Show off YOUR Atlanta in the ATL Short Cuts Film Contest!

The Atlanta Film Festival is right around the corner (next month!) and this year, Creative Loafing is partnering with ATLFF again to put on the ATL Short Cuts Film Contest.

You have two weeks to make a 3-5 minute film that captures the essence of Atlanta in five vignettes (one of which has to be centered around Atlanta's music scene). This is something anyone can do, but only those who display a little creativity will excel! The top 16 will be showcased at the Plaza Theatre on March 4th. An audience pick and a critics' pick will both be selected and each awarded $250 as well as being featured at the ATLFF in March.

Deadline for entries is Friday, February 15 at 5 PM. No exceptions! The fine print is posted after the jump.

RIFF: "American Songwriter" (****1/2)

Danny Darst stars in "American Songwriter"

Director Michael Altman matter-of-factly states that Danny Darst resides in the same class as Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. Seeing as Darst and Waits have both ricocheted back and forth between music and film (even starring together in "Short Cuts"), the Waits parallels are much more firm than those with Cohen. Nonetheless, I would have to agree. Unfortunately, most people simply have not heard of Danny Darst.

"American Songwriter" is at once both a long form music video and a biographical documentary. The film's mosaic structure tells a large story in tiny pieces; propelled at different times by a song lyric, a fire-lit performance, a stroll down Nashville's Broadway or an interview conducted from the passenger side of Darst's 1950s Oldsmobile. It is instantly clear that, fame or no fame, Darst is a legend. A guitar is the tap to his maple tree and stories just pour out of this man. His complete lack of attention grabbing only adds to his appeal. He is the Dos Equis man, except more interesting and with a wardrobe seemingly comprised completely of weathered denim. The sunglasses permanently fixed on his intransigent face make him appear imposing, only to have his occasional laugh completely disarm you.