Location
Events[edit]
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.
Attendance[edit]
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]
Awards, premieres, and gala screenings[edit]
2003[edit]
The opening film was The Event, directed by Thom Fitzgerald.
2004[edit]
The opening film was Wilby Wonderful, directed by Daniel MacIvor.
2005[edit]
The opening film was 3 Needles, directed by Thom Fitzgerald, and Jason Eisener's short The Teeth Beneath premiered.
2006[edit]
The opening film was The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, directed by Zacharias Kunuk, and the closing film was Susanne Bier's After the Wedding.
2007[edit]
The opening film was Shake Hands With The Devil and The Bodybuilder and I was named best Canadian documentary.
2008[edit]
Down to the Dirt won Best Atlantic Feature and Jason Eisener received the award for Best Editing for his short film Treevenge.
2009[edit]
The opening film was Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day.
2010[edit]
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.
2011[edit]
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.
2012[edit]
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]
2013[edit]
There Are Monsters was awarded Best Atlantic Feature and Best Director (Jay Dahl).