Image film awards gala

Sunday, April 23, 2023 - Fox Theatre

The Atlanta Film Society’s IMAGE Film Awards sets out to honor various individuals, companies and organization that have made outstanding contributions to Georgia’s film industry & community. It’s celebrated the many contributions of notable names such as Spike Lee, Burt Reynolds, Tip “TI" Harris, Parker Posey, Dallas Austin, Tom Luse, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. It’s recognized companies such as Tyler Perry Studios, and Trioscope. Nonprofit organizations such as the BronzeLens Film Festival, and Georgia Production Partnership and public leaders such as Governor Nathan Deal, President Jimmy Carter, Governor Well Miller, Attorney General Chris Carr, the Georgia Film Office.

Named as a reference to the organization’s original name, the IMAGE Film Awards Gala pays tribute to Atlanta Film Society’s (ATLFS) history as Independent Media Artists of Georgia Etc (IMAGE). In the time since the event was established in 2001, both Georgia’s film community & industry have gone through tremendous transformation. Annual spending on production has increased from $200 million to over $2 billion. 

Meanwhile, ATLFS has undergone some of the most significant evolutions since its formation: a name change from IMAGE to Atlanta Film Society, experienced some of the most longevity in organization staff and leadership in five decades along with new events and programs like the Creative Conference, New Mavericks, CineMás, PA Academy, Locals Only and the Kodak 100 Ft of Film as well as increased profile, visibility and attendance at the annual Academy Award qualifying Atlanta Film Festival. 

These programs have been a platform for sharing, celebrating and elevating the work of hundreds of artists each year, workforce development of over 5,000 participants in ATLFS’ education and networking programs, and allowed for cultural engagement and enrichment of over 50,000 audience members annually. The IMAGE Film Awards Gala serves as the only fundraising event for the ATLFS and will be instrumental in growing the organization’s reach, impact and service to the community and artists it serves.

The trophy awarded to IMAGE Film Award recipients is inspired by the world’s first practical film projector, the Phantoscope, debuted to the world in Atlanta in 1895 in the first purpose-built cinema as part of the Cotton State Exposition (in Piedmont Park, the same site of IMAGE’s first Atlanta Film Festival over 80 years later in 1977). The Phantoscope, built by underdogs Jenkins & Armat, beat the titan of industry, Thomas Edison, to make the first viable motion picture projector. Edison would eventually purchase the patent from Jenkins and Armat and incorporate their technology into what became his widely-produced Vitascope. Arguably, this is the first time this science experiment became an industry and it happened here in Atlanta.

Dress code: Formal / Black-Tie

List of Previous Honorees