Whirligig Friday, September 17, Oxford Theatre, 7pm This is Chaz Thorne’s first film since he was the toast of AFF in 2007. That year he had two major features screened: his directorial debut, the mortician comedy Just Buried, starring Jay Baruchel and Rose Byrne, and the racially charged boxing drama Poor Boy’s Game, which he […]
Atlantic Film Festival
Posted inArts + Music
AFF writer spotlight: Josh MacDonald
Faith, Fraud & Minimum Wage Tuesday September 21, Park Lane 8, 9:20pm The Corridor Wednesday, September 22, Park Lane 8, 7pm The inexplicable attracts Josh MacDonald. Prior to picking up the phone, he was sitting in on a post-production session with Evan Kelly and Jake Owens, respectively the director and visual effects supervisor on The […]
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AFF newcomer spotlight: Laura Dawe
Light is the Day Friday, September 24, Park Lane 7, 9:25pm If the apocalypse hits and do-it-yourself film production turns out to be a critical survival skill, Laura Dawe will make out fine. Having put herself through an unorthodox filmmaking boot camp, the 27-year-old Halifax artist and filmmaker knows about working with minimal resources. Dawe’s […]
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Full Atlantic Film Festival lineup unveiled
Bruce McDonald’s Trigger, starring Molly Parker, Tracy Wright and Don McKellar. On Tuesday, the Atlantic Film Festival revealed the rest of its schedule, and we managed to drag our sweaty fingers across the keyboard to pick out a few early favourites. For those who like to be the first to see big commercial films, there’s […]
Posted inArts + Music
Atlantic Film Festival line-up: Cdn and Atlantic highlights
Rock ‘n’ roll with Trigger’s Tracy Wright and Molly Parker. Highlights from the Atlantic Film Festival‘s Atlantic and Canadian film programs are out, and nothing has made me feel this patriotic since Douglas Coupland’s clothing line for Roots. The Atlantic Gala film on September 17 is Chaz Thorne’s Whirligig, written by Michael Amo and starring […]
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Score: A Hockey Musical opens Atlantic Film Festival
Be still my Xanadu heart: Score: A Hockey Musical, starring Olivia Newton John, Marc Jordan, Noah Reid and Allie MacDonald, with appearances by hockey nut Dave Bidini, Strombo and Hawksley Workman, is opening the Atlantic Film Festival on September 16. Directed by Michael McGowan, whose One Week was pretty Canuck-loving, I expect we’ll all be doing maple syrup shots by the end of the night. The AFF’s opening night party, celebrating the fest’s 30th year, is on Citadel Hill. Although last year’s space, the Metro Centre, is the obvious venue for a hockey film, I think that Citadel Hill
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Pee Wee’s big outdoor movie weather watch
In a stroke of programming genius, the Atlantic Film Festival is presenting a free (by donation) outdoor “bike-in” screening of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure tonight at the Ferry Terminal Park, Alderney Landing. Start looking for a seat at 7:30pm, show will start at 8:30pm. Hard to say what the weather will do, but we’ll keep […]
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Celebrate 30 years of AFF with New Waterford Girl
On Wednesday, January 27, 7pm at Empire Theatres Park Lane, there’s a pay-what-you-can screening of New Waterford Girl, with donations supporting the Atlantic Film Festival Association. It’s like the Rocky Horror of Atlantic cinema: everyone knows at least one line from the beloved 1999 coming-of-age story. The event also celebrates the AFF’s 25-year partnership with […]
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Gregor Ash’s passion
When Gregor Ash was a kid in Newfoundland, he and his fellow film junkies would head to the Caribou Lounge Saturday mornings, where they’d endure the stench of cigarettes and stale beer for a chance to catch flicks that weren’t on CTV and CBC, their only two channels. Despite the smell, the Atlantic Film Festival’s […]
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Atlantic Film Fest director Gregor Ash sets sights on federal politics
Having worked in the non-profit arts sector, I can tell you that good administrators are magical beings that can turn dust to diamonds. Well, almost. But it comes as no surprise that the director of one of the city’s highest-profile arts organizations, the Atlantic Film Festival, is making a move to politics. On Thursday, the […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Festival
The 2009 edition of Jazzfest was a huge blast, says executive director Sarah Watling. “It was definitely resonating with people,” she says, name-checking Belle Orchestre and The Bad Plus as just a couple of the highlights. “Opening with Kenny Garrett was an amazing night for fans,” she adds. Looking forward, 2011 is the 25th anniversary […]
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Tanya Davis and Andrea Dorfman collaboration on Bravo this weekend
Tanya Davis is all Alone If you missed Andrea Dorfman and Tanya Davis’ videopoem How to Be Alone at Atlantic Film Fest last week, it’s going to be on Bravo!FACT Presents this weekend, Friday and Saturday at 10pm, and at 8:30pm on Sunday. It’s the filmmaker and singer/songwriter’s second collaboration, after Art, and Davis describes it as being “about… being alone. Or being one person in the world. Or being okay spending time with yourself. Or all of the above.”