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.Sean Mott, "Atlantic International Film Festival reveals lineup for September". CTV Atlantic, August 14, 2024. The first films in the program were announced on July 25,Kelly Townsend, "AIFF unveils three world premieres for 2024 festival". Playback, July 25, 2024. with the full program announced on August 14.
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.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. 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.
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.
Awards Award winners were announced on September 17, 2024.Brendyn Creamer, "All the winners of the 2024 Atlantic International Film Festival". The Coast, September 17, 2024.
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
Official selections Gala Presentations English title Original title Director(s) Production country Anora Sean Baker United States Sharp Corner Jason Buxton Canada Sweet Angel Baby Melanie Oates Canada
Reel East Coast Shorts 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
World Cinema 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
Narrative New Waves 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
Late Night Visions English title Original title Director(s) Production country The Girl with the Needle Pigen med nålen Magnus von Horn Denmark, Poland, Sweden My Mother's Eyes Maimazāzuaizu Takeshi Kushida Japan The Substance Coralie Fargeat United Kingdom, United States, France
In Focus English title Original title Director(s) Production country Heartbeat Andrea Dorfman Canada How to Be Alone Andrea Dorfman Canada
Documentaries English title Original title Director(s) Production country 7 Beats per Minute Yuqi Kang Canada Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee Canada Black Box Diaries Shiori Itō Japan, United Kingdom, United States Curl Power Josephine Anderson Canada Dahomey Mati Diop France, Senegal, Benin Disco's Revenge Omar Majeed, Peter Mishara Canada Grand Theft Hamlet Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane United Kingdom Luther: Never Too Much Dawn Porter United States Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger David Hinton United Kingdom Never Look Away Lucy Lawless New Zealand A Photographic Memory Rachel Elizabeth Seed United States Seguridad Tamara Segura Canada Standing Above the Clouds Jalena Keane-Lee United States The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal Mike Downie Canada
Shorts 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
References