggest thing that I got from the Athens Film Festival specifically was the crowd reactions. Every single moment, whether it was funny or intense, we could hear the crowd react to everything,” Musgrove said. “That (is) the experience that every filmmaker wants to have for their project.” Photo by Iliana Tejada
“We’ve got a couple of documentaries about dance (and) local music videos, it just speaks to all those different creative fields that Athens already kind of has a strong hold on,” Griffin said.
The first festival took place between Aug. 15-17, 2024, Griffin hoped to foster a supportive community around filmmaking in Athens, growing a film scene to coexist with Athens’ already established focus on music.
Once the films are submitted, the Film Festival creates a schedule to show the films at venues all around Athens during the festival. Last year’s festival showed films at Ciné, Flicker Theatre & Bar, The Globe and the Morton Theatre.
Last year’s festival kicked off its opening night with the film “Ugly Sweater.” Lauren Musgrove, the director of “Ugly Sweater,” found this to be a huge success for her and her movie.
“The hype of (opening night) and the excitement that everyone had around (the movie) was really exciting for me,” Musgrove said. “The biggest thing that I got from the Athens Film Festival was the crowd reactions. I feel like every single moment, whether it was funny or intense, we could hear the crowd react to everything. That was the experience that every filmmaker wants to have for their project.”
A graphic shows an overview of the winners of the 2024 Athens Film Festival. The film “Chessboxer” was named Best Georgia Short Film, something actor Eliseo Arreola enjoyed getting to experience in the festival’s lively environment. “To be a participant in the first Athens Film Festival was really neat and then winning Best Georgia short was a cherry on top,” Arreola said. Graphics by Abby Holloway
The festival rounds out the three days with an award ceremony. Here, films can win awards such as Best Feature and Best Animated Short. The film “Chessboxer” won the award for Best Georgia Short Film. Eliseo Arreola, an actor from the film, also experienced the high-energy environment that came with the film festival.
A photo shows the movie theater Cine, located at 234 W Hancock Ave. on April 4. “Chessboxer” actor Eliseo Arreola enjoyed the Athens Film Festival because of the promotion of theaters. “(The festival is) advocating for the use of theaters. One of the things I think is really great about film festivals (is) getting to see someone’s hard work on the screen and getting to feel heavy things (and) make you think,”Arreola said. “It’s an experience that you get from the theater.” Photo by Iliana Tejada
“To be a participant in the first Athens Film Festival was really neat and then winning Best Georgia short was a cherry on top,” Arreola said. “It was such a great time being there amongst fellow filmmakers and actors and people that are just fans of cinema.”
The success Musgrove saw with the festival encouraged her to take a larger part in planning the festival this year, she hopes to create an environment that helps filmmakers promote their works to a larger audience and feel the same energy that her and Arreola experienced.
“We’re adding this pitch fest, which I’m coordinating, and that’s going to be allowing filmmakers to come together to network and practice pitching future projects,” Musgrove said. “That’s such an under-practiced art form in this industry, being able to sell your film idea to collaborators and investors and everything before you make it.”
This year’s festival will be held Aug. 14-17 where Griffin hopes to see this year’s festival continue the vibrant audience culture that was felt at the first festival’s screenings.
“My philosophy is a festival speaks for itself; filmmakers go there to be inspired, audiences go there to be inspired to be involved in film, whether it’s to watch more film or make film on their own,” Griffin said. “Outside of that, we’re definitely involved with (the) community, and want to host more screenings, partner with organizations and maybe have a local film.
