Halifax director Jason Buxton’s thriller Sharp Corner, starring Ben Foster and Cobie Smulders (not pictured) will open this year's Atlantic International Film Festival.COREY J ISENOR/Atlantic International Film Festival
Not that it has ever been easy to run a film festival in Canada, but doing so in 2024, amid shifting audience behaviour and belt-tightening sponsors, presents its own unique challenges. Doubly so if you’re operating in the shadow of the country’s reigning film-festival king, TIFF.
Yet by both managing its ambitions and using its calendar proximity to Toronto’s extravaganza as a tactical advantage, the Atlantic International Film Festival in Halifax is aiming to buck industry anxieties.
“We’ve certainly had setbacks during COVID, and because audiences in the East Coast have been more cautious about returning to live events, it’s taken longer for us to rebuild. But I feel that this year we can say we’re back, even more than previous years,” said Martha Cooley, AIFF’s executive director. “We’re seeing people re-engage. We’re cautiously optimistic.”
That optimism stems from a self-imposed check of expectations and delivery. This year’s edition of AIFF, which runs Sept. 11-18, butting into the tail end of TIFF, has reduced the number of titles it will screen practically in half, from a pre-pandemic high of almost 200 films. The lineup is now a more manageable slate of about 50 features and 50 shorts. In doing so, Lisa Haller, AIFF’s head of programming, has also made sweeping changes to her team and its slates.
“It had gotten to the point where it was comparable to Vancouver’s film festival, which is quite a larger city than Halifax. Audiences were being pulled too thin,” Haller said. “It’s on the smaller side, which comes with its own challenges in terms of curation, but we’re picking out the most exciting things for our audiences and giving them multiple opportunities to see them.”
Jay Abdo, left, and Sean Dalton in a scene from the Newfoundland-set drama Skeet, from writer-director Nik Sexton.Atlantic International Film Festival
This year’s Atlantic-cinema highlights include Halifax director Jason Buxton’s thriller Sharp Corner, starring Canadian actress Cobie Smulders, which will open the festival; Newfoundland filmmaker Melanie Oates’s drama Sweet Angel Baby, whose screening will serve as the Atlantic Gala; the Newfoundland-set drama Skeet, from writer-director Nik Sexton; and a number of titles from filmmakers across Canada, including R.T. Thorne’s buzzy drama 40 Acres, Kazik Radwanski’s Berlinale-certified romantic drama Matt and Mara, Sook-Yin Lee’s dramedy Paying for It and Mike Downie’s four-part docuseries The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal.
“This is an exciting year because 30 per cent of our films are from the Atlantic region and the majority of the festival is Canadian-focused,” said Haller, noting that AIFF is also bringing new international fare from Miguel Gomes (Grand Tour), Mohammad Rasoulof (The Seed of the Sacred Fig), and Andrea Arnold (Bird). “We’re trying to bring the rest of the world here – it can be hard to find international storytellers in your own backyard.”
Newfoundland filmmaker Melanie Oates’ Sweet Angel Baby, starring Michaela Kurimsky will serve as the Atlantic Gala at the festival.Atlantic International Film Festival
Especially given that Halifax moviegoers have not had access to a local independent cinema, which might program such foreign-language and art-house titles, for decades.
“Festivals like ours become beacons for cinephiles and those looking for cinema outside the mainstream,” Cooley said. “There are smaller, more niche festivals. And one of our partners is the screening group Carbon Arc, which fills a DIY gap. But we are the main event for people interested in expanding their own horizons.”
As for the elephant of the Canadian festival circuit? Well, AIFF is aiming to simply piggyback off Toronto’s timing, attracting filmmakers who are already on the fall festival tour with a healthy dose of Atlantic charm.
“We can welcome teams from what might be a hectic week prior – come over and calm down, have a lobster roll or two and celebrate,” Haller said. “We’re just a little hop, skip and a jump over.”