Another Friday the 13th
March 13 — Our apologies to everybody who left the house without a jacket yesterday. As several of you, including a real-life former TV weatherman, pointed out, our forecast of “a high of 70°” was a pipe dream. Unrelated, David Chandley, chief meteorologist at FOX 5, said he will retire next month after nearly 42 years on the air in Georgia.
☀️ After a chilly morning, it will be sunny and 65° today.
🚌 A DeKalb County school bus carrying 29 Montclair Elementary students was struck by a car that ran a red light on Clairmont Road yesterday morning, sending the driver and four students to the hospital.
🥫 State House Bill 947, which is under consideration by the Senate after amendments, would require proof of citizenship to receive SNAP food aid benefits.
🚌 The DeKalb County School District is reviewing data gathered on the first phase of its sweeping Student Assignment Project, which proposes closing 27 schools and expanding or repurposing others.
💻 AI security platform Airia will relocate its local operations to the Coda building at Tech Square in Midtown.
🌳 Staff writer Hayden Sumlin takes a deep dive into the history of Sandy Springs’ Lost Corner nature preserve.
🦅 Emory’s men’s basketball team hosts Yeshiva University in the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 today at 1 p.m.
🏀 The Hawks won their eighth straight game, beating Brooklyn 108-97 last night.
🏀 At the GHSA State Basketball Championships in Macon, Marist and Wilcox County won girls titles, and Clinch County and St. Pius X won for the boys. Play continues today, with Woodward, Milton, and Creekview among the local schools in action.
ELSEWHERE
🇮🇷🇮🇱🇺🇸 Here are updates from the war in Iran:
- The Pentagon said that four of six crew members are dead after a refueling tanker crashed in western Iraq yesterday. The military ruled out hostile or friendly fire.
- Iran’s new Supreme Leader vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and attack neighboring countries, as President Donald Trump called Iranian leaders “deranged scumbags.”
- Follow live updates here.
🔯 Federal officials identified a 41-year-old, Lebanese-born naturalized U.S. citizen as the suspect who rammed a vehicle into a synagogue near Detroit, exchanging gunfire with security guards before being killed by security.
🚨 A convicted ISIS supporter released from federal prison in 2024 opened fire in an Old Dominion University classroom Thursday, killing one person and injuring two before being killed by students.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Christalyn Hampton on ‘The Devil Is Busy’
• Film Review: ‘Undertone’
• ‘Which Way to the Stage’ @ Out Front
AND
• Top stories of the week
🚈 MARTA bus routes change April 18! NextGen Bus Network is a smarter, faster, better system of bus routes to get you around the region. Find a map for your new route and more info here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Christalyn Hampton talks Oscar-nominated short ‘The Devil Is Busy’
VIA SCENE, A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER ABOUT FILM | SUBSCRIBE
🏥 When Christalyn Hampton found out her film, “The Devil Is Busy,” was nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards, she screamed.
Awards weren’t something the Atlanta local was thinking about while making the film, which she co-directed with Geeta Gandbhir (also the director of the Oscar-nominated documentary feature “The Perfect Neighbor”). So, getting short-listed and later nominated for the industry’s biggest honor was a huge surprise.
Hampton has worked in the industry as a producer for years, but this is her first time directing. “The Devil Is Busy” tracks a day in the life of Tracii, the head of security at the Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation, an Atlanta abortion clinic, as she deals with clients, protestors, and the general anxiety of helping women get reproductive healthcare in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision that took away American women’s right to abortion.
🫄 Check out our film critic Sammie Purcell’s conversation with Hampton about the film.
🏆 Oscar Weekend
🏆 Ahead of the Oscars this weekend, Sammie predicts who will take home Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and more. Check out her predictions here.
Don’t miss THE event of the spring – Move For Grady!
