Location | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
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Founded | 1980 |
Website | http://www.atlanticfilmfestival.ca/ |
The Atlantic International Film Festival is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. AIFF is the largest Canadian film festival east of Montreal, regularly premiering the region's top films of the year, while bringing the best films of the fall festival circuit to Atlantic Canada.
In 2017, the festival rebranded itself as the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival, with the FIN blending a dual reference to a fish's fins due to Halifax's connection to the ocean fisheries, and the conclusion of a film. [1] In 2023, the festival dropped the "FIN", and returned to its previous branding as the Atlantic International Film Festival. [2]
AIFF holds multiple events throughout the year. The Atlantic International Film Festival is an 8-day event, screening films from Canada and around the world, and showcasing Atlantic Canadian films and artists. During the first three days of the Festival, AIFF simultaneously runs AIFF Partners, an international co-production and co-financing market focusing on narrative feature film and series, which brings together producers and industry decision-makers from Canada and around the world. In the spring, AIFF holds AIFF Kids (formerly Viewfinders: Atlantic Film Festival for Youth), a touring event designed to engage, entertain, and educate young people. AIFF Outdoor (formerly Outdoor Film Experience) is AIFF's outdoor summer film series held in various locations across the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Although the festival screens films from across Canada and internationally, its principal awards program is reserved specifically for films from the Atlantic Canada region. It also does not generally bill most of its screenings as "galas", as many larger film festivals do; apart from the opening and closing films, the only other screenings to be billed as galas are the "Atlantic Canadian Gala", highlighting a film made within the region, and the "Reel Coast Shorts" gala, highlighting short films by Atlantic Canadian directors.
The 2005 festival experienced a 24 per cent attendance increase from the previous year with 29,400 in overall attendance, including 28 sold-out screenings and events. [3] In 2007 attendance was up 18 per cent over 2006, with a record-setting 33,500 people taking part in the 27th annual event. [4]
The opening film was The Event , directed by Thom Fitzgerald.[ citation needed ]
The opening film was Wilby Wonderful , directed by Daniel MacIvor.
The opening film was 3 Needles , directed by Thom Fitzgerald, and Jason Eisener's short The Teeth Beneath premiered.
The opening film was The Journals of Knud Rasmussen , directed by Zacharias Kunuk, and the closing film was Susanne Bier's After the Wedding .
The opening film was Shake Hands With The Devil and The Bodybuilder and I was named best Canadian documentary.
Down to the Dirt won Best Atlantic Feature and Jason Eisener received the award for Best Editing for his short film Treevenge .
The opening film was Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day .
Films that were screened included Bruce McDonald's Trigger , Evan Kelly's debut feature The Corridor , and Paul Andrew Kimball's debut feature Eternal Kiss.
Charlie Zone won Best Atlantic Feature and Best Director (Michael Melski) and Thom Fitzgerald's Cloudburst won the People's Choice Audience Award. A number of high-profile actors, including Brenda Fricker, Billy Boyd, Adam Sinclair, Kristin Kreuk and Famke Janssen, were in attendance. The opening film was Rollertown, the closing film was Mike Clattenburg's Afghan Luke , and the CBC Shorts Gala featured short films by Cory Bowles and Christian Sparkes.
Blackbird was awarded Best Atlantic Feature and Best Director (Jason Buxton). This year's festival also featured the premieres of Roaming , the first film produced through Telefilm Canada's First Feature Program, The Disappeared , and Paul-Émile d'Entremont's documentary Last Chance . [5]
There Are Monsters was awarded Best Atlantic Feature and Best Director (Jay Dahl).
AIFF Partners (formerly known as "Strategic Partners") is an annual international film co-production market, held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The event has been held annually since its inception in 1998, and is held simultaneously with the first three days of the Atlantic Film Festival. The 25th edition of the event will take place in September 2022. [15]
Every year, the AIFF Partners organizers accept a robust and curated roster of delegates from around the world, in a bid to provide a 'one-stop shop' for film and TV producers and early-stage projects. Similar in format to International Film Festival Rotterdam's Cinemart, the European Film Market's co-production forum, and Independent Film Week's No Borders, AIFF Partners is Canada's premiere film and television co-production event. While the event attracts a strong core attendance from Canada, the US and the UK, it also focuses on an annual group of spotlight countries.
2020/2021: Benelux, Germany, and the United States
2018/2019: United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and the United States
2016/2017: Nordic countries and the United States [16]
2014/2015: Latin America and the United States
2013: India and United Kingdom
2012: United States and the United Kingdom
2011: South Africa, United States and Australia
2009: Germany and Ireland
2008: Argentina, Brazil and Mexico
2007: France
2006: Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
2005: Germany
2004: Ireland
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Thomas "Thom" Fitzgerald is an American-Canadian film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright and producer.
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Bernie Langille Wants to Know What Happened to Bernie Langille is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Jackie Torrens and released in 2022. The film follows Bernie Langille, a man who is investigating the 1968 death of his namesake grandfather at CFB Gagetown under mysterious circumstances.
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