Atlanta Film Festival

The last time I was at the Atlanta Film Festival was a dozen years ago, when my good friend Ann Hubble was the artistic director.  CHEATIN' got into this year's festival and I thought it would be fun to return to that wonderful Southern city in the Peach State. 

They kindly set up an entire day devoted to animation.  The first event was my Master Class, attended by a lot of members from ASIFA's Atlanta chapter and artists from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network.

Then, the next event was the screening of the animated shorts program.  Among my favorites were:

"The Scarecrow" by Moonbot Studios' Limbert Fabian and Brandon Oldenburg, a wonderful visit to the farm, sponsored by Chipotle

"Crime" by Alix Lambert and Sam Chou, a funny, profane story of a guy trying to retrieve his stolen car

and "Monkey Rag", a delightful music video by Joanna Davidovich to the song by Asylum Street Spankers. 

And the third and crowning event of the day was the screening of CHEATIN' - we had a great audience with a partial standing ovation.  There's that famous Southern hospitality for you.

The day was capped off by a visit to the famous Cleremont Hotel Strip Club.  Now, this was not some fancy-schmancy platinum gentleman's club like you find in Manhattan.  No, this was a real lowdown, sleazy place where everyone knows the strippers on a first-name basis.  One was called Blondie and her specialty was crushing beer cans with her ample breasts.  Sorry, I have no pictures of that display, because no photography was allowed. 

On my film festival scale, I give the Atlanta Film Festival an A-.

--Bill Plympton