The 2024 edition of the Atlantic International Film Festival, the 44th edition in the event's history, took place from September 11 to 18, 2024 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.[1] The first films in the program were announced on July 25,[2] with the full program announced on August 14.[1]
The event was scaled back to an extent from previous years, with a program of 96 features and shorts compared to almost 200 in the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Festival chief Martha Cooley attributed this decision both to residents of the Halifax area still having a greater reticence in returning to large scale public events after the pandemic than people in other parts of Canada, and to the perception that as Halifax has a smaller population than cities like Toronto or Vancouver, audiences were being "pulled too thin" by past programs that were approaching the size of TIFF or VIFF.[3]
The festival opened with Jason Buxton's film Sharp Corner, and closed with Sean Baker's Anora. The Atlantic Gala slot featured Melanie Oates's film Sweet Angel Baby.
Award winners were announced on September 17, 2024.[4]
| Award
|
Film
|
Recipient
|
| Gordon Parsons Award for Best Atlantic Canadian Feature |
Sharp Corner |
Jason Buxton
|
| Best Atlantic Canadian Director
|
| Joan Orenstein & David Renton Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting |
The Kitchen Sink |
Mary-Colin Chisholm
|
| Skeet |
Sean Dalton
|
| Monica's News |
Polly Gallant-McLean (honorable mention)
|
| Best Atlantic Documentary |
Seguridad |
Tamara Segura
|
| Best Atlantic Short Documentary |
welima’q |
shalan joudry
|
| Best Atlantic Short Film |
Pearls |
Mike Simms
|
| Best Atlantic Short Animation |
Bloody Mess |
Megan Wennberg
|
| Michael Weir Award for Best Atlantic Screenwriting |
Sweet Angel Baby |
Melanie Oates
|
| Best Atlantic Cinematographer |
Skeet |
Nigel Markham
|
| Best Atlantic Editor |
Monica's News |
Kimberlee McTaggart
|
| Best Atlantic Original Score |
Lakeview |
Siobhan Martin
|
Reel East Coast Shorts
edit
| English title
|
Original title
|
Director(s)
|
Province
|
| Back to Camp 41 |
Greg Hemmings |
Canada
|
| Bedlamer |
Alexa Jane Jerrett
|
| Hairy Legs |
Andrea Dorfman
|
| An Impression of Everything |
Millefiore Clarkes
|
| The Kitchen Sink |
Olivia King
|
| Paper |
Charles Wahl
|
| Permit Garden |
Jenny Yujia Shi
|
| welima'q |
shalan joudry
|
| English title
|
Original title
|
Director(s)
|
Production country
|
| Bird |
Andrea Arnold |
United Kingdom
|
| Can I Get a Witness? |
Ann Marie Fleming |
Canada
|
| Caught by the Tides |
风流一代 |
Jia Zhangke |
China
|
| The Count of Monte Cristo |
Le Comte de Monte Cristo |
Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière |
France
|
| Darkest Miriam |
Naomi Jaye |
Canada
|
| Flow |
Straume |
Gints Zilbalodis |
Latvia, France, Belgium
|
| Grand Tour |
Miguel Gomes |
Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, China
|
| Lakeview |
Tara Thorne |
Canada
|
| Matt and Mara |
Kazik Radwanski |
Canada
|
| The Outrun |
Nora Fingscheidt |
United Kingdom, Germany
|
| Paying for It |
Sook-Yin Lee |
Canada
|
| Presence |
Steven Soderbergh |
United States
|
| Reinas |
Klaudia Reynicke |
Switzerland, Peru, Spain
|
| Rumours |
Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson |
Canada, Germany
|
| The Seed of the Sacred Fig |
Mohammad Rasoulof |
