Atlanta Film Festival and Sidewalk Film Festival Named Among "Coolest Film Festivals in the World" by MovieMaker Magazine

The list of 25 was picked from nominations by MovieMaker Magazine's 2015 Panel of Cool.

Since the first Venice Film Festival began in 1932, film festivals around the globe have evolved into the premiere events for the celebration of independent cinema. As film enthusiasts, we attend these events to experience the moving image in the best possible way—through exceptional programming in stunning venues surrounded by a crowd of equally passionate cinephiles.

Two of our favorite film festivals to attend, the Atlanta Film Festival and the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, were recently recognized by MovieMaker Magazine as two of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World—and we couldn’t be more excited and proud!

Macon Film Festival makes MovieMaker's 'Coolest Film Festivals in the World' list

Congratulations to the Macon Film Festival for making MovieMaker Magazine's Top 25 list of 'The Coolest Film Festivals in the World.' The long-running magazine is well known for its annual list of the top film festivals worth the entry fee—which has included the Atlanta Film Festival, the Savannah Film Festival and the Rome International Film Festival in recent years. While that list is released each spring, this list was recently compiled by reader votes.

An original list of 76 nominees was narrowed down to an final, unordered list of 25 festivals. Five other user voted lists were made for different categories—Documentary and Horror/Sci-Fi Festivals, Short Film and Comedy Festivals, Environmental/Social Cause and Women’s Film Festivals, LGBT and Ethnic/National Film Festivals and Experimental/Underground and Out of the Box Festivals.

The Macon Film Festival will celebrate its 9th year of films, workshops, special guests and parties on February 27th through March 2nd. Check out www.maconfilmfestival.com for more information.

Two Georgia film festivals featured in MovieMaker Top 50

For nearly a decade, MovieMaker Magazine has been releasing an annual list of the top film festivals worth the prize of your film's entry fee. In the past, the Rome International Film Festival has made the cut—dramatically upping the reputation of the quiet college town's September event. Georgia's two biggest destination film festivals—the Atlanta Film Festival and the Savannah Film Festival—both made the cut this year!

These two Georgia gems are in good company, joining festivals like Cinequest, Edinburgh, Nashville, New Orleans and Soho. MovieMaker draws attention to Atlanta's status as an Academy Award qualifying festival and to Savannah's 40,000+ attendance and prizes totaling more than $100,000. We would like to add that spending a week or more in either of these cities is worth more than the price of submitting your film!

Congratulations to all 50 festivals! Check out the full list.