WE ACCEPT ONLY SHORT FILMS 20 MINUTES OR LESS IN LENGTH PRODUCED IN THE US STATE OF GEORGIA.
LOCALS ONLY is open to thematically appropriate projects that were at least partially filmed in Georgia AND come from a director, writer, and/or producer who resides in the state of Georgia. If you submit in this category without meeting the necessary criteria, you will be disqualified from consideration and will not be issued a refund.
Entries are accepted in digital formats only and should be 20 minutes or less.
During the submission process, please make sure your film is not available to the general public for online viewing.
Films involving Atlanta Film Society employees are not eligible for LOCALS ONLY.
SCREENERS
All projects must be submitted via secure online screener - either as a password-protected Vimeo link attached to your submission or uploaded directly to FilmFreeway.
The submitter is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password is active through the date of the event. If you need to change your screener password or URL after submitting, please update your submission on FilmFreeway immediately. If we discover an error with your screener that makes it inaccessible to us, we will attempt to email you for an update. Failure to respond by the final submission deadline will result in disqualification without refund of submission fees.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Due to the tight turnaround between the notification date and the date of the screening, we do not recommend submitting pre-final versions of your work to LOCALS ONLY.
However, we can accept works in progress, with the following stipulations:
Incomplete projects must be clearly listed as such. Films should be marked as either a “Work In Progress" or "WIP”. All missing materials or changes to be made should be clearly indicated (ex: temporary score, missing VFX, no color-correction) both in your cover letter and the film cut itself (ideally as a title card at the start of the film).
The entrant may update their screener up until the final deadline, as long as the link and password for the submission remains the same. However, ATLFS is only responsible for considering the project as it exists at the time of review. We are under no obligation to revisit updated cuts once a screener has been seen. Therefore, you should not submit your project if it is not complete enough to adequately represent the final product.
Updated cuts must be accessible via your original FilmFreeway submission. We cannot accept updated cuts via email.
If selected, the final version of the film must be available by October 10th, 2025.
THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE
ATLFS regularly uses private, secure third party software to organize, track, and review submissions. By submitting to our festival, you are authorizing us to use such software to track your film and information about your film.
CODE OF CONDUCT
Please be advised that the Atlanta Film Society has instituted a code of conduct by which all attendees of the festival are expected to follow. Those who fail to follow the terms of this code of conduct will face possible dismissal from the festival. Possible grounds for dismissal may include, but are not limited to, the following: gross misconduct or insubordination, theft of property or misuse of agency materials, abuse or mistreatment of clients, guests, staff or other volunteers, failure to abide by agency policies and procedures, any form of harassment or assault. To view the full code of conduct, please visit: http://www.atlantafilmsociety.org/code-of-conduct.
COPYRIGHT & LEGAL TERMS
By entering your film for consideration to LOCALS ONLY, you authorize that your work is cleared for festival exhibition and accept full legal responsibility for the intellectual property therein. The submitter and all filmmakers associated with the project shall indemnify and hold harmless the Atlanta Film Society and any representative or affiliates from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.
REFUNDS & DISQUALIFICATION
Once a project is listed “In Consideration” on FilmFreeway, we are unable to offer refunds for any reason, including (but not limited to):
- Submission to the wrong category
- Change in premiere status or distribution
- Duplicate submissions
- Failure to pay the full submission fee by the final deadline
- Failure to provide a working screener by the final deadline
- Project’s failure to comply with submission Rules & Terms
- Rejection from the festival
- Withdrawing your submission for any reason (including changes of heart)
ATLFS reserves the right to disqualify any submission without refund, even after a film has been invited or final programming has been announced, at the sole discretion of ATLFS staff.
