Historic Fall Classic
Friday, Oct. 23 — Two small-market, low-payroll teams that have never won a championship meet in the World Series starting tonight, as the Brewers host the Rays in Milwaukee at 8 p.m. (FOX)
☀️ Sunny with a high of 71° today. Rinse and repeat all weekend.
⏰ Today is the last day for Georgia residents to request an absentee ballot for the Nov. 3 midterms. Get more information on requesting a ballot here.
⚖️ A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to halt investigations into noncitizen voter registration in nine states, including Georgia, citing error-filled data and intimidation of voter assistance groups.
🗳️ President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama will each visit Georgia over the next week to promote their parties’ candidates ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
🚨 The FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of a man who allegedly tried to start a fire at the Downtown Atlanta ICE office.
🍿 The Rome International Film Festival is set to return to Downtown Rome, GA, Nov. 5-8.
🤯 The Falcons drew extensive social media backlash after posting a profile picture that some fans said resembled Nazi-era imagery. The team said it isn’t a new logo, and left the post up on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
🏈 Kennesaw State fell 34-6 to Liberty at home last night, its sixth straight loss.
🏈 The Drive for the GHSA State Title continues tonight as undefeated Mays meets Southwest DeKalb in the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame Game on Peachtree Sports Network. The pregame show starts at 7:30 p.m., with kickoff at 8.
🏀 The Hawks look to start the season 2-0 when they play at Charlotte tonight at 7 p.m. (92.9 FM; ANF/Amazon Prime).
➡ Our weekly Athens newsletter debuts today. Subscribe for free!
ELSEWHERE
📉 Stock futures are lower this morning after the Nasdaq’s 2.6% drop yesterday, its worst day since June, as Meta shares fell 7%, reigniting investor worries about AI. Moderna shares closed down 17% despite strong melanoma vaccine trial results.
🌍 Staffers damaged Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s World War II globe while moving it to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Estate Sales
• Film Review: ‘Fjord’
• Upcoming Events
AND
• Top Stories of the Week
🤝 The TOUR Championship is more than a week of great golf. Discover how Southern Company, alongside other Proud Partners and the surrounding community, is creating lasting impact, inspiring future generations, and making the championship one of Atlanta’s most meaningful summer traditions. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Estate Sales
🖼️ Autumn Estates & Collections – Fine art, period furniture, decorative arts, sterling silver, Asian works of art, historical documents, rare books, rugs, collectibles, and more. Atlanta. Today.
🛋️ Decatur Estate Sale – Midcentury furniture, jewelry, clothing, shoes, holiday decor, antiques, and much more. Today-Sun.
🍸 Vintage Goodness Galore – Midcentury and unique housewares, including dishware, barware, and glass, as well as original art. Atlanta. Sat.-Sun.
👗 Dunwoody Estate Auction – Final weekend for art, antique textiles, midcentury furniture, art glass, and more. Sun.
🚗 Gainesville Estate Sale – A whole house of furniture, vintage UGA memorabilia, Coca-Cola collectibles, Christopher Radko ornaments, and designer handbags. Today-Sun.
What are you waiting for?
SPONSORED BY CLEARWORKS AUDIOLOGY
🙉 Seven years of missed conversations and asking people to repeat themselves. Seven years of quietly withdrawing from the dinner table, the party, the people you love most.
Hearing loss rarely happens overnight. It creeps in slowly – and your brain quietly compensates, masking what you’re losing.
The good news? It’s never too late to act. And the sooner you do, the better your brain responds.
🦻 ClearWorks Audiology – Sandy Springs’ and Atlanta’s trusted choice for hearing care.
2. ‘Fjord’: Effectively frustrating, but one-dimensional
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL
🇷🇴 Punishment – and who gets to dole it out – is a huge part of “Fjord,” written and directed by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu.
The film is loosely inspired by a real Romanian immigrant family’s experiences with Norwegian Child Welfare Services (I’ll let you Google them and their slew of controversies on your own time). Over the course of the film, we watch as teenage Elia Gheorghiu (Vanessa Ceban) and her four siblings are taken away from their parents, Mihai (Sebastian Stan) and Lisbet (Renate Reinsve), while the state investigates them for child abuse.
“Fjord” starts as a family drama but becomes a legal thriller, and Mungiu wants us to question what, exactly, is on trial – child abuse, or cultural differences? “Fjord” attempts to hold well-meaning liberalism to the fire – if you thought that a parent was harming their child, of course you would say something, and you might not stop to consider your biases before doing so. But while there are complex ideas to explore within “Fjord,” and while it’s certainly purposefully frustrating, the film feels so obvious in its sympathies that it effectively flattens the other side of the aisle into one dimension. And because of that, despite strong performances all around, what the film has to say doesn’t feel all that interesting or nuanced.
🇳🇴 Click here to read Sammie’s review.
✚ Read reviews of Lee Chang-dong’s “Possible Love” and the Patricia Highsmith-inspired romp “A Talent for Murder.”
🏀 Atlanta Hawks basketball is back! Our first home game of the 2026-27 season is tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. as the Hawks take on the Rockets for Opening Night, presented by State Farm. All fans will receive a Harry the Hawk T-shirt. Get tickets today. SPONSOR MESSAGE
3. Upcoming Events
🪦 Capturing the Spirit of Oakland; tonight at 5 p.m. at Oakland Cemetery.
📽️ Rapper Killer Mike will host a screening of the investigative documentary “Cycle” tonight at 6 p.m. at the Plaza Theatre.
🌳 Outdoor Activity Center Open House; Sat., Oct. 24 at 10 a.m. at West Atlanta Watershed Alliance.
⛰️ Halloween Hikes; today and tomorrow starting at 6 p.m. and Sun., Oct. 25 starting at 5 p.m. at the Chattahoochee Nature Center.
🏈 Atlanta Falcons vs. San Francisco 49ers; Sun., Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
📧 Find out how you can get your event featured in Rough Draft. For more events, visit RoughDraftAtlanta.com/events.
🛍️ Shop local at the outdoor Midtown Artisan Market on select Sundays this fall at Midtown Green. Discover Atlanta makers offering handmade and vintage goods, plus food, community activities, and more. Oct. 25, Nov. 22 & Dec. 13, noon-6 p.m. Free admission. 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 2026 Michelin Guide to the American South features these Atlanta restaurants
② New renderings revealed for The Stitch, with project set to begin in 2027
③ Atlanta City Council halts ‘robots with guns,’ endorses Starbucks boycott
④ Sandy Springs selects developer to lead city’s downtown expansion (pictured)
⑤ Atlanta City Council votes to sell detention center to Fulton County for $68 million
🔤 Play News Word Atlanta, our daily word game.
💡 Help support independent local media by becoming a Rough Draft member today. Pick up some cool swag, including our new, limited-edition LOCAL hoodie.
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