The 2023 edition of the Atlantic International Film Festival, the 43rd edition in the event's history, took place from September 14 to 21, 2023 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.[1]
Some screenings at the festival were disrupted by Tropical Storm Lee, but the festival was not cancelled and all affected screenings were rescheduled for another time.[2] Following the conclusion of the official in-person festival, the Atlantic Canadian films from the program were also made available on a dedicated streaming platform for three additional days to help publicize the films in the rest of the region.[2]
Award | Film | Recipient |
Gordon Parsons Award for Best Atlantic Canadian Feature | The King Tide | Christian Sparkes |
Best Atlantic Canadian Director | Sweetland |
Joan Orenstein & David Renton Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting | Mother's Skin | Briar Ainslie |
Who's Yer Father? | Susan Kent |
Best Atlantic Documentary | Celestial Queer: The Life, Work and Wonder of James MacSwain | Erin Foster, Sue Johnson |
Best Atlantic Short Documentary | Songs of Unama'ki | Dawn Wells, Jeff Miller |
Best Atlantic Short Film | Mother's Skin | Leah Johnston |
Best Atlantic Short Film, Honorable Mention | Father Archie | Todd Fraser |
Michael Weir Award for Best Atlantic Screenwriting | Sweetland | Christian Sparkes |
Best Atlantic Cinematographer | Mitata (Grandfather) | Desmond Simon |
Best Atlantic Editor | The King Tide | Justin Oakey |
Best Atlantic Original Score | Evelyn | Devon Ross |
Official selections[edit]
Gala Presentations[edit]
Reel East Coast Shorts[edit]
English title | Original title | Director(s) | Province |
Escape the Usual | Colby Conrad | Nova Scotia |
Evelyn | Millefiore Clarkes | Prince Edward Island |
Father Archie | Todd Fraser | New Brunswick |
The Healing Jar | Andreas Cass | Newfoundland and Labrador |
Hebron Relocation | Holly Anderson | Newfoundland and Labrador |
Mother's Skin | Leah Johnston | Nova Scotia |
Slay | Kevin Hartford | Nova Scotia |
Narrative New Waves[edit]
World Cinema[edit]
English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
About Dry Grasses | Kuru Otlar Üstüne | Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Turkey, France, Germany, Sweden |
Anatomy of a Fall | Anatomie d'une chute | Justine Triet | France |
La Chimera | Alice Rohrwacher | Italy, France, Switzerland |
Close to You | Dominic Savage | Canada, United Kingdom |
Days of Happiness | Les Jours heureux | Chloé Robichaud | Canada |
The Delinquents | Los delincuentes | Rodrigo Moreno | Argentina, Brazil, Luxembourg, Chile |
Fallen Leaves | Kuolleet lehdet | Aki Kaurismäki | Finland, Germany |
Fitting In | Molly McGlynn | Canada |
The King Tide | Christian Sparkes | Canada |
Monster | 怪物 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Japan |
The Old Oak | Ken Loach | United Kingdom, France, Belgium |
Perfect Days | Wim Wenders | Japan |
The Promised Land | Bastarden | Nikolaj Arcel | Denmark |
Red, White & Brass | Damon Fepulea'i | New Zealand |
Seven Veils | Atom Egoyan | Canada |
Suze | Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart | Canada |
Tautuktavuk (What We See) | Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk | Canada |
Tótem | Lila Avilés | Mexico, Denmark, France |
Who's Yer Father? | Jeremy Larter | Canada |
Late Night Visions[edit]
English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
Deliver Us | Cru Ennis, Lee Roy Kunz | United States |
Raging Grace | Paris Zarcilla | United Kingdom |
Red Rooms | Les Chambres rouges | Pascal Plante | Canada |
Classics Restored & In Focus[edit]
Documentaries[edit]
