2026 Macon Film Festival

TITLE: The Tree Economy
DIRECTOR: James Schroeder
TRT: 102:00
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States (Georgia Made)
SYNOPSIS: The City of Atlanta, Georgia is known as "The City in the Forest." It has the highest tree canopy density of any major city in the United States. But with increased growth and development, Atlanta is losing trees at an alarming rate. Can "The City in the Forest" maintain its tree canopy?
RATINGS: None

TITLE: Athens by Kaleidoscope
DIRECTOR: Christopher Flippo
TRT: 3:51
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
SYNOPSIS: An ode to Athens, Georgia in 3 parts.
RATINGS: None

TITLE: I Wanted to Hear Your Voice
DIRECTOR: James Pellerito
TRT: 12:00
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
SYNOPSIS: After eight years of caring for his mother with severe dementia, a son struggles through their daily care routine. Recorded voicemails serve to show the progression of the disease, underscoring the frustration, isolation and burnout that comes with intensive caregiving.
RATINGS: None

TITLE: Thank You for Listening
DIRECTOR: Gene Gallerano, Bob Ray
TRT: 27:00
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
SYNOPSIS: Joshua Ray Walker faces the fragility of life as he confronts a life-altering cancer diagnosis. As he prepares to return to the Grand Ole Opry, the film captures an intimate portrait of an artist grappling with mortality while confronting the legacy he will leave behind. Blending lyrical visuals, performance, and moments of quiet reflection, the film explores how music sustains, redeems, and endures. It is a meditation on resilience, legacy, and the human drive to create meaning even in the face of life’s limits.
RATINGS: None

TITLE: In the Garden
DIRECTOR: Ivey Redding
TRT: 11:01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
SYNOPSIS: “In the Garden” is a three-generational reflection piece set in rural Georgia, where the director’s mother reflects on the life of her own aging mother. Blending documentary and narrative forms, the film tells the story of the grandmother’s life through a lyrical, long-form poem. What began as an effort to preserve the director's childhood memories—deeply tied to her grandmother and the Southern landscape—evolved into a meditation on aging and solitude. It’s an exploration of memory, family, and the inescapable pull of home.
RATINGS: None

TITLE: Willie and His Pigs
DIRECTOR: Emily Cooper
TRT: 14:02
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
SYNOPSIS: Every 9 months, rural Kentucky-based regenerative farmer Willie Houston brings home a small group of piglets. He raises them, names them, cares for them, and has to say goodbye. "Willie & his Pigs" is about grief, joy, and bacon. This subtle portrait challenges assumptions of masculinity in farming and explores who bears the emotional weight of ethically raising animals.
RATINGS: None

TITLE: Born Secret
DIRECTOR: Riley Fitchpatrick
TRT: 19:40
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
SYNOPSIS: A filmmaker returns to his hometown that built the atomic bomb. There he meets the workers who created humanity's greatest weapon that now wrestle with their legacy, while their grandchildren inherit a world on the brink of nuclear catastrophe.
RATINGS: None

TITLE: Test
DIRECTOR: Sam McConnell
TRT: 108:00
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
SYNOPSIS: An amateur bodybuilder in rural Ohio must confront a dysfunctional family, substance abuse, and his own emerging sexuality on his quest to become a champion.
RATINGS: Strong Language, Adult Situations, Violence, Drug Use

TITLE: Brannu: The Urban Horseman
DIRECTOR: Adelin Gasana
TRT: 108:00
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States (Georgia Made)