Iran, France, Germany
|
| Skeet |
Nik Sexton |
Canada
|
| To the Moon |
Kevin Hartford |
Canada
|
| Universal Language |
Une langue universelle |
Matthew Rankin |
Canada
|
| When the Light Breaks |
Ljósbrot |
Rúnar Rúnarsson |
Iceland, Netherlands, Croatia, France
|
| English title
|
Original title
|
Director(s)
|
Production country
|
| 40 Acres |
R. T. Thorne |
Canada
|
| All We Imagine as Light |
Payal Kapadia |
France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg
|
| Boxcutter |
Reza Dahya |
Canada
|
| Do I Know You from Somewhere? |
Arianna Martinez |
Canada
|
| Girls Will Be Girls |
Shuchi Talati |
India
|
| Monica's News |
Pamela Gallant |
Canada
|
| Pierce |
Nelicia Low |
Taiwan
|
| Seeds |
Kaniehtiio Horn |
Canada
|
| To a Land Unknown |
Mahdi Fleifel |
United Kingdom, Greece, Netherlands, France, Germany, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
|
| Young Werther |
José Lourenço |
Canada
|
| English title
|
Original title
|
Director(s)
|
Production country
|
| 8 Times |
Adam Mbowe |
Canada
|
| 73 Seconds |
Stacy Gardner |
Canada
|
| Bloody Mess |
Megan Wennberg |
Canada
|
| Bust |
Angalis Field |
United States
|
| Cart Girls |
Katelyn McCulloch |
Canada
|
| Carved from Stone |
Tyler Burr |
Canada
|
| Circle |
Yumi Joung |
South Korea
|
| Cold Soup |
Sopa Fria |
Marta Monteiro |
Portugal, France
|
| The Distance Between Us |
Qu'importe le distance |
Léo Fontaine |
France
|
| Every Other Weekend |
Mick Robertson, Margaret Rose |
Canada
|
| Eye Piece |
Kate Solar |
Canada
|
| Freedom |
Scott Jones |
Canada
|
| Gaslit |
Anna MacLean |
Canada
|
| Gigi |
Cynthia Calvi |
France
|
| Good Grief |
Megan Chumbley |
United States
|
| Hello Stranger |
Amélie Hardy |
Canada
|
| Himalia |
Clara Milo, Juliette Lossky |
Canada
|
| Holiday House |
Alex Heller |
United States
|
| Inkwo for When the Starving Return |
Inkwo à la défense des vivants |
Amanda Strong |
Canada
|
| Julian and the Wind |
Connor Jessup |
Canada
|
| Maybe Elephants |
Kanskje det var elefanter |
Torill Kove |
Norway, Canada
|
| Mother Tongue |
Lea Tupu'anga |
Vea Mafile'o |
New Zealand
|
| Motorcycle Mary |
Haley Watson |
United States
|
| Moving Water |
Kaia Singh |
Canada
|
| Nola |
Aisha Evelyna, Natalie Novak Remplakowski |
Canada
|
| On a Sunday at Eleven |
Alicia K. Harris |
Canada
|
| Panadrilo |
Marcela Heilbron |
Panama
|
| Pearls |
Mike Simms |
Canada
|
| Percebes |
Alexandra Ramires, Laura Gonçalves |
France, Portugal
|
| perfectly a strangeness |
Alison McAlpine |
Canada
|
| Santa Maria Kyoko |
Guil Sela, Felix Loizillon |
France
|
| Terminally Ill |
Chris Cole |
United States
|
| Things Behind the Sun |
Giran Findlay |
Canada
|
| What Good Canadians Do |
Stephanie Joline |
Canada
|
| Where My Branches Stem |
Teresa Kuo |
Canada
|
| The Wolf |
Le Loup |
Theodore Ushev |
Canada
|
| Wouldn't Make It Any Other Way |
Hao Zhou |
United States
|
- ^ a b Sean Mott, "Atlantic International Film Festival reveals lineup for September". CTV Atlantic, August 14, 2024.
- ^ Kelly Townsend, "AIFF unveils three world premieres for 2024 festival". Playback, July 25, 2024.
- ^ a b Barry Hertz, "Halifax’s Atlantic International Film Festival sharpens programming and size to stand out in shadow of TIFF"]. The Globe and Mail, August 14, 2024.
- ^ Brendyn Creamer, "All the winners of the 2024 Atlantic International Film Festival". The Coast, September 17, 2024.
