Athens Film Festival Red Carpet host Dr. Rosaria Meek poses with attendees on Aug. 27 at Ciné in Downtown Athens. Dr. Meek interviewed red carpet attendees, and attended the festival for the first time last year. “This is the second year that I get to do this, and it’s been a privilege to be involved with the Athens Film Festival, and it is a privilege to see how the festival is growing. The beautiful perk of being the red carpet host is that I get to interview all the directors, the actors, and everybody that comes in at the movie, ” Dr. Meek said. Photo by Maypop Wren.
The 2026 Athens Film Festival kicked off on Aug. 27 with the red carpet event outside of Cine at 5p.m.
The 2026 Athens Film Festival, a community gathering showcasing filmmakers and their productions, began with a red carpet event on Aug.27 at 5p.m., that was originally outside of Cine, but was moved inside due to weather conditions.
The event was organized in part by Chuck Griffin, a UGA class of 2009 alumni and founder of Automatic Film Society. The staff was built up of a board of directors, jury members, and a staff, including red carpet host, Dr. Rosaria Meek, who attended the festival last year.
A billboard advertising the Athens Film Festival is shown. The festival was brought together by a team of people, which included Madison Hatfield, a jury member who evaluates films in the competitive category for festival awards. “Having watched a lot of the films already, I’m really excited for an Athens audience to get to see them. I think it’s really cool that such high quality film is here in Georgia, and I think that both the people who are visiting and the people who live here are in for a real treat. I’m just thrilled that great film has made its way here,” Hatfield said. Photo by Maypop Wren
“The Athens Film Festival (is) a fantastic experience. People get to talk about their movies, people get to talk about why they have chosen (the) Athens Film Festival, what they love about Athens and what they want other people to know about their movies. So it’s a great venue and a great experience.” Meek said.
A billboard advertises the third annual Athens Film Festival. Dr. Rosaria Meek hosted the festival’s red carpet from 5-8 p.m. on Aug. 27. “The impact on me is, (not only do) I do this because I love people, but I love our community,” Meek said. “So it’s my giving back to the community that I have, and I get to do this with (the) fabulous, creative people that come here to the Athens Film Festival.” Video and story by Mzée Pavlić
Filmmaker Ethan Heggen, a first-time attendee of the Athens Film Festival, directed the found footage horror movie, Colkirk 2017, which premiered at the festival on Aug. 28t.
“I think the thing I’m most proud of when it comes to our project is just the commitment we had to the found footage aesthetic the whole time, keeping it the same all the way throughout. I’m especially proud of the ensemble that we put on and everything. Our cast of characters really brought it together, and our actors absolutely killed it.” Heggen said.
Ethan Heggen, writer and director of found footage horror short film Colkirk 2017 attends the Athens Film Festival at Ciné on August 27. Heggen watched Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel when he was younger, and got the idea for the short film from it. “(Colkirk 2017 has) probably given me some of the most confidence I’ve had in a long time to just keep making more films, to pursue doing more things, and (to) try and go bigger with (filmmaking),” Heggen said. Photo by Maypop Wren
The Athens Film Festival continued through Aug. 30, showcasing a variety of films, including ones that were put into the competition category. These were evaluated for festival awards by jury members, including Clifton Gluterman, a first-time attendee.
“I’m excited to sit and watch people see their work on the screen that they worked really hard on. Now, they get to sit in an audience and see themselves on a large screen and experience (the) magic of movie attending, where they’re seeing movie magic that they had a huge hand in come to life. I’m really excited about that.” Guterman said.
