POST EVENT ALERT!

David O. Russell at the Atlanta Film Festival Gala, holding his Originator Award

Photo credit: Larry Cooper / Fire Media

The evening celebrated 15 years of the Oscar-nominated film, and Russell was honored with ATLFF’s 2025 Originator Award. The Originator Award honors filmmakers known for creating new ways of seeing and experiencing art. Originators are often imitated, never duplicated and always responsible for setting new industry standards. It was first presented in 2018 to True-Crime Director, Joe Berlinger and to acclaimed Director, Spike Lee in 2019. It was most recently presented to George R.R. Martin in 2023.

The Atlanta Film Festival is the annual centerpiece of educational and enriching film programming that is provided year-round by its parent organization, the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS). Now in its fifth decade, ATLFF is one of only a handful of film festivals worldwide that is Academy Award-qualifying in all three categories (live-action short, animation short, and documentary short subject).