SPONSORED BY GRADY HEALTH FOUNDATION
🏃 It’s time to register for Move For Grady on April 25, Atlanta’s best ride/run/walk event supporting Grady! Choose one of three fully supported cycling routes or 5K or 10K run/walk courses that will show you Atlanta from a new point of view. Then stay to celebrate with great food, drinks, and music at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.
❤️ Move For Grady raises funds to support Grady’s mission to build a healthier Atlanta. Register today, start training, and join the party on April 25!
2. ‘Undertone’ has a scary gimmick, but can’t deliver on theme
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
🎙️ “Undertone” has been billed as the scariest movie you’ll ever hear, and that’s not a marketing promise that falls short – the sound design hits the mark. But that gimmick isn’t enough to sustain a host of other issues.
“Undertone,” written and directed by Ian Tuason, follows Evy (Nina Kiri), a podcaster who moves back home to play caretaker to her devoutly religious and dying mother (Michèle Duquet). On her paranormal-centric podcast, she plays the role of professional skeptic as her co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco, although we only hear his voice) tries to convince her that everything from ghosts to the devil walk among us. But when an anonymous email sends Evy and Justin recordings of a married couple experiencing some sort of haunting in their home, Evy starts to have similar experiences.
“Undertone” is a movie built on a gimmick guaranteed to scare you out of your wits, but it’s also attempting to make a larger comment about religious anxiety, about guilt, about mothers and their children. In trying to be both high-brow and scrappy, it loses steam in both lanes, and the commentary it attempts to make is so barely there that it feels maddening and more than a little careless.
🎚️ Click here to read Sammie’s review. You can also read her review of “Reminders of Him” here.
🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Subscribe for free.
Atlanta just earned a new green global title!
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ATLANTA BELTLINE
🌳 The Atlanta Beltline Arboretum is the world’s longest linear arboretum! Stretching more than 12 miles of trail, it will expand to 16.7 miles by summer 2026 as work continues toward completing the full 22-mile loop.
🦋 Developed through a 20-year partnership with Trees Atlanta, the public botanical garden features over 250,000 native plants grown along a former abandoned rail corridor. The project connects 45 neighborhoods, supports wildlife habitat, and offers education through guided tree tours for over two million annual visitors.
➡️ Read more here.
3. Director Justin Kalin on bringing ‘Which Way to the Stage’ to Out Front Theatre
🎭 Justin Kalin first heard about “Which Way to the Stage,” a play by Ana Nogueira, right after it premiered Off-Broadway in 2022, when a normally measured friend in New York posted his thoughts about the show on social media.
“He posted a story the night he saw it – just like, the most effusive, lavish praise,” Kalin, who is the associate artistic director at Out Front Theatre, said. “He really loved the production, the script – everything.”
When he looked more closely into the show, Kalin found that it fit right in the wheelhouse of Out Front’s mission these days – producing shows that center on queer joy, laughter, and hope.
🗣️ Read Sammie’s full interview with Kalin.
🌸 Shop the Trees Atlanta Native Plant Sale Online now through Mon., March 23. Over 150 varieties. Support birds, butterflies, and pollinators. Plant native and create a healthy urban forest. SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Top stories of the week
A look back at this week’s most-read stories from our website. Follow @RoughDraftATL on Instagram for regular updates.
① Sandy Springs wins USPS approval for city name on mailing addresses
② 5 Atlanta chefs talk go-to chain restaurants, favorite dishes (Pictured)
③ Tucker approves new loitering ordinance in partnership with DeKalb police
④ NBA shuts down Hawks’ Magic City Night after league backlash
⑤ Atlanta Braves’ new streaming platform to offer 140 games for $99.99
👪 There are so many new opportunities for young families at Congregation B’nai Torah in Sandy Springs. Plus, your first year of membership is free! Come check out an upcoming event or join us for Tot Shabbat. SPONSOR MESSAGE
💭 Test your knowledge of the week’s news in tomorrow’s News Quiz. Keep an eye out for our email at 8 a.m. or bookmark this page!
🔤 Play News Word Atlanta, our daily word game.
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