Atlantic Film Festival Atlantic Film Fest hires new executive director

Wayne Carter is the man with the plan

Posted by Carsten Knox on Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 3:21 PM

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Atlantic Film Festival Halifax films jump out at international film fests

Cloudburst continues to reign, Charlie Zone gets into it

Posted by Carsten Knox on Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 3:17 PM

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Atlantic Film Festival AFF/Neptune launches winter film series

alfreSnow filmFesto screens Hitchcock through March

Posted by Carsten Knox on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 4:14 PM

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Atlantic Film Festival Andrew Murphy becomes programmer of Toronto's Inside Out Fest

Former Atlantic Film Fest program manager gets big gig

Posted by Carsten Knox on Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 5:40 PM

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Atlantic Film Festival WIFT: Jan Miller in conversation with Skana Gee

Carbon Arc event on Friday, September 30

Posted by Carsten Knox on Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 2:53 PM

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Atlantic Film Festival Winners of the 31st Atlantic Film Festival announced

AFF Day 10: It's a wrap

Posted by Carsten Knox on Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 11:27 PM

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Afghan Luke closed off the 31st Annual Atlantic Film Festival this evening at two sold-out screenings at Park Lane Cinemas. Director Mike Clattenburg, producers Mike Volpe and Barrie Dunn and writers Patrick Graham and Douglas Bell were all on hand to present the film.

You can check out Matt Semansky's review of the film here. I didn't like it as much as he did, but the picture proves Clattenburg has a set of directorial skills far outside what he showed during a decade spent in Sunnyvale Park, and more to come, with his Dartmouth-shot feature The Guys Who Move Furniture coming out next year.

The awards went to a number of worthy recipients, including Michael Melski's Charlie Zone, which stood out in a crowded field, taking four. The award winners include:

Best Atlantic Short ($3,000 in film stock)
Sponsored by Kodak Canada Inc. and open to all Atlantic work under 60 minutes.
I’m 14 and I Hate The World – Kenneth J Harvey

Best Atlantic Feature ($10,000 in services)
Sponsored by The Postman and open to all Atlantic feature dramas over 60 minutes
Charlie Zone – Michael Melski

Rex Tasker Documentary Award ($2,500 towards next film project)
Sponsored by the National Film Board of Canada and open to all Atlantic documentary films.
18 Days – Tarek Abouamin

Michael Weir Award for Best Original Screenplay ($1,500 cash)
Sponsored by Michael Weir Foundation of Arts
Cloudburst – Thom Fitzgerald

Ed Higginson Cinematography Award ($10,000 equipment & service)
Sponsored by Sim Video and William F. White International Inc. Awarded to an individual for excellence in the craft of cinematography.
Charlie Zone – Christopher Ball

Award for Outstanding Direction ($1,000 cash)
Sponsored by Thom Fitzgerald. Awarded to an individual for excellence in the craft of direction.
Charlie Zone – Michael Melski

Joan Orenstein Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress ($500 cash) Sponsored by Thom Fitzgerald
Ruth Lawrence – Clipper Gold

David Renton Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor ($500 cash) Sponsored by Thom Fitzgerald
Glen Gould – Charlie Zone

Script Development Award ($10,000 in development financing from Astral’s Harold Greenberg Fund)
Sponsored by Telefilm Canada & Astral’s Harold Greenberg Fund
Iain MacLeod – Soccer Punch

Award for Sound Editing ($500 cash)
Sponsored by Thom Fitzgerald
Afghan Luke – Brian Power, Eva Madden, Bob Melanson and Cory Tetford

Award for Outstanding Music ($5,000 service package)
Sponsored by Hideout Studios
Snow – Asif Illyas

10 X 10 RBC Emerging Artist ($5,000 cash)
Sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada
Eden - Mo Kenney & Greg Jackson

Best Canadian Short ($5,000 service package)
Sponsored by 902 Post
Wild Life – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Best Canadian Feature ($10,000 service package)
Sponsored by Panavision
Café de Flore – Jean Marc Vallée

The Joy Award
Sponsored by Linda Joy
Gerrish Lane - Robert Santaguida

The Helen Hill Animated Joy Award
Sponsored by Linda Joy
Kreb’s Tale - Tim Tracey

The Joy Post Award
Sponsored by Linda Joy
Spectres of Shortwave – Amanda Dawn

The Newfoundland Joy Award
Sponsored by Linda Joy
The Machine – Liz Solo

The First Feature Project (Production financing for $105,000 towards a first feature length film)
Sponsored by Telefilm Canada & Film Nova Scotia
Richard MacQueen and Michael Ray Fox

CBC Pioneer Award
Sponsored by CBC
David MacLeod, Big Motion Pictures

Audience Award ($50,000 in 3D stereoscopic post-production & 3D camera services)
Sponsored by Creative Post and 3D Camera Company
To be given out at the closing party, which is happening right now. When we know, so will you.

