Atlantic International Film Festival

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. ==Attendance==

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. In 2007 attendance was up 18 per cent over 2006, with a record-setting 33,500 people taking part in the 27th annual event. ==Awards, premieres, and gala screenings==

2003 The opening film was The Event, directed by Thom Fitzgerald. 2004 The opening film was Wilby Wonderful, directed by Daniel MacIvor. 2005 The opening film was 3 Needles, directed by Thom Fitzgerald, and Jason Eisener's short The Teeth Beneath premiered. 2006 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 The opening film was Shake Hands With The Devil and The Bodybuilder and I was named best Canadian documentary. 2008 Down to the Dirt won Best Atlantic Feature and Jason Eisener received the award for Best Editing for his short film Treevenge. 2009 The opening film was Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day. 2010 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 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 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. 2013 There Are Monsters was awarded Best Atlantic Feature and Best Director (Jay Dahl). 2014 • Gordon Parsons Award for Best Atlantic Canadian Feature: Cast No Shadow • Best Atlantic Documentary: Bounty: Into the Hurricane — Edward Peill, Geoff D'Eon • Best Atlantic Documentary: Strange and Familiar: Architecture on Fogo Island — Katherine Knight, Marcia Connolly • Gordon Parsons Award for Best Atlantic Canadian Feature: Maudie • Best Atlantic Documentary: Perfume War – Michael Melski • Best Atlantic Documentary: ''Shadow Men (Nos hommes dans l'ouest)'' — Renée Blanchar, Maryse Chapdelaine • Best Atlantic Documentary: Drag Kids - Megan Wennberg • Best Atlantic Canadian Director: Taylor Olson, Bone Cage • Best Atlantic Canadian Director: Bretten Hannam, Wildhood • Best Atlantic Canadian Director: Ashley McKenzie, Queens of the Qing Dynasty • Joan Orenstein & David Renton Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting: Andy Jones, Grown in Darkness and Sarah Walker, Queens of the Qing Dynasty • Best Atlantic Documentary: Bernie Langille Wants to Know What Happened to Bernie Langille — Jackie Torrens • Best Atlantic Short Documentary: Grandmothers — Millefiore Clarkes • Best Atlantic Short Film: Coin Slot — Scott Jones • Michael Weir Award for Best Atlantic Screenwriting: Taylor Olson and Koumbie, Bystanders • Best Atlantic Cinematographer: Jeff Wheaton, The Year Long Boulder • Best Atlantic Editor: Sarah Byrne, Bernie Langille Wants to Know What Happened to Bernie Langille • Best Atlantic Original Score: Century Egg, Little Piece of Hair • RBC Script Development: Nikki Martin, The Space Between 2023 2024 2025 ==AIFF Partners==

AIFF Partners (formerly known as "Strategic Partners" and "FIN 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 28th edition of the event will take place on September 10-13, 2025. 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. Spotlight countries 2024/2025: The 5 Nordics 2023/2024: New Zealand 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 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 ==References==