Media Alert!

ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL UNVEILS 2025 IMAGE FILM AWARDS HONOREES AND EXPANDS PROGRAMMING LINEUP

Ray McKinnon, Mary Ann Hughes, and the Georgia Film Academy 

To Be Honored at the Annual Gala

ATLANTA, GA (April 30, 2025) — Today, the 49th Annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference  announced additional key programming, led by this year’s special award recipients to be honored at the IMAGE Film Awards Gala Cocktail, presented by Atlanta Film Society & Georgia Entertainment and sponsored by Assembly Studios and Universal Production Services. The Gala will take place on Sunday, May 4, 2025 at Assembly Studios. The 2025 Atlanta Film Society IMAGE Film Award Honorees include Oscar-winning filmmaker and actor Ray McKinnon, Mary Ann Hughes, VP of Film and Television Production Planning at Disney ABC Television Group, and the Georgia Film Academy.

The announcement today also includes the addition of three Creative Conference panels at the 2025 event, which is now underway. “Independent Distribution,” sponsored by Double A Film Side Service and Reel Friends and featuring Cole Harper (Utopia Distribution), LJ Simpson (AVOD Acquisitions Exec.), and Marco Medina (Lumexx Media), will include a panel discussion on what distributors are looking for, how they discover content, and key strategies for producers seeking distribution. “A Conversation with Scott Teems” will spotlight the award-winning writer-director of “That Evening Sun”, ”Narcos: Mexico,” “Rectify” and “Halloween Kills” and offering a deep dive into his creative process and career journey. “A Conversation with Ray McKinnon and Marshall Persinger” will bring together Oscar-winner McKinnon (“The Accountant,” “Rectify,” “Deadwood”) and Emmy-nominated producer Persinger (“Rectify,” “The Alienist,” “The Continental”) for an in-depth discussion on craft, career, and creative collaboration.

ATLFF has also added the thriller film “We Bury the Dead,” starring Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, and Mark Coles Smith to the 2025 line up of Marquee programming. The film follows Ava (Ridley), a desperate woman whose husband goes missing after a catastrophic military experiment. She joins a “body retrieval unit,” but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she’s burying begin to show signs of life.

The Atlanta Film Society’s IMAGE Film Awards honor individuals, companies, and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to Georgia’s film industry and creative community. Past honorees include Burt Reynolds, Spike Lee, Parker Posey, Dallas Austin, Tom Luse, Tip “TI” Harris, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee. The Awards have also recognized companies such as Tyler Perry Studios and Trioscope, nonprofits like BronzeLens Film Festival and Georgia Production Partnership, and public leaders including Governor Nathan Deal, President Jimmy Carter, Governor Zell Miller, Attorney General Chris Carr, and the Georgia Film Office. Named in reference to the organization’s original name—Independent Media Artists of Georgia, Etc. (IMAGE)—the Gala honors the legacy and evolution of the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS).

Since its founding, ATLFS has undergone major transformations, including a name change, long-standing leadership, and the creation of new programs and events such as the Creative Conference, PA Academy, Locals Only, and Kodak’s 100 Ft. of Film. Annual spending on production in Georgia has grown from $200 million to over $2 billion. ATLFS now facilitates cultural engagement for more than 50,000 audience members annually and supports over 5,000 participants in its education and networking programs. The IMAGE Film Awards Gala remains the organization’s sole fundraising event and plays a critical role in expanding its reach, impact, and service to the community and the artists it supports.

The full schedule of selected films, Marquee screenings and Special Presentations is now available here and through the ATLFF 2025 app. Festival badges and individual screening tickets are also now available for purchase. 

Applications for press credentials for ATLFF 2025 are now open and can be submitted here. Press materials and assets, including past press releases, logos, and film stills can be found here.

IMAGE AWARDS GALA COCKTAIL

Atlanta Film Society & Georgia Entertainment present the 11th IMAGE Film Award Gala Cocktail sponsored by Assembly Studios and Universal Production Services

Sunday, May 4, 2025 7:00 PM at Assembly Studios Jewel Box

Dress code: Cocktail / Red Carpet Chic

Order Tickets Here

MARQUEE SCREENING ADDITION 

We Bury the Dead

directed by Zak Hilditch

United States // 2024 // English // 94 minutes

Ava, a desperate woman whose husband is missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment, joins a "body retrieval unit," but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she's burying start showing signs of life.

#NarrativeFeature, #Marquee

CREATIVE CONFERENCE ADDITIONS

Independent Distribution Sponsored by Double A Film Side Service and Reel Friends

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Theater #2 (The Jack) - 10:00am - 11:00am

Join Cole Harper of Utopia Distribution, LJ Simpson of Tubi, and Marco Medina of Lumexx Media for a discussion on independent distribution. We'll discuss what these companies look for, where they find content, best practices for producers looking for distribution, and the state independent distribution today.

Moderator: Creative Conference Director and Producer Linda Burns

Panelists: Cole Harper of Utopia Distribution, LJ Simpson of Tubi, and Marco Medina of Lumexx Media

A Conversation with Award-winning Film/TV Writer & Director Scott Teems

Friday, May 2, 2025

Theater #2 (The Jack) - 10:00am - 11:00am

Join us for a talk about craft and career with Scott Teems, a Georgia-born Writer-Director whose debut feature, the Southern drama, That Evening Sun, starring Hal Holbrook, Walton Goggins, and Ray McKinnon, premiered at SXSW, where it won the Audience Award and Special Jury Award, won the Best Narrative Feature Award at the 2009 Atlanta Film Festival and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. Scott then directed and co-wrote the Lionsgate release, The Quarry, a Texas noir starring Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham, and Catalina Sandino Moreno, which was also an official selection of SXSW. His award-winning feature documentary, Holbrook/Twain, was the Opening Night Film at AFI Docs and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 Atlanta Film Festival. In television, Scott is currently a writer-producer on Sterlin Harjo’s upcoming FX drama starring Ethan Hawke. Previously, he spent three seasons as writer, director, and producer on the Peabody Award-winning SundanceTV drama Rectify, and was a writer-producer on the hit Netflix series Narcos: Mexico. Scott’s recent work includes three films he wrote or co-wrote which opened #1 at the US Box Office, including Insidious: The Red Door for Sony and Director Patrick Wilson, and Halloween Kills and The Exorcist: Believer for Universal and Director David Gordon Green.

Moderator: Executive Director, Atlanta Film Society/Atlanta Film Festival Chris Escobar 

Panelists: Writer/Director Scott Teems

A Conversation with Oscar-Winner Ray McKinnon and Emmy-Nominee Marshall Persinger

Saturday, May 3, 2025

Theater #1 (The Eddie) - 10:00am - 11:00am

Join us for a talk about craft, career and collaboration with veteran Producer for over 30 years, Marshall Persinger(Rectify, Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, The Alienist, The Continental: A John Wick Prequel, and Army Wives) as well as Ray Mckinnon who lives a double life as an actor (Deadwood, Mayans M.C., Ford V Ferrari, Dopesick, O Brother Where Art Thou?, and Mud) and a filmmaker (The Accountant - Academy Award Winning Short Film),Chrystal, That Evening Sun, and Rectify). 

Moderator: Executive Director, Atlanta Film Society/Atlanta Film Festival Chris Escobar 

Panelists: Ray McKinnon and Marshall Persinger