CORRECTION to this story, Monday September 26. The Hideout Studios music prize is a $5,000 service package, not the amount that was previously reported. We apologize for the error.

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Atlantic Film Festival The Swell Season and An American Werewolf in London

AFF Day 9

Posted by Matthew Ritchie on Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 4:15 PM

As the 31st Atlantic Film Festival comes to a close, I decided I would go out for one last night to check out some films to tie me over until next year.

The first feature was The Swell Season, a documentary on the band by the same name, which charts their rise from obscurity to unexpected Oscar winners to festival headliners. I like the band quite a bit, but not as much as my girlfriend who is absolutely obsessed with the group. Last summer we flew all the way from Halifax to Ottawa to watch one of their two Canadian performances of the year (she subsequently returned the favour when we flew to New York to watch Pavement reunite at Central Park). I hadn’t heard much about the band before that, but they really brought it live.

When I saw them play they had the same time slot as festival headliners, Rush, and if you’ve ever heard The Swell Season, you know they’re a pretty nuanced band that needs to be experienced in a quiet setting.

But frontman Glen Hansard wasn’t going to let Geddy Lee’s wail get in the way of him rocking out. He proceeded to play his acoustic guitar as fast as humanly possible while screaming like an Irish Black Francis, attempting to drown out the Canadian rockers, and it actually made the concert more exciting due to the tension between the two stages.

Glen Hansard is awesome, and this documentary is a testament to that. When you get a chance to see the film, scope it out even if you haven’t heard the band before. It’s one of the best music documentaries I’ve ever seen (minus Radiohead’s Meeting People Is Easy).

So after walking around the Public Gardens for an hour and dodging multiple piles of vomit (seriously, whoever did that, you should go see a doctor) I headed for the surprise midnight screening, An American Werewolf in London.

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Although not being a new film at all (in fact, the screening used a legit reel of the film from 30 years ago), this screening was probably one of the top highlights of the fest.

Midnight film screenings are kind of funny because you get three kinds of people attending them: stoned teenagers who have nothing better to do, awkward teenagers who really like the classics, and adults who seem a little to old to stay up that late anymore and bring coffees into the theatre (that was me).

The atmosphere is always a little delirious due to the exhaustion, pot, and awkwardness, and it kind of adds to the whole weird experience. This viewing was especially weird because there were, at best, 20 people in the audience.

The film was introduced by one of the AFF staff members who proceeded to give a few tidbits about the film. For instance, did you know this was the film that initiated the Oscar category for best special effects? I did not, but it totally makes sense. That werewolf transformation scene is pretty freaky. He asked if many people had seen the film before, and I was surprised most hadn’t, but judging from the laughs it seemed like everyone had a pretty good time.

For a film that was 30 years old, An American Werewolf in London has totally held up over time (the same can’t be said for its sequel, An American Werewolf Paris).

Why the AFF chose to show An American Werewolf in London, I don’t know. It really has nothing to do with anything relating to the festival, but maybe that was kind of the point. After a week of watching brand new flicks, some good, some bad, it was kind of nice to sit back and watch a classic. It made me forget I was at the fest as a critic and allowed me to just enjoy a film simply because it was entertaining.

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Tags: Oxford Theatre

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Atlantic Film Festival Whit Stillman returns with Damsels in Distress

AFF Day 9

Posted by Carsten Knox on Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 2:45 AM

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Another movie, another embargoed review. Sigh. So, I'll try not to say too much about Damsels in Distress, the first new movie by American indie director Whit Stillman since The Last Days of Disco in 1998. I can tell you it stars Greta Gerwig as the alpha female Violet in a group of very entitled young women attending a northeastern university who invite a new member (Analeigh Tipton, the babysitter from Crazy, Stupid, Love) into their little clique. They very kindly run a suicide prevention group on campus, since their school is the kind of place where students are throwing themselves into the road, darling. A lot of thick, thick boys show up and complicate things for the new friends. The plot also investigates fake accents, adults who can't identify colours and a religion that worships on Tuesday and is only interested in anal sex. The mannered, close and self-conscious humour of Stillman's previous work is very much in evidence here, which will please those who have waited so patiently the 13 years for a follow-up film. (Though I found it so slight I'd forgotten how it started by the time the final credits rolled.)

