Who we are

team

Jim Farmer (HE/HIM)

Jim Farmer has served as the festival director of Out On Film, Atlanta's LGBTQIA+ film festival, for the last 15 years. He has helped lead the organization to become one of the major LGBTQIA+ film festivals in the country and an Oscar® qualifying one as well. Earlier this year, Out On Film was named as the top film festival in the nation by the readers of USA Today/10Best. As a journalist, he has written about queer arts for Southern Voice/ The Georgia Voice for the last 25 years. Last year he won writing awards from both the NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists and the National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and was also nominated for the Online Journalist of the Year Award by the latter. Named as the 2019 Businessman of the Year from the Out Georgia Business Alliance, Farmer has been named to Atlanta Magazine's Atlanta 500 Most Powerful City Leaders list in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Jim is also an ambassador for the Out Georgia Business Alliance and was on the Atlanta Hawks LGBTQIA+ Pride Council. He lives in Avondale Estates with his husband Craig and dog Douglas.

FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

Justice Obiaya (HE/HIM)

Justice Obiaya, an Atlanta native, holds a BFA in Media Arts from the Art Institute of Atlanta and an MA from the Savannah College of Art & Design. He began his art nonprofit career as Marketing and Business Manager for ASIFA-South, quickly advancing to Associate Director, where he established the first ASIFAC animation festival. In 2017, he joined the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS) as Education Program Coordinator, later becoming Marketing & Community Relations Director. He serves as the newest board member for the Film Festival Alliance, where he teaches other festivals the power of Analytics and how to draft a Digital Marketing Strategy. Justice has led various committees with Out On Film, Atlanta’s Oscar-Qualifying LGBTQ+ film festival, ranked #1 in the nation by 10Best and USA Today in 2023, and Top 100 Best Reviewed with FilmFreeway. With an 8-year tenure at Out on Film, he held roles as a volunteer, Festival Coordinator, and Marketing Committee Chair. In January 2024, Justice assumed the role of Executive Director, making history as the first person in the organization's 37-year history to hold this position.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR