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| Georgia filmmakers travel near and far for these ATLFF selected documentaries; "Mayan Blue" (top) filmed in Guatemala, "Limo Ride" (bottom) filmed in Alabama. |
As is usually the case with the Atlanta Film Festival, Georgia independent film is featured with an especially high visibility. This year, there are two documentary features, two narrative features and a host of short films from Georgia filmmakers. To go beyond that, several films are 'Georgia connected,' meaning they come from a filmmaker that grew up in Georgia, have a producer from here or some other connection that makes them slightly less of a Georgia production—but still something we can claim as our own.
This year's two local documentary features—"Limo Ride" and "Mayan Blue"—are anything but 'local.' "Limo Ride" comes from Atlanta filmmakers and ATLFF alumni Gideon C. Kennedy and Marcus Rosentrater (also a Senior Animator on the excellent Georgia-made television show "Archer"), but was set and shot in Alabama. The film tells the tale of a group of friends who rented a limo to take them to-and-from a crazy New Years Day party and wound up with a little more adventure than they bargained for. "Mayan Blue" was directed by Atlanta-born, Athens-based director Rafael Garcia from Standoff Studios, but showcases Guatemala's beautiful Lake Atitlán. The film explores the recent discovery of the underwater Mayan city of Samabaj and the implications of the city's destruction on Mayan society.