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Atlantic Film Festival Gala shorts repeat this evening at 7pm

AFF Day 9

Posted by Carsten Knox on Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 5:20 PM

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Atlantic Film Festival Bored to tears by The Turin Horse

AFF Day 9

Posted by Matthew Ritchie on Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 1:21 PM

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Atlantic Film Festival Cafe de Flore and Starbuck: A second opinion on the best of the fest

AFF Day 8: Quebec filmmaking FTW

Posted by Carsten Knox on Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 12:50 AM

If you've been reading this blog through the week, you've heard the Coast contributors who've been attending the AFF complain (loudly) about the review embargo imposed upon us by the distributors, who are hoping to save reviews for when their films get a theatrical release. Well, both the movies I saw tonight, Cafe de flore and Starbuck, are under this draconian rule, which is too bad.

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It's too bad because otherwise I'd be talking about director of Cafe de flore, Jean-Marc Valée , how this film represents a quantum leap in his cinematic storytelling abilities, how it deftly weaves music (Pink Floyd and Sigur Ros play big parts in the film) into a multi-flashback structure to create something very fresh. I'd be going on about how this is the best film of the festival, and how it might be the best Canadian movie I've seen in years.

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I'd also be mentioning how Starbuck is a sentimental and hilarious comedy of the sort that Hollywood used to be good at making, and will likely feel it necessary to remake in English, starring Vince Vaughn or Adam Sandler.

And I would close by mentioning that taken as a set, these films are indicative of a film industry in Quebec that is head and shoulders above anywhere else in the country.

But, unfortunately, I can't really get into any of that.

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Atlantic Film Festival Monsieur Lazhar is the best of the fest

AFF Day 8

Posted by Matt Semansky on Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 11:12 AM

The nonsensical embargo that my colleague Carsten Knox wrote about a few days back prevents me from effusing the way I’d like to about Monsieur Lazhar, which I was lucky enough to be able to see last night. From Canadian director Philippe Falardeau, it’s the story of an Algerian refugee claimant who takes over as teacher of a Grade 6-or-so class after his predecessor’s suicide shakes up the school.

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I’ve been able to see some truly fine films this past week---Take This Waltz and Afghan Luke stand out in particular---but Monsieur Lazhar was, to me, the best of the bunch. Little wonder it’s Telefilm’s nominee to represent Canada at the Oscars (a piece of news revealed prior to the screening last night). It’s graceful, it’s beautiful, it’s heartbreaking. But I’m sure Falardeau, who was in attendance and took the time to answer questions from the audience, would hate for me to go on. Thank god for that embargo!

So I won’t review his movie, exactly. Instead, I’ll write about the many issues it made me think of. One of those was the creative process itself. Falardeau’s screenplay is an adaptation of a one-man play by Evelyne de la Cheneliere and stars an Algerian stand-up comedian (Fellag) in the lead role. It’s quite a feat of imagination to translate such a minimalist stage play into a multi-character film, and maybe even more of a leap to cast a humourist in such a weighty dramatic role. Falardeau said it took two years just to write the screenplay. The filmmaker also graciously discussed many elements of his filmmaking process, from directing child actors to working with music composers, in one of the more informative Q&A sessions I can recall attending.

The film itself, meanwhile, raises questions about immigrant experiences, the education system and the way children and adults process grief. Adjusting to a new country and culture is difficult enough, but doing so while working as a teacher would be doubly confusing. In an age of hyper-vigilant parenting, when everyone’s child is the extra-specialist and overprotected both physically and emotionally, educators’ hands are often duct-taped. As one character notes, the endless litigation-proof, one-size-fits-all rules forces teachers to handle kids like “radioactive waste.” What works for Lazhar in the classroom but fails him in bureaucratic channels is his insistence on treating his students as individuals.

The respect he has for his kids leads me to another, related point. I wondered, after seeing the film---and in response to a particular line of dialogue---whether our society’s increasing bubble-ization of kids has more to do with our own weakness as adults, not our kids’ sensitivities. Children’s emotions are volatile, yes, but they are resilient. That we now guard so vigilantly against such formerly ordinary things as playground roughhousing suggests a grownup world that is gradually losing its collective shit.

These were a few thoughts Monsieur Lazhar implanted in me, but there’s so much more to the movie that any number of other things might jump into the foreground for other viewers. I’d love to get into them all, but...well, you know.

