Ewan McGregor surprises Star Wars fans at Atlanta film festival
ATLANTA - The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival celebrated May the 4th and the 25th anniversary of "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" with a surprise appearance by Ewan McGregor, who portrays Obi-Wan Kenobi in the film. The special screening took place at the Plaza Theatre on Saturday night.
McGregor participated in a 30-minute Q&A session following the screening and then presented ATLFF community partners from Wax & Wane, Rocco Shapiro, and Sean Valdivieso, with autographed collectible Obi-Wan Kenobi lightsabers.
The 48th Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference concluded on Sunday after 11 days of screenings, special events, and educational workshops. This year's lineup featured 142 selected works from diverse filmmakers worldwide, representing 118 countries, with over 24% of the films having ties to Georgia filmmakers.
Highlights of the festival included the Opening Night presentation of "The Idea of You" with Director Michael Showalter, DP Jim Frohna, and Production Designer Amy Williams; Bill Duke's acceptance of the Ossie Davis Award for Innovation in Filmmaking; and the Closing Night presentation of Sing Sing with Filmmaker Greg Kwedar and cast members Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin, John "Divine G" Whitfield, Sean "Dino" Johnson, and Jon Adrian "JJ" Velazquez, among others.