Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is the largest film festival of any kind in the state of Georgia and is the largest Jewish film festival in the world. The 23-day festival is held in late winter at multiple venues in Atlanta, Georgia and in the suburbs of Alpharetta, Marietta and Sandy Springs. Contemporary and classic independent Jewish film from around the world feature at the festival.

Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF)
LocationAtlanta, Georgia, United States
Founded2000
Founded byAmerican Jewish Committee
Artistic directorKenny Blank
Websitewww.ajff.org

History

The festival was founded in 2000 by the Atlanta regional office of American Jewish Committee and continues to grow each year, with an estimated 20,000 attendees by 2010.[1] In 2015, more than 38,600 attended the festival. The festival was incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2014.[2] Kenny Blank (son of Atlanta businessman Arthur Blank) serves as the executive director of the organization.[3]

AJFF has honored Lawrence Kasdan (Screenwriter, Director, Producer) in 2016 and Itzhak Perlman (World renowned Israeli-American musician) in 2019 with AJFF Icon Awards.[4][5]

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival celebrated its 20th Anniversary in February 2020 with a lineup of 64 films from 17 countries.[6]

In 2020, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival launched a series of virtual programming prompted by the COVID-19 crisis.[7][8]

Audience Award winners
Year Narrative Documentary Short
2002 All My Loved Ones —
2003 — Strange Fruit
2004 — Paper Clips
2005 Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi Rene and I
2006 Live and Become 39 Pounds of Love
2007 Olga Rape of Europa
2008 Nina's Journey I Have Never Forgotten You
2009 The Little Traitor Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
2010 Who Do You Love? Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun Story
2011 The Round Up Crime After Crime
2012 Wunderkinder Nicky's Family
2013 Süskind Joe Papp in Five Acts
2014 The Third Half Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love
2015 Apples from the Desert Above and Beyond
2016 Naked Among Wolves Breakfast at Ina's To Step Forward Myself[9]
2017 Fanny's Journey The Freedom to Marry Joe's Violin[10]
2018 The Last Suit Itzhak The Number on Great-Grandpa's Arm[11]
2019 Shoelaces Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz I Have a Message for You[12]
2020 The Keeper Saul & Ruby, To Life! A Jew Walks Into a Bar[13]
2021 Here We Are (film) Love It Was Not Space Torah
2022 Persian Lessons Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen Ruth: A Little Girl's Big Journey

References
  1. Bahr, Bob (2020-01-29). "Blank and Frank Look Back Over AJFF's 20 Years". Atlanta Jewish Times. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  2. Staff, ArtsATL (18 December 2014). "Leaving founders' nest, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is now an independent nonprofit". ArtsATL.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  3. Wheatley, Thomas (2017-12-21). "Kenny Blank on the enduring success of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  4. "Atlanta Jewish Film Festival to Honor Lawrence Kasdan with Inaugural Icon Award". georgiaentertainmentnews.com. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  5. "Past AJFF Icon Award Honorees". Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  6. "The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Celebrates 20 Years Of Diversity In Cinema". 90.1 FM WABE. 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  7. Kiersten Willis, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Atlanta Jewish Film Festival announces virtual programming". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  8. Companies, The 100 (2020-05-07). "Atlanta Jewish Film Festival launches virtual programming". The Atlanta 100. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  9. "2016 AJFF Audience Award Winners Announced, Tickets Now On Sale". Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  10. "2017 AJFF Audience Award Winners Announced". Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  11. "2018 AJFF Audience Award Winners Announced". Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  12. "2019 AJFF Audience Award Winners Announced". Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  13. "2020 AJFF Audience Award Winners Announced". Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-05-12.


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