The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival has come a long way from its first event in 2000.
That festival drew nearly 2,000 attendees. This year’s affair is expected to bring in about 40,000.
“It’s grown from a small local thing to the largest Jewish film festival in the world and a really significant event on the international film festival circuit,” said Atlanta film critic Jason Evans, who is co-chairing the festival’s film evaluation committee with Sandra Craine.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the event will take place Feb. 10 through 27 at seven metro Atlanta venues. It will kick off with the Opening Night, world-premiere screening of “Shared Legacies: The African-American Jewish Civil Rights Alliance,” a film about partnerships between blacks and Jews, at the Cobb Energy Centre.
A who’s who of Atlanta’s Jewish and black leaders, including festival board member Sherry Frank, the Revs. Alvin Sugarman and Gerald Durley, Martin Luther King III, Louis Gossett Jr., Alexis Scott and Andrew Young are expected to attend the event, and some will speak there.
“For us to get the world premiere of a film like ‘Shared Legacies’ is a big deal, and we think it’s one of the most significant and important films we’ve had on opening night,” Evans said. “We expect close to 2,000 people to come to the premiere.” See more here.
