The 16th Annual Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition has selected the sci-fi romance feature screenplay The Verge of Seas as a quarterfinalist. Semifinalists will be announced February 16, 2024.
Now approaching its 48th year, the Atlanta Film Festival–an Academy Award®-qualifying festival–is the Southeast’s preeminent celebration of cinema and the flagship production of the Atlanta Film Society. One of the largest and longest-running festivals in the country, the Atlanta Film Festival showcases both emerging and established artists’ works. Recent festivals have seen audiences of over 28,000 film-lovers joining over 300 attending filmmakers in support of moving images that push the boundaries of independent cinema.
The 2024 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition is devoted to finding the best screenplays from around the world and offering their authors the opportunity to take part in a once in a lifetime writing workshop and mentorship with professionals in the film industry. Winners of the Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition have gone on to be honored by The Black List, selected for the Sundance Directors’ Lab, sign with representation, option their winning scripts, and write/direct critically and commercially successful indie films.
The Verge of Seas, written by Albert M. Chan, is about a depressed, alcoholic father in a failing marriage who returns to his childhood home in Montana, where his husband and children mysteriously vanish. In a frantic search for them, he uncovers the shocking truth about himself and the universe, forcing him to reevaluate his troubled relationships.
“THE SCRIPT BEAUTIFULLY COMBINES THE GENRES OF SCI-FI AND ROMANCE INTO AN INNOVATIVE NARRATIVE ABOUT THE POWER OF LOVE AND CHOSEN DESTINY… THERE IS A VERY PROFICIENT TALENT BEHIND THIS SCREENPLAY… ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING ELEMENTS… IS THE INTRICATE NUANCES CULTIVATED WITHIN THE DIALOGUE. THIS ALLOWS THE SCENES TO TEEM WITH SUBTLE EMOTION, MAKING FOR WILDLY ENTERTAINING EXCHANGES BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS… IT’S PRETTY EASY TO ENVISION THIS BECOMING A HIGHLY SOUGHT-AFTER SCRIPT IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET… AN IMMENSELY ENTERTAINING STORY THAT DESERVES TO FIND SUCCESS IN A CINEMATIC MEDIUM!”
“WITH A BRILLIANT PREMISE, POIGNANT RELATIONSHIPS AND THEMES AT PLAY, AND STRONG WRITING THROUGHOUT, THIS SCRIPT DELIVERS A THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND ENGAGING READ… COMPELLING AND EXCITING FROM START TO FINISH… THE QUEER LOVE STORY AT THE CORE IS REFRESHING AND HEARTFELT.”
