The Eighth Annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF), which runs from January 16-27, 2008, is positioned to offer a substantial variety of choices to 2008 AJFF attendees. To fully grasp the scope of this year’s AJFF, I posed a series of questions to Kenny Blank, AJFF’s Executive Director, and he was kind enough to give me some insightful answers. My thanks to Mr. Blank for his time and to Becky Biggs for facilitating the interview.

Tim O’Shea: This year marks the eighth year of the festival–how much has the festival changed since it first launched in 2000?

Kenny Blank: While the goal remains the same, to use film to build bridges of understanding between the many different cultural and religious communities in Atlanta, our festival has grown in scope and complexity. In order to meet the expectations of both our audience and our sponsors, including our presenter the Atlanta Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, we have improved the post-film discussions, bringing in more filmmakers, actors and writers; we have expanded our outreach and publicity by using the most up-to-date technology; and we have worked hard to create a high-class festival atmosphere that makes all those attending feel like they are someplace special.

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