With the Atlantic Film Festival launching its eight-day marathon of 200-odd movies Thursday night, you will already have a sense of a few of the hyped offerings. There are the Atlantic gems, Weirdos, Maudie and Werewolf (see accompanying story), the international pictures beloved of European festival-goers Julieta and I, Daniel Blake, and Kristen Stewart continuing to confound her Twihard fanbase with her courageous career choices—Personal Shopper. But beyond the hype, here are a few alternative screening possibilities at the fest for your consideration, all showing at Empire 8 Park Lane cinema.
Chicken People Just when you've reached the satisfying conclusion (post-Tickle) that there simply can't be any more bizarro subcultures to make documentaries about comes this, a look at chickens and the competitive breeders who dig them. Poultry paradox: Some of the passionate still admit to spicy wing indulgences. Wednesday Sept 21, 4pm Chicken People
The Girl With All The Gifts Potentially the next iteration of the zombie film—following the constitution of George A. Romero while adding to the Danny Boyle amendments—this is the story of someone with the virus who can still manage coherent thought. Thursday Sept 22, 10pm The Girl With All The Gifts
King Dave There were those who loved last year's AFF entry Victoria and its two+ hour uninterrupted shot, while others testified to a patient cinematographer capturing actorly improv. Maybe the Quebec film King Dave will do something fresh with the single-shot technique in a story about a quintessentially jealous guy. Sunday, Sept 18, 2pm King Dave
Multiple Maniacs Here's your chance to see John Waters' long-lost second feature. Take someone easily offended and enjoy the impact of Divine. Friday Sept 16, 3pm Multiple Maniacs
Two Lovers and A Bear, The Other Half The indefatigable Tatiana Maslany must not be busy enough playing multiple clones on Orphan Black, because she still found time to star in two Canadian romantic dramas this year. The first is Two Lovers and A Bear, Kim Nguyen's tale of a couple (Maslany and Dane DeHaan) who take refuge in Nunavut and find in each other, and in the snow, a kind of escape. The second is an intimate drama written and directed by Joey Klein: The Other Half explores the complicated love affair between a couple (Maslany and Tom Cullen) where both parties struggle with mental illness. Two Lovers: Friday Sept 16, 9:45pm. Other Half: Thursday Sept 22, 1:30pm Two Lovers and A Bearand The Other Half
The Rehearsal New Zealand drama The Rehearsal takes us into the conflicting relationships inside a drama class, directed by Alison Maclean (Jesus' Son) from the Eleanor Catton novel. Might it be this year's Whiplash? Wednesday Sept 21, 1:30pm The Rehearsal
Women Who Kill A Brooklyn-set same-sex relationship comedy that leans into serial killer thriller territory. Sunday Sept 18, noon Women Who Kill
Operation Avalanche and Moonlight Two late arrivals to the schedule. Operation Avalanche turns the urban legend referred to in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar—that the US government faked the 1969 moon landing with the help of Stanley Kubrick—into a found-footage suspense picture. And Moonlight is a generational character study set in an African-American community. It wowed festival-goers in both Telluride and Toronto. Avalanche: Saturday Sept 17, 11am. Moonlight: Check atlanticfilm.com Operation Avalanche and Moonlight
