The 2021 Georgia Film Festival, hosted by the University of North Georgia, will take place virtually this weekend, starting Thursday night at 8 p.m.
The festival features 33 films, including two feature films and 16 student shorts, all available for free during the festival weekend.
This year, more interactive elements have been included to enhance the free viewing experience.
"Even though all the films are going to be available beginning at 8 o'clock on Thursday night, we're organizing watch parties at certain times, and at the end of those watch parties we're going to have live Q&As with the filmmakers whose films we just showed," said GFF Co-Executive Director and University of North Georgia Communication, Media and Journalism Department Head Jeff Marker. There are also some prerecorded panels and workshops.
Marker highlighted the two feature films, "The Plymouth Period" and "Look Away, Look Away," as well as the Nighthawk shorts.
"I always love the part of the festival where we get to show off what our own UNG filmmakers are doing too," said Marker. "I always get excited about that because those are my students, those are our students, and we love to highlight some of their best work."
Marker said it was important for the festival to foster a sense of community while remaining virtual.
"That's what's really difficult about these virtual festivals, everybody is in their living rooms and sort of seeing separate. It's hard to create a sense of community, so hopefully by getting people to sort of follow a rough schedule throughout the weekend, we can do that," said Marker. They also created the hashtag #FestAtYourNest to create community and discussion on social media for viewers.
For those who want the full festival experience, donor boxes are available for a donation of $250 filled with movie goer swag.
The films are available for free and can be streamed from the Georgia Film Festival website, available here.
