Atlantic Film Festival launches program full of Oscar buzz, ‘epic’ stories
Halifax will soon see the curtain pulled back on films bound for Oscar buzz and offering “epic and unforgettable” stories.
The 36th annual Atlantic Film Festival (AFF), running Sept. 15 to 22, will bring more than 225 films, documentaries and shorts to the Oxford Theatre, Park Lane Mall, and the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium as well as parties, a concert, industry talks, and more.
“People don’t get the opportunity to see (movies) in the cinema much anymore. People are watching them on Netflix or streaming,” AFF executive director Wayne Carter said Wednesday after the full program launch.
“(AFF) gives people the opportunity to cut through all the films that are out there and say, ‘okay, what are the best things that are happening?’”
After last year’s excitement around Room and Brooklyn, two AFF selections that landed multiple Academy Award nominations, Carter said Manchester by the Sea and American Honey could follow that path.
Manchester, the Closing Night Gala on Sept.22, follows Lee (Casey Affleck) after his older brother dies – leaving him sole custody of his teenage nephew.
Both try to adjust to their new life as Lee struggles with his past, including ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams).
The Saturday Night Gala on Sept.17 is American Honey, which tells the gritty story of Star (Sasha Lane), who runs away with a teenage crew that includes Jake (Shia LaBeouf), selling magazine subscriptions door to door in between hardpartying nights, bending the law and finding young love.
Perhaps more than ever before, Carter said the program is full of stories that expand our views and take us on “emotional journeys” like the documentary Theatre of Life where world-class chefs transform food bound for the dumpster into dishes for Italy’s homeless.
Other highlights include Canadian director Xavier Dolan’s latest film, Juste la fin du monde (It’s Only the End of the World) which won the Grand Prix at Cannes; Denial, following Deborah Listadt’s (Rachael Weisz) legal battle against Holocaust denier David Irving; The Dressmaker, an Australian revenge comedy with Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth; and I, Daniel Blake, a British drama of a carpenter who suffers a heart attack that landed the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
“We are your curator of epic and unforgettable stories,” Carter said during the event.