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 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.
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. In 2015, more than 38,600 attended the festival. The festival was incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2014. Kenny Blank (son of Atlanta businessman Arthur Blank) serves as the executive director of the organization.
AJFF has honored Lawrence Kasdan (Screenwriter, Director, Producer) in 2016 and Itzhak Perlman (World renowned Israeli-American musician) in 2019 with AJFF Icon Awards.
The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary in February 2020 with a lineup of 64 films from 17 countries.
In 2020, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival launched a series of virtual programming prompted by the COVID-19 crisis.
Audience Award winners Year Narrative DocumentaryShort 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 Beyond2016Naked Among WolvesBreakfast at Ina'sTo Step Forward Myself2017Fanny's JourneyThe Freedom to MarryJoe's Violin2018The Last SuitItzhakThe Number on Great-Grandpa's Arm2019ShoelacesProsecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben FerenczI Have a Message for You2020The KeeperSaul & Ruby, To Life!A Jew Walks Into a Bar2021Here We Are (film)Love It Was NotSpace Torah2022Persian LessonsFiddler's Journey to the Big ScreenRuth: A Little Girl's Big Journey
References
External links Official website Atlanta Jewish Film Festival on Facebook Atlanta Jewish Film Festival on Twitter