The 2024 Atlantic International Film Festival is almost upon us, and with it comes a cavalcade of feature-length movies, documentaries and shorts that Haligonians can sink their teeth into.
Ninety-seven films in total will be shown during the festival, running from Sept. 11-18 at the Park Street Cineplex, showcasing the filmmaking talents of homegrown Nova Scotians and creators around the world.
Four gala presentations make up part of the festival, each featuring a film that will no doubt leave an impact on viewers. The first of these presentations is on opening night, Wednesday, Sept 11, where the next film from Halifax filmmaker Jason Buxton, known for 2012’s Blackbird, will be screened. Sharp Corner deals with the decline of a family man who watches car after car crash into the sharp corner in front of his house.
The Atlantic Gala, on Saturday, Sept. 14, will show off St. John’s writer and director Melanie Oates’ latest film, Sweet Angel Baby, which deals with the online persona of a small-town Newfoundland woman being revealed. On the following day, Sunday, Sept. 15, the Real East Coast Shorts gala will feature the world premieres of the lyrical An Impression of Everything by Millefiore Clarkes and the animation Hairy Legs by Andrea Dorfman.
“We’re really proud of the program this year, because it’s highlighting that 30% of the films are representing the Atlantic region this year, and over half of them are Canadian films,” says program director Lisa Haller.
It’s also worth noting that 61% of the festival’s films are directed and made by women and non-binary filmmakers, while around 36% are from BIPOC creators.
Through their World Cinema series, the film festival will also offer a bevy of international films, such as the award-winning animation Flow, Jia Zhangke’s drama film Caught by the Tides, and a brand-new retelling of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo.
The documentary series is just as jam-packed with amazing films, including the four-part special The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, directed by Mike Downie. Newfoundland-based filmmaker Tamara Segura’s documentary Seguridad tackles the relationship she had with her alcoholic father in the context of the Cuban Revolution. Never Look Away features the story of Margaret Moth, a CNN combat camerawoman, from New Zealand director Lucy Lawless.
Other series, such as Narrative New Waves, Late Night Visions, In Focus, and their Short Programmes selection are all filled to the brim with interesting and insightful films, perfect for cinephiles and casual enjoyers alike. It will all be wrapped up on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the Closing Night Gala with a showing of Cannes Competition Palme d’Or winner Anora from American director Sean Baker, known for 2015’s Tangerine.
Industry interest
While much of the film festival centres around just that—the films—Haller says they wanted to highlight the people who make the films, as well.
“It’s not only just about the film. It’s about the community building. It’s about our industry coming here and networking, making new connections, finding people to work with in the future,” says Haller. “It’s about, of course, the audience discovering new talent from Canada and abroad, but we really wanted to be an event in September where people come and they enjoy and they learn about film.”
To that end, the film festival will be hosting talks and panels featuring some big names in film and television. CBC’s Nicola Seguin will be joined by acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Matthew Rankin, known for movies The 20th Century and Universal Language—the latter selected as an entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards—on Saturday, Sept. 14 A producer spotlight featuring Meredith MacNeil (Pretty Hard Cases, Baroness Von Sketch) and Jonathan Torrens (Vollies, Roll With It) will also be hosted on Friday, Sept. 13. All of the industry talk events are available on the AIFF website.
Haller says it was also their intention to introduce more musical components to the festival, from films about music, to performances from Rich Aucoin and Aquakulture.
“It’s really focusing on the talent coming out of the Atlantic region, filmmaking and abroad,” Haller says of the festival. “We’re very excited and hopeful that it’s going to be a really exciting and vibrant, celebratory week.”
For more on the AIFF, including a list of all the films that will be played throughout the week, visit their website.
