Caroline King likes to keep the Atlanta Women’s Comedy Film Festival intimate. It’s not like major festivals where attendees shell out hundreds of dollars to stand in endless lines or cram into premieres.
“I really like to think of us as more of a grassroots boutique festival,” King said. “It’s intimate.”
King founded the festival seven years ago, as part of her film festival collective Cinema Life. Every year, the collective puts on events like the Southern Horror Film Festival, Georgia Shorts Film Festival, Atlanta Women’s Film Festival and the Atlanta Women’s Comedy Film Festival.
Like the other festivals, King has a vision for the Atlanta Women’s Comedy Film Festival. It’s small enough that every attendee gets a hands-on experience, and it’s laser-focused on women in comedy.
Filmmakers, comics and enthusiasts joined the 2026 festival on March 27-29 for a full lineup — over 40 short films screened at 7 Stages Theatre, table reads for chosen scripts, industry panels with the Screen Actors Guild and more, workshops and award ceremonies.
“It’s an all-encompassing event,” King said.
It’s also a launchpad for emerging filmmakers. Maya Kimble, a recent graduate of Columbia College Chicago, brought her thesis film “Shirker” for its premiere at the festival. The writer, director and editor said it was “very fitting” for her film to premiere at the Atlanta hub.
“Shirker” is a dark comedy short film about a desperate actress fighting looming student debt, who opts to fake her own suicide and escape the financial crisis. “It’s a dark comedy, but financial desperation is really relevant,” Kimble explained.
She pointed to certain details in the film: a self-tape audition set against a fake suicide tape, comedic mirror images. It’s the kind of dark comedy exploring the female experience that Kimble aims to create — and she found a home for it at the Women’s Comedy Film Festival.
“I like what the festival stands for,” Kimble said.
Kimble is one of dozens of filmmakers to choose the festival for their premiere. She also gets to have her film premiere alongside creatives like Terri J. Vaughn, who received the 2026 WCFF Trailblazer Award for her work as an actor, writer, producer and director in comedy.
King credits the festival’s popularity and reception with the working crew. She said the reviews are “fantastic” because everyone who works on the festival is a filmmaker. They know what creates a great experience, and they want to make it happen for everyone else. In short, she “wants everyone to feel really special here and know how much we appreciate their film and their hard work.”
“You’re always going to be one of the cool kids here,” King said.
The women’s comedy film festival is a place for networking and opportunity, but King ultimately wants it to be a good time. Each of her festivals has its own “personality.” Georgia Shorts is more serious, Atlanta Women’s festival is about celebrating women.
“Women’s Comedy Film Festival, that’s like going out with your girlfriends and just having a great time,” King said.
And King has a great time with each of her festivals. They can be serious or feel like a “boozy Sunday brunch,” but each creates a space for filmmakers.
“The most tragic story is one that goes untold,” King said. “So just anything that we can do to provide opportunities for filmmakers to get to know each other, but also get to the point where they can get their films made.”
While King is satisfied with the “boutique” festivals as they are, she does have an expanded vision for her organization, Cinema Life. She wants to turn the festival collective into a physical space.
King imagines a coworking space with audition studios, screening rooms and equipment rentals. She’s ready to “face facts” about the high price of actually making a film. “It takes a lot of capital, it takes a lot of knowing people,” she explained.
As a film festival director and film collective CEO, King wants to use her growing festival “to bring filmmakers in and give them those opportunities.”
A full list of the screened films, screenplays and award winners from the festival can be found online.
