The Local Lense on the Red Carpet Premiere of "Race"

Hosts Beth Keener and Greer Howard hit the red carpet for the Atlanta premiere of Stephen Hopkins' "Race," starring Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, William Hurt, Carice van Houten.

Beth Keener & Greer Howard hit the red carpet at Atlantic Station in Atlanta for the premiere of "Race."  The movie tells the incredible story of US Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens. Thrust onto the world stage during the 1936 Olympics in Germany, he faces off against Hilter's Nazi regime. "Race" is an inspirational film about courage, determination and friendship.

Beth & Greer interview star Stephan James, who trained for the film at Georgia Tech while he was in town filming "Selma" in 2014. Actress Kim Fields hosted the evening, which was also attended by Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges.

Check out the video below. "Race" opens nationwide on February 19th.

Introducing the Georgia Film Academy

Jeff Stepakoff will serve as Georgia Film Academy's Executive Director.

It's no secret that Georgia has become one of the country's most sought-after states in which to film. With competitive tax incentives, abundant production resources, and a multitude of filming locations and studios, we have attracted Hollywood blockbusters such as "Ant-Man," "Selma" and the "Hunger Games" series to Georgia. With the creation of the Georgia Film Academy, our camera-ready state seeks to add another attractive component—locally trained production professionals and staff—to our already long list of desirable features.

Through a partnership between the University System of Georgia (USG) and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), the Georgia Film Academy is poised to support the workforce needs of Georgia's $6 billion film industry. The Film Academy will offer certification programs for employees in needed areas and prepare students for careers in the entertainment industry.

#GAfilm Review: "Selma" (****½)

A pivotal scene on the Pettus Bridge in Ava DuVernay's "Selma."

"Selma," at least for me, came out of nowhere. With so many great movies having come out of 2014—many of which helmed by respected auteurs—"Selma" just simply wasn’t on my radar. That is, until it began to make itself known. The film has been a contender in just about every awards race this season. The film is currently boasting a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, received nominations from the Golden Globes, Independent Spirit Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and received the Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema from our very own Georgia Film Critics Association. Even with all of this praise and hype, I was a bit reluctant to see what appeared to be another somewhat by-the-numbers, feel-good, Oprah-endorsed biopic.

"Boyhood," "Nightcrawler" Win Big as Georgia Film Critics Split the Board

Richard Linklater takes top honors for both Picture and Director; "Nightcrawler," "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "Selma" all take home two each.

For their 4th annual awards presentation, the Georgia Film Critics Association have decided to distribute the love pretty evenly. Of the ten Best Picture nominees, nine of them took home at least one award.

"Boyhood" took home the big prizes, Best Picture and Best Director for Richard Linklater. "Nightcrawler" won Best Actor for Jake Gyllenhaal and Best Original Screenplay for Dan Gilroy. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" won awards for Best Production Design and Best Ensemble. "Selma" won the Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema and Best Original Song for "Glory," performed by John Legend and Common.

Marion Cotillard won Best Actress for "Two Days, One Night," while Tilda Swinton and J.K. Simmons took home Supporting prizes for Best Picture nominated films "Snowpiercer" and "Whiplash," respectively. "Gone Girl" took home Best Adapted Screenplay honors, while "Birdman" won for Best Cinematography (This is Emmanuel Lubeski's third GFCA win, after "The Tree of Life" and "Gravity"). Hans Zimmer's score for "Interstellar" provides the film's sole win out of three nominations.

Best Foreign Film went to "Ida," Best Documentary to "Life Itself" and Best Animated Film to "The LEGO Movie." David Oyelowo won the Breakthrough Award, with all five of his films from 2014 sharing the mention.

Check out the full list of winners after the jump.

Georgia Film Critics Reveal Nominees for 2014 Awards

"Birdman" narrowly leads nominations; "Ida," "Nightcrawler," "Snowpiercer," "Under the Skin," make a splash across the board.

Most critics groups have had their say already, but the Georgia Film Critics Association doesn't mind giving themselves time to think about their top picks of the year. This is their fourth year handing out best-of designations.

"Birdman" leads the pack with seven nominations, but "Boyhood," "Gone Girl," "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and Georgia-lensed "Selma" are all close by with six mentions each (not counting the individuals mentioned for Breakthrough Award).

Perhaps most noteworthy is the dominance of "Nightcrawler" (with five nods), "Snowpiercer" (with four nods) and "Ida" (with three nods)—all including Best Picture. Foreign films "Force Majeure" and "Two Days, One Night" pop up in the Best Actress category. Documentaries garner several mentions outside their own category, with "Sepideh" receiving a Foreign Film nod, "Life Itself" mentioned in Best Score, and both "Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me" and "Virunga" earning Best Original Song nominations.

"Calvary" earned a rogue screenplay nomination, as did "Wild" and "The Imitation Game." There was plenty of love for "Inherent Vice," "Interstellar" and "Under the Skin"—each receiving three nominations.

Several of these films were found on the Georgia film festival circuit this year. "Whiplash," "Two Days, One Night," "Foxcatcher," "The Imitation Game," "Life Itself," "Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me," "Finding Vivian Maier," "Keep On Keepin' On," "Big Hero 6" and "The Book of Life" all featured at the Savannah Film Festival. "Ida" played at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival early in the year.

Winners will be announced on Friday, January 9th. Check out the full list of nominees after the jump.