English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
Against the Tide | Sarvnik Kaur | India |
Analogue Revolution: How Feminist Media Changed the World | Marusya Bociurkiw | Canada |
Celestial Queer: The Life, Work and Wonder of James MacSwain | Sue Johnson, Eryn Foster | Canada |
The Elephant 6 Recording Co, | C.B. Stockfleth | United States |
I Lost My Mom | J'ai placé ma mère | Denys Desjardins | Canada |
In the Quiet and the Dark | Nance Ackerman | Canada |
Innocence | Guy Davidi | Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Israel |
Invisible Beauty | Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng | United States |
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe | Robert McCallum | Canada |
Orlando, My Political Biography | Orlando, ma biographie politique | Paul B. Preciado | France |
A Quiet Girl | Adrian Wills | Canada |
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Savvusanna sõsarad | Anna Hints | Estonia, France, Iceland |
Someone Lives Here | Zack Russell | Canada |
Songs of Unama'ki | Dawn Wells, Jeff Miller | Canada |
Stolen Time | Helene Klodawsky | Canada |
Swan Song | Chelsea McMullan | Canada |
Unsyncable | Megan Wennberg | Canada |
English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
6 Minutes per Kilometre | 6 minutes/km | Catherine Boivin | Canada |
27 | Flóra Anna Buda | France, Hungary |
48 Hours | Azadeh Moussavi | Iran |
All the Days of May | Tous les jours de mai | Miryam Charles | Canada |
Aphasia | Aphasie | Marielle Dalpé | Canada |
Atlantis | Zoé Pelchat | Canada |
Blueberries for Iris | Zoe Cleland | Canada |
Carnaval | Justine Martin | Canada |
Daughter of the Sea | Nicole Gormley, Nancy Kwon | United States |
Electra | Daria Kashcheeva | Czech Republic, France, Slovakia |
Entrée | Akshay Shirke | Canada |
Favourite Only Child | Juliette Poitras | Canada |
The Gaze | Stacy Gardner | Canada |
Gold and Mud | Conor Dooley | United States |
Human Resources | Ressources humaines | Trinidad Plass, Titouan Tillier, Isaac Wenzek | France |
I Have No Tears and I Must Cry | Luis Fernando Puente | United States |
I Promise You Paradise | Paradis | Morad Mostafa | France, Egypt, Qatar |
In Between | Clara Prévost | Canada |
In the Garden of Tulips | Julia Elihu | United States |
Joie de vivre | Dada | Canada |
Klette | Michael Abay | Belgium |
A Love Letter to Léopold L. Foulem | Lettre d’amour à Léopold L. Foulem | Renée Blanchar | Canada |
Madeleine | Raquel Sancinetti | Canada |
Mamita | Luis Molinié | Canada |
Mickey | Stevey Hunter | Canada |
The Miracle | Nienke Deutz | Belgium |
Miserable Miracle | Ryo Orikas | Canada |
Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher | Heather Campbell | Canada |
Mitata (Grandfather) | Desmond Simon | Canada |
Modern Goose | Karsten Wall | Canada |
Nun or Never! | Heta Jäälinoja | Finland |
Payback | Jesse Harley | Canada |
The Score 97.9 | Violet Shoshana Pask | Canada |
Shallots and Garlic | Bawang Merah Bawang Putih | Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto | Canada |
Signal and Noise | Jess Shane, Katie Matthews | Canada |
The Skates | Les Patins | Halima Ouardiri | Canada |
Starry-Eyed | Emma MacCabe | Canada |
Summer 96 | Été 96 | Mathilde Bédouet | France |
Summer 2000 | Été 2000 | Virginie Nolin, Laurence Olivier | Canada |
Things Unheard Of | Ramazan Kilic | Turkey |
Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie | Nicole Bazuin | Canada |
Two Apples | Bahram Javahery | Canada |
The Vacation | Jarreau Carrillo | United States |
The Waves | Young Yumi | South Korea |
Wolf | Kathleen Dorian | Canada |
References[edit]