The 42nd annual Atlanta Film Festival kicked off this year with Blindspotting, Carlos López Estrada’s film co-written by and co-starring Rafael Casal and Daved Diggs. The comedic drama tackles the struggles of native Oaklanders as their city faces rapid gentrification. As Colin (Diggs) tries to make it through his final three days of probation without getting in trouble, he has none of the swagger of Diggs’ two Hamilton characters, Lafayette and Jefferson. In fact, he often wants to disappear, but his performance garnered him the Innovator Award from ATLFF.
The festival wrapped up this past weekend with a very different film, Eighth Grade, the directorial debut of comedian Bo Burnham. The film follows Kayla (Elsie Fisher) as she navigates the end of middle school and her crippling anxiety. It’s a charming and heart-breaking comedy. Both films will get their theatrical runs in July.
But in between the two weekends, Atlanta festivalgoers could catch nearly 100 narrative features, documentaries and blocks of short films—selections from among the 7,600 submissions the festival received this year from 56 different countries. Today ATLFF announced several award winners from the fest.
