‘Adapt and move forward’: 15th Macon Film Festival provides online streaming amid pandemic
MACON, Ga. — The Macon Film Festival will be celebrating independent film makers differently for its 15th anniversary.
The festival will be a hybrid festival with both virtual and in-person experiences starting August 13 and going until August 30.
The festival is partnering with an online festival streaming service, Film Festival Flix , to bring the 17 day festival right into the homes of film junkies.
The online streaming will include all of the official submission to the film festival from independent film makers.
“The availability of the films is a lot greater and is going to reach a wider audience,” says Steven Fulbright, President of the Board of Macon Film Festival.
Fulbright says they’ve discussed adding a virtual component to the festival for a few years.
“This sort of pushed us over the edge with that,” he says. “It nudged us towards what we wanted to do already.”
Fulbright says the film festival is uniquely situated compared to other festivals during the pandemic.
“Film is something that can be consumed and people are used to consuming at home,” he says.
However, they still wanted to offer the “communal atmosphere” of the festival.
Included in the festival will be four in-person events.
Two events will be held at the Grand Opera House and two events will be held at the outdoor amphitheater of the Museum of Arts and Sciences.
There will be limited seating for all events.
Everyone will be required to where masks, especially at the indoor screenings, and social distancing will be enforced.
One of the indoor screenings include the presentation of “Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man” directed by Allen Farst.
The outdoor events will be free to the public and include screenings of “E.T.” and “Scream.”
Registration is required for both indoor and outdoor events as limited seating is a factor.
There will also be some interactive events, with virtual Q & A’s with film makers.
Fulbright tells WGXA people can email the Film Festival questions if they have them.
He says they are still working on the set up of the Q & A as some may have to be set up and filmed prior to the festival.
There will also be virtual workshops available for those interested in the art of film making.
“In that case, you’ll be able to communicate with the people who are leading the workshops and the panelist to learn about film making, to learn about impacting the community and how we do it,” says Fulbright.
Fulbright says finding a way to continue with the festival was important for the film makers.
“The number of people that work on those movies and there are thousands of people from the writers and producers to the make up artists and set designers. They put in so much hard work,” he says. “Film festivals are often times the first time they can show that work to the public.”
He says taking a year off would have possibly slowed the momentum for the film festival and all it does for Macon, like creating connections with directors and film makers who could consider the city a location for their own films.
“We wanted to make sure in our 15th year that we showed everyone that we could adapt and move forward,” he says. “We are very fortunate that we’ve had a lot of support from the community in doing so.”
People can now subscribe to the Macon Film Festival stream on Film Festival Flix.
To register and buy tickets for the in person events, head to the Macon Film Festival website.