ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES OPENING & CLOSING NIGHT FILMS, EXPANDED SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, AND LEGACY FILM SCREENINGS FOR 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

(TOP) IDIOTS (Credit: Independent Film Company)

(BOTTOM)  I LOVE BOOSTERS (Credit: Neon)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Media Contact: ATLFF@ssmandl.com 

Atlanta, GA (April 9, 2026) — The 50th Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) today unveiled its highly anticipated Opening and Closing Night selections, along with a slate of legacy screenings and special presentations for its landmark anniversary edition. The 2026 festival will take place in person from April 23 through May 3 at the historic Plaza and Tara Theatres, followed by virtual screenings from May 4–11.

Kicking off the festival, Opening Night will feature IDIOTS, directed by Macon Blair and filmed in Georgia. The high-energy narrative comedy showcases an all-star ensemble including Dave Franco, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Mason Thams, Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, Peter Dinklage,and Killer Mike, bringing together major talent and local filmmaking spirit. The film follows two wildly unqualified hires tasked with escorting a wealthy teen to rehab. Their simple assignment quickly spirals into chaotic and dangerous territory. Emmy-winning Producer Alex Orr and Executive Producer Joshua Harris will attend the Opening Night red carpet screening on Thursday, April 23.

Following the screening of IDIOTS, the premiere of limited series documentary The Birth of Trap Music, makes its debut. Stars and Executive Producers T.I. and Drumma Boy, among other cast, will walk the red carpet ahead of the Opening Night film and participate in a post screening Q&A following the documentary screening.

Closing Night on Saturday, May 2 will feature I Love Boosters, from Award winning writer/director Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You), and starring Keke Palmere, with Riley and Taylour Paige scheduled to appear in person. The film follows a fearless crew of young women who shoplift designer fashion across the Bay Area and resell it at steep discounts. When a powerful fashion mogul catches on, the stakes escalate, leading to an audacious plan for one final high-risk heist. A crew of professional shoplifters take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven. It’s like community service.

Among today’s announced programming highlights is If I Go Will They Miss Me, followed by a post screening conversation with one of the film's stars and Executive Producers, Oscar-nominated and Grammy-winning actress and singer Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple, Peacemaker). The film centers on a young boy who begins seeing ghostly figures of other boys in his neighborhood while grappling with his father’s emotional distance. These visions reveal haunting connections to their shared past. The film will screen on April 29 at the Tara Theatre.

This year’s special presentations also celebrate standout works connected to Atlanta’s film legacy, including  The Signal, with appearances by directors David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush, That Evening Sun, with appearances by writer/director Scott Teems (The Lowdown) joined by cast members Oscar-winner Ray McKinnon (Rectify, Deadwood) and Emmy-winning actress Carrie Preston (Claws, The Good Wife, Elsbeth),and V/H/S in 35mm, with appearances by star Hannah Fearman, director David Bruckner, special guest Drew Sawyer and producer Linda Burns. Ray McKinnon will also present The Accountant, the 2001 Oscar-winning short film starring and created by him and his co-star Walton Goggins. The festival will also present a special screening of Mark Mori’s Oscar-nominated documentary Building Bombs, a powerful look at life in Aiken, South Carolina, home to a major U.S. hydrogen bomb facility, and the human impact of living in the shadow of nuclear production.

The festival’s legacy screenings bring a special sense of occasion this year, spotlighting influential films alongside the artists who helped shape them. Audiences will have the rare opportunity to revisit The Spectacular Now with director James Ponsoldt (Wonder Man) in attendance, offering insight into the film’s enduring emotional resonance. The 2007 Atlanta Film Festival-winner, Great World of Sound will be re-presented with the film’s three-time Emmy-nominated writer/director, Craig Zobel (The Penguin, Mare of Eastown) in attendance.  Emmy-winner Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird, Cruella) joins a screening of Richard Jewell, timed just under 30 years after the Atlanta Olympics. Meanwhile, Julie Dash will present Daughters of the Dust, a Sundance Film Festival winning landmark work whose poetic storytelling continues to inspire generations of filmmakers. Together, these appearances transform each screening into a living conversation between past and present, celebrating the lasting impact of these films and the voices behind them.

