The 21st edition of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) will be a hybrid event running for 12 days, Feb. 17-28, 2021. With audience safety and comfort in mind, AJFF has reimagined the festival experience to combine at-home virtual screenings with select drive-in movies, and expanded conversation with filmmakers and special guests.
“It’s gratifying to see that despite the pandemic, the pipeline of new films on Jewish themes is as strong as ever,” says AJFF Executive Director Kenny Blank. “Cinematic stories feed the soul at a time when we need to reignite our shared sense of humanity. We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure the core tenets of the festival – community, representation, storytelling, and experience – are preserved in our 2021 hybrid edition. We look forward to being ‘together through film’ in February, our motto for these COVID times.”
The 2021 AJFF film lineup, which goes live today, will include over 30 narrative and documentary features plus short film offerings, representing a diversity of genres and subjects. One very special film is Atlanta: A City Too Busy to Wait, created by three young Jewish Atlantans, Adam Hirsch, Jacob Ross, and Gabby Spatt. It documents how the Atlanta Jewish community responded to the complex challenges caused by the COVID-19 crisis with unprecedented generosity, creativity, selflessness, and collaboration, and was funded with support from a Propel Grant from Federation Innovation and AJFF’s new Filmmaker Fund.
Audiences will be able to view films from a smart TV, home theater, computer, tablet, or other mobile device. Thanks to an exclusive partnership with Mercedes-Benz Stadium, AJFF will also offer a limited number of drive-in screenings in the 11-acre The Home Depot Backyard greenspace, for a physically distanced but shared moviegoing experience.
AJFF 2021 will offer community conversation with enhanced guest programming, including speaker introductions and extensive Q&A panels that further explore the themes and topics presented onscreen.
