09/06/2025
"I really appreciated your comments on Georgia's film history. Like many others, I had wrongly assumed it was relatively new, and you were the first to suggest otherwise."
I was asked by a colleague to answer several questions from a young journalist writing about film in Georgia. A few days later, the writer of the piece kindly responded, thanking me for my contribution. The above was among her comments.
That her perception of film in Georgia being a recent development isn't unsurprising. After being a member of this community for--as of next year--25 years, this lack of knowledge continues to be disappointing.
Women in Film was founded in LA in 1973. The organization that would become WIFTA, Women in Film and Television Atlanta, was founded in 1974. It's the second oldest WIF chapter in the world.
A group of local filmmakers and artists began meeting in the mid-1970s. Those meetings lead to the founding of IMAGE (Independent Media Artists of Georgia, ETC) in 1976. Now known as the Atlanta Film Society, this organization out lasted other ground breaking organizations established in the 1970s, such as Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers. At several points, IMAGE was not only seen as a model to be replicated across the nation, it was often seen as one of the most prominent champions of independent filmmaking prior to the boom of the independent film in the 1990s.
Point of fact, under the direction of Executive Director Brian Newman, the Atlanta Film Festival was one of the first film organizations to begin transitioning from film and video to digital. It would be several years before even organizations such as Sundance would make similar moves.
(The image I'm including is from the 1993 Atlanta Film Festival screening of Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi)
In the 1980s, when films such as Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It were NOT brought to cities like Atlanta, a group banded together to ensure audiences in our city had the opportunity to see films by Black independent filmmakers. After only a few years in existence, distributors, seeing the value--and profit--in including Atlanta in their release strategy.
For six decades, filmmakers and artists in Georgia have had the foresight and drive to build grassroots organizations, create community, support artists, and make strategic moves even when it arguably would seem crazy to do so.
Our legacy runs deep. Unfortunately, I have to ask, are we tapping into that legacy? Have we retained the lessons embedded in that legacy? I point back to the comment above from the young journalist. I would say the answer is no.
We've got a lot of work to do when it comes to the state of our community and industry. But, if we REALLY don't understand or remember how we got here. If we only believe a Tax Incentive was why we were successful, have been successful, and are primed to be be successful. Well, I refuse to even start down that path.
Our foundation is stronger and deeper than we know.