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Atlantic Film Festival Pina and The Future

AFF Day 7

Posted by Carsten Knox on Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 1:07 AM

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German filmmaker Wim Wenders doesn't often show up on the lists of beloved auteurs these days, due to his recent career spotted with a few duds. That said, he's earned some kudos for his documentaries, and with Pina in 3D, his achievement in this form won't be denied. The film is a tribute to Pina Bausch, the revered German modern dancer and choreographer. Members of her company recreate her pieces in a variety of settings, from the stage to busy city streets, within elevated trams, in modern buildings and the German countryside. This is a dance movie, and as such it has little through-line narrative, but is enormously evocative in the movement of the dancers, many of whom are in their 50s and 60s now. Their age must bring a different aspect to the pieces than when they were originally performed, a sense of fragility and mortality. Even more so since Bausch died in 2009 and the dancers' voice-overs speak of her brilliance and influence. As a relative layperson to modern dance and not knowing Bausch's work at all, I found the film mesmerizing and astonishingly beautiful. The dance and imagery manage to communicate with clarity loss, longing, passion and loneliness.

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The Future is Miranda July's first feature since she blew most of us away with her lovely Me And You And Everyone We Know in 2005. Since Coast contributor and film nut Tara Thorne shared her love of the film, I won't say too much more here, but that I disagree with many of her points. For one, the first half-hour was the funny part, because it's characters are so absurdly hopeless and anxious. Then, as it goes along, it becomes more truly sad and affecting. I was moved; it's really about a fear of change, fear of not realizing your dreams, fear of growing old and being alone. But if it wasn't grappling so consciously with those real world issues, it might be unbearably precious.

So, while I didn't love it, I'm glad to have seen The Future and it did reinforce my conviction of July's unique talent. Plus, I learned a couple new things: July can be surprisingly sexy in her gawkiness. And she can really dance in a yellow t-shirt.

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Tags: Miranda July, Pina Bausch, Wim Wenders

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Atlantic Film Festival Charlie Zone is visceral, gritty and grimy

Michael Melski's film won't be included in any Tourism Nova Scotia promos

Posted by Matt Semansky on Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 2:36 PM

Having visited the set of Michael Melski’s dark drama Charlie Zone in April, I was eager to catch up with the completed film, which Melski pulled together just in time for the festival. In conversations with the director, he described the movie as a portrayal of the dark side of Halifax---the drug dens, the violence, the racism and the poverty that the privileged among us are able to ignore. When I ran into Melski last Thursday, hours after he put the finishing post-production touches on the film, he declared that, whatever the audience thought of it, “I made the movie I wanted to make.”

So far audiences think very highly of Charlie Zone. Last night was its second sold-out showing, and Melski, in introducing the film beforehand, happily reported that it was the top movie in terms of audience ratings at the festival so far. He also promised the crowd that we “wouldn’t be bored."

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Indeed. Charlie Zone is many things---some good, some great and some not so great---but boring is not one of them. It’s the story of a native Canadian boxer (Glen Gould) who’s been reduced to street-fighting for YouTube videos, and a young heroin addict (Amanda Crew) whose life is being snuffed out hit by hit. The former is hired to kidnap the latter and ostensibly save her from her down-and-out existence, but things turn out not to be quite so straightforward.

Melski, as he promised, doesn’t spare the viewer in his graphic depiction of violence and drug use. This approach, combined with the grainy film quality, gives the film a gritty, grimy feel that makes watching it a visceral experience. Charlie Zone leaves a scummy residue, and I mean that in a complimentary way.

Gould and Crew are also fantastic, he providing the film’s sad soul and her its flickers of passion and light. They’ve clearly taken the time to get inside their characters and their commitment is evident in every scene.

The movie’s not perfect by any stretch. For one thing, not all the performances match Gould’s and Crew’s (in particular, a pair of drug kingpins chasing after Crew’s character are about as threatening as Smurfs). And some of the twists and turns of the story don’t flow as naturally as they should. I know Melski wanted to comment on the role of the privileged class in Halifax’s underground struggles, but I’m not sure his point resonates as strongly as he’d like.

In all, though, I can see why Melski’s confident that he made the film he intended to. Charlie Zone is, like its characters and the places Melski wants to shine a light, a rough, ragged, spirited ride that delves into dark and touchy subject matter. It’s well-paced and full of genuine surprises, and powered in part by a great (if slightly overused) score by John W.D. Mullane.

And it’s never boring.

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