Media are invited to attend both Opening Night on April 23 and Closing Night on May 3 red carpet events.

The full schedule of films and events is available at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com and through the ATLFF 2026 app. Festival badges and individual tickets are now available for purchase here (badges) and here (individual event tickets).

Applications for press credentials for ATLFF 2026 are now open and can be submitted here. 

Press materials and assets, including past press releases, logos, and film stills can be found here. 

OPENING NIGHT PRESENTATION

IDIOTS

Thursday, April 23, 2026, 7:00pm / Plaza Theatre

Macon Blair // 2026 // 1h 38m

Two rock-bottom drivers transport a wealthy teen to rehab, but their simple job spirals into a chaotic journey of drugs, danger, and crime as their passenger derails their plans.

CLOSING NIGHT PRESENTATION

I LOVE BOOSTERS

Saturday, May 2, 2026, 7:00pm / Plaza Theatre

Boots Riley // 2026 // 1h 45m

Follows a group of shoplifters who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven.

ATLFF LEGACY PRESENTATIONS

V/H/S 

Saturday, April 25, 2026, 10:45pm / Plaza Theatre

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Tyler Gillett // 2012 // English //  1h 56m

Official selection of the 2012 Atlanta Film Festival. When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for.

THE SIGNAL 

Sunday, April 26, 2026, 8:45pm / Plaza Theatre

Jacob Gentry,  David Bruckner, Dan Bush // 2007 // English // 1h 43m

Official selection of the 2007 Atlanta Film Festival. A horror film told in three parts, from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission that turns people into killers invades every cell phone, radio, and television.

BUILDING BOMBS 

Tuesday, April 28, 2026, 7:00pm / Tara Theatre

Mark Mori // 1989 // English //  54m

This Oscar-nominated documentary chronicles everyday life in Aiken, S.C., ground zero for America’s hydrogen bomb-making facility, the Savannah River Plant. Through interviews with residents, politicians, activists and factory workers, the incisive film looks at the consequences of living in the shadow of nuclear weapons and the illegal dumping of radioactive waste. Actress Jane Alexander narrates.

GREAT WORLD OF SOUND

Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 7:15pm / Tara Theatre

Craig Zobel // 2007 // English //  1h 46m

Winner of the 2007 Atlanta Film Festival. When a man answers an advertisement to train as a record producer, he's excited by the prospect of signing undiscovered musicians, only to discover his new job isn't all it's cracked up to be.

THE ACCOUNTANT

Saturday, May 2, 2026, 12:30pm / Plaza Theatre

Ray McKinnon // 2001 // English // 35m

Winner of the 2001 Atlanta Film Festival. The O'Dell farm is on the rocks. A non-traditional accountant comes with a variety of ways to save the farm.

THAT EVENING SUN

Saturday, May 2, 2026, 3:30pm / Plaza Theatre

Scott Teems // 2009 // English //  1h 49m

Winner of the 2009 Atlanta Film Festival. An aging Tennessee farmer returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm.

BLOOD CAR

Sunday, May 3, 2026, 8:45pm / Plaza Theatre

Alex Orr // 2007 // English //  1h 22m

In the near future, gas prices are at an astronomical high. One man is determined to find an alternate fuel source. That alternate fuel source turns out to be blood...HUMAN BLOOD.

###

About Atlanta Film Festival

The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is an Academy Award-qualifying festival and the Southeast’s preeminent celebration of cinema. In 2026, ATLFF marks its 50th anniversary, celebrating five decades of championing independent storytelling and creative voices from around the world. As one of the largest and longest-running film festivals in the country, ATLFF welcomes an audience of more than 28,000 annually to discover hundreds of new independent, international, animated, documentary, and short films, selected from over 5,500 submissions worldwide. The festival has been consistently recognized as a top cultural event, earning honors such as Best Film Festival by Creative Loafing, USA Today 10Best, and Atlanta Magazine. The 2026 Atlanta Film Festival will take place from April 23 - May 3 and is proudly supported by partners including CineFi and the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The Atlanta Film Festival is the flagship annual program of the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS), one of the nation’s oldest and largest organizations dedicated to the promotion and education of film. ATLFS enriches the community year-round through screenings, classes, workshops, and filmmaker development initiatives.

www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com