Alison Fussell, President and CEO of IMAGE Film & Video Center, announced today the appointment of Jessica Denton as the new Festival Director of the Atlanta Film Festival, now in its 29th year. The annual summer event takes place June 10-18, 2005, in downtown Atlanta and includes over 150 independent films from around the world, plus dozens of informative panels and discussion forums led by visiting artists. Denton will also oversee monthly programming for the non-profit IMAGE - the only resource in Georgia, and one of the few in the Southeast, dedicated to the independent film community.
Denton’s appointment comes after the departure of Festival Director Paul Marchant, with whom she worked closely as Managing Director during the past two years of the festival. "Jessica has both the heart and the smarts to deliver an innovative and appealing festival. She has the respect of everyone who works with her and we’re lucky to have her," said Fussell. "She has worked in film, taught film, loves film, and she knows the festival."
"I’ve approached filmmaking from many directions, but I’ve found that festival work has become my passion," said Denton. "My greatest hope is that we inspire new filmmakers and educate audiences in Atlanta by showing them what independent film can be and what it can do. I want people to get past the notion that if it isn’t in a multiplex, it’s bad